| Kozienice | |||
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| Church in Kozienice | |||
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Kozienice
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Poland | ||
| Voivodeship | Masovian | ||
| County | Kozienice County | ||
| Gmina | Gmina Kozienice | ||
| Established | 13th century | ||
| Town rights | 1322 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Tomasz Śmietanka | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 10.45 km2 (4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| • Total | 18,541 | ||
| • Density | 1,774.3/km2 (4,595.3/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 26-900 | ||
| Area code(s) | +48 48 | ||
| Car plates | WKZ | ||
| Website | http://www.kozienice.pl/ | ||
Kozienice [kɔʑɛˈnit͡sɛ] ( listen) (Yiddish: קאזשניץ Kozhnits) is a town in central Poland with 21,500 inhabitants (1995). It is the capital of Kozienice County (Polish Powiat kozienicki).
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It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Radom Voivodeship (1975-1998) and in Kielce Voivodeship (1919-1939, 1945-1975).
Near Kozienice, in Świerże Górne, there is a large thermal power station.
Kozienice is in the Radom district, almost four miles from the Vistula, surrounded by forests, water, villages, and towns such as Zwoleń, Gniewoszów, Magnuszew, Mniszów, Ryczywół, Garbatka, and other smaller settlements.
Kozienice gives its name to the protected area called Kozienice Landscape Park.
Kozienice had a Jewish community with a long history. Kozienice is pronounced as "Kozhnitz" in Yiddish. In the early 19th century, the Kozhnitzer Magid Yisroel Hopsztajn was one of the pioneers of Hasidism in Poland. He established the Kozhnitz dynasty. In 1856, there were 2,885 people in Kozienice with 1,961 Jews, and in 1897, there were 6,882 people and 3,700 were Jews. Before World War II, about 15,000 souls lived in this region. The Jewish community lived there for about 400 years. The two main industries there were tourism, with Jewish pilgrims visiting the Maggid's tomb, and shoe manufacturing.
Kozienice had approximately 5,000 Jews before World War II. In September 1939, the Germans forced 2,000 Jews into a small local church, where many of them died of suffocation.
Kozienice had 15 streets. The Germans established a ghetto in the Fall of 1940 in an area of only three streets. A Jewish council was established by the Germans, but most prominent Jews refused to serve. On September 27, 1942, 8,000 Jews from Kozienice and nearby towns were sent to the Treblinka death camp, where they were murdered on arrival. Only 70 - 120 Jews were then left in the Kozienice ghetto, but they were deported in late December 1942 to the Pionki slave labor camp and to Skarzysko Kamienno camp. Some Jews, however, were able to hide near Kozienice.
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