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KODEŃ
  Polish text

According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, the origins of Jewish settlement in Koden date back to the second half of the XVIII century. It is a known fact that in 1875, 748 Jews lived in the town. The authors of Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (Geographical Dictionary of the Congress Kingdom and Other Slavic Countries) - published in 1883 - while writing about Koden as: ".a town on the left bank of the Bug River; in a picturesque spot where the Kalmaczka Stream meets the Bug," cite that 722 Jews lived in Koden in 1861. The census from 1931 recorded 2,307 inhabitants, of which 638 were Jewish (other sources cite 800).

Before September 1, 1939, the number of Jews in Koden dropped to 273 (The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust estimates the number to be 100). During the Second World War, the Jews of Koden were placed in the ghetto where a group of 105 Jews from Cracow also ended up. In September, 1942, all of them were deported to the ghetto in Miedzyrzec Podlaski and from there to the Treblinka concentration camp. Extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis was accompanied by the destruction of cultural property. Taking apart a synagogue from 1698, located in the town's center, serves as an example. Pieces of the synagogue were later used to build a market hall in Terespol. Also, bet ha-midrash was taken apart and used for the construction of a school in nearby Dobromysl.

Dobromyśl - bejt ha-midrasz z Kodnia Dobromyśl - bejt ha-midrasz z Kodnia Dobromyśl - bejt ha-midrasz z Kodnia
The building of bet ha-midrash of Koden - nowadays in Dobromysl

The Jewish cemetery in Koden - located at the intersection of Spoldzielcza, Zastodolna and Polna streets - went through a lot. It was totally destroyed at the time of WWII. Not one headstone survived. The Nazis, in 1941, while getting ready for an attack on the Soviet Union, collected the gravestones and used them to build a road leading to Piszczac. The road then was used to move their troops to the eastern front. The remaining matzevahs wound up in private hands. After the war, nobody was particularly interested in the cemetery. In 1976, the local government put up a fence, which was soon destroyed. Today there is no sign indicating that this in a place of rest for Polish citizens of Jewish descent.

There is a controversy surrounding the location of the Jewish necropolis in Koden. Some Koden people claim that the cemetery was bigger. A big part of the cemetery used to be where there is now a live stock auction market is (called Buchta ) and a weekly farmers market. If that's true, it would be evidence of a profanation. However, the conservation officer, and the oldest people in Koden, claim that the cemetery used to be on a smaller piece of land, where nowadays trees and grass grow.

Text and photos: Tomasz Wojcieszuk
translation: Ania Yorinks
We recommend visiting the following website:
"Koden, a shtetl no more"

Kodeń - teren zniszczonego cmentarza żydowskiego Kodeń - kirkut
We are looking for any information concerning Jews from Koden and their cemetery.
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