Alternate names: Kosów Lacki [Pol], Kosov Latski [Yid], Kosuv-Liatzki [Rus], Kosov Lacki, Kossów Lacki, Kossów, Kosów. Russian: Косув-Ляцки. 52°36' N, 22°09' E, 14 miles NNW of Sokołów Podlaski, 17 miles SE of Ostrów Mazowiecka. Yizkors: Kosow Lacki (San Francisco, 1992) and Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 7: Kielce and Lublin (Jerusalem, 1999). This town in Sokołów County, Masovian Voivodeship with 2,152 inhabitants in 2004. 1900 Jewish population: 1,258. In 1723, a market two times in a week and a fair four times in a year were approved when Kosów became a city. Jews lived there in the 18th century. At the end of the 18th century, a wooden synagogue was erected and a jewish cemetery was sanctified. By 1827 most Kosow residents were Jewish and continued to be. Most were involved in commerce and crafts: tailors, blacksmiths, shoemakes, tinsmiths, furriers, tanners, and leather stitchers. On the eve of WWI, Jews owned 40 wooden buildings in Kosow. After German occupation, Jews were forced into slave labor; and Jewish property was confiscated. An unfenced ghetto was established so food was available from nearby farmers. In 1941 Kalisz, Wyszkow, Mlawa and Ostrow Mazowiecka deportees arrived at the Kosow Ghetto. Even with a food kitchen, hunger, crowding, and disease lead to deaths. Jewish craftsmen were sent to slave labor for the Germans and some to erect and enlarge nearby Treblinka (12km NW of Kosow Lacki) from a small POW camp into the death camp. Extermination of the Jews came at the end of Yom Kippur on September 22, 1942 when German and Polish police circled the ghetto and marched them the same day to Treblinka, the only victims to arrive on foot. Jews resisting were shot on the spot. A few escaped to nearby forests, but were turned in by local anti-Semites. After liberationby the Red Army in Summer 1944, a few Jewish survivors returned to their own homes in Kosow; eleven were murdered by Kosow Polish residents. Map [June 2009]
BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 76
KOSOW LACKI I: US Commission No. POCE000653
Alternate Yiddish name: Kosov. Kosow Lacki is located in Siedlechie province at 52°35' 22°09', 23 km from Sdestov Podlaski and 52 km from Siedlce. Cemetery: by the primary school. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Gminy, tel. 105.
- Regional: Wojwodzki Konserwator Zabytkow Siedlce, Marian Yakubik, Wegrow, ul. Zeromskiego 3, tel. 26-31.
The earliest known Jewish community dates from the 18th century. 1921Jewish population was 1316. The Jewish cemetery was established in the early 18th century. Liberman, the chairman of the Jewish community, is buried in the cemetery. The last known burial was in the early 20th century. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall, fence, or gate. The size today and before WWII was 0.45 hectare. No stones are visible. Removed stones were incorporated into the road to Treblinka. Municipality owns property is used for storage. Adjacent properties are residential. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries are smaller due to storage. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. No care. No structures. The cemetery does not exist.
Cezary Ostas, Siedlce, ul. Pomorska 1/68, tel. 290-95 completed survey on 20 Oct 1992. He interviewed Marian Jakubik, Wegrow on 20 Oct 1992.
KOSOW LACKI II: US Commission No. POCE000654
See Kosow Lacki for town information. Cemetery: by the road from Sokolow.The Jewish cemetery was established in the early 20th century with last known burial was during WWII. The isolated wooded flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. A broken masonry wall with no gate surrounds. The size today and before WWII was 0.8 hectare. No stones are visible. Removed stones were incorporated into the road to Treblinka. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem. The property is forest. Adjacent properties are forest. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. No care. No structures.
Cezary Ostas, Siedlce, ul. Pomorska 1/68, tel. 290-95 completed survey on 20 Oct 1992. He interviewed Marian Jakubik, Wegrow on 20 Oct 1992.