[Pages 408-409]

The settlement of Kowal is first mentioned in documents from the 12th century. Kowal's location on the main road to Krakow influenced its development. The kings of Poland built a fortress and a castle on the site. In 1519 King Zygmunt I granted Kowal urban status with three market days a week. The Swedish wars of the 17th century brought destruction to Kowal - most of its inhabitants moved to other places. During the 18th century Kowal developed again. In 1808 the town was included in the Duchy of Warsaw and from 1815 until the First World War was in the territory of the Congress Kingdom of Poland. During the war, Kowal was occupied by German army units from 1915 until 1918.

We do not have accurate information about the beginnings of the Jewish settlement in Kowal. The first Jews settled in Kowal probably in the first half of the 16th century. In 1568, the Jews of Kowal received permission from the Starosta (governor of the area) Raphael Medzalin to build a wooden Beit Midrash and were assigned a plot of land for a cemetery. In those years they had permission to engage in trade, crafts, and the manufacture and marketing of liquor. These rights were later confirmed by King Stefan Batory (1578) and by King Wladislav IV (1634). In 1655, the Jews of Kowal were hit by the brutal riots of Stefan Czarniecki's soldiers, who accused the Jews of siding with the Swedish invaders. Only a few of Kowal's Jews managed to escape to other towns. The reconstruction of the community started at the beginning of the 18th century. However, the Christian residents of Kowal objected to the arrival of the Jews and in 1713 obtained a decree from King August II forbidding the Jews of Kowal to engage in the production and marketing of liquor. The Jewish craftsmen were also subjected to restrictions imposed by the municipality. In 1777, members of the Kowal Christian Bakers Association demanded restrictions for the Jewish bakers. In the years 1823-1862, the residence of the Jews in Kowal was limited to a special district. With the abolition of the restrictions on the residence of the Jews according to the tsar's orders of 1862, this limitation was abolished as in other cities and towns of the Kingdom of Poland. According to partial data on the number of craftsmen in Kowal during the 1860s, there were 41 Jewish families of tailors, 37 of shoemakers and 10 families of carpenters. In addition, there were Jewish tinsmiths, blacksmiths, seamstresses and watchmakers in Kowal. Some Jews were engaged in transportation, 25 traded in grain, and about 50 were small traders. Three families operated a farm near the town.

As mentioned, there was an organized community in Kowal from the middle of the 16th century. Since then, societies such as “Hevra Kadisha” and “Linat Tzedek” operated in the community. The rabbi of the community in those years was Rabbi Yehoshua ben Yosef (who also served in the German town of Schneidemühl - today called Piła in western Poland). We do not have details about the rabbis of Kowal during the 17th and 18th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century the rabbis of Kowal were Rabbi Meir, known as Kovaler (a student of the Rebbe of Przysucha), and Rabbi Issachar Ben Yehuda Leib, author of the book “Pothei Shearim” (1819). The latter seems to have been followed by Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Zilberberg, author of the books “Zeit Raanan” and “Tiferet Yerushalayim”. During the second half of the 19th century, the rabbis of Kowal were Rabbi Yechiel Yehuda Leib Wladislawski and Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Poisner. Rabbi Shmuel Yehuda Leib Weingot, author of “Beer Yehudah”, was chosen as rabbi of Kowal in 1902. A few years before his death in 1939, Rabbi Weingot passed on the role of rabbi to his son-in-law, Rabbi Levi Lipman, who would eventually perish in the Holocaust. Rabbi Weingot's son, Issachar Weingot, immigrated to Israel and served as a rabbi in Safed.

Between the two world wars, the Jews of Kowal continued to make a living mainly from petty commerce and handicrafts. In addition to selling on market days, most of the small traders went out to peddle their merchandise in the surrounding villages. Some Jews traded in grain and horses, and a Jewish family owned a sawmill and a flour mill. In 1921, a fire broke out in Kowal and many houses, including the Beit Midrash building, caught fire. With the help of Kowal emigres in the United States, the families affected by the fire managed to rehabilitate their homes and the Beit Midrash was rebuilt. A new welfare society, “Bikur Holim”, was established in order to take care of the sick among the poorer Jews. A “Gemilat Hesed” fund was also set up in 1927 to provide small interest-free loans to petty traders and artisans (distributing loans for a total of more than 190,000 zlotys). In 1935, the Zionist craftsmen formed the association for mutual aid “Halutz Bnei Hamlacha”. The influence of the Zionist movement was especially strong among the Kowal youngsters, who participated in local lodges of “Hashomer Hatzair”, “Hechalutz”, “Gordonia”, “Hashomer Leumi” and “Betar”. There were also branches of Jewish political organizations including the religious party “Agudat Israel” (most members were followers of the Gur Hasidim) and the socialist party “Bund” (many artisans belonged to it, especially those who worked for wages in the workshops). In the 1924 elections to the Jewish community board, the Zionist religious party “Mizrahi” won all four seats set for the board. The results of the 1936 elections - which counted with the participation of 222 out of the 234 eligible voters – distributed the board seats as follows: “Merchants' Association” 5 seats, “Craftsmen's List” 2 seats, and “Zionist List” 1 seat.

During the interwar period, most Jewish children continued to study in the traditional “Heders” while also attending the Jewish public elementary school for Jews “Shabasovka”, which was financed by the municipality. There were two Jewish libraries in Kowal: the Zionists' library (about 2,000 books, founded in 1917), and the Bundists' library (about 1,000 books). A branch of the “Maccabi” sports club was also operating in the town.

The Germans occupied Kowal on September 15, 1939 (Rash Hashana 5735). On the third day after entering the town, they began harassing the Jews. Assisted by local ethnic Germans and Poles, they looted the Jewish shops and began press-ganging Jews for forced labor in the town, in the forest, and in the fields. The Germans appointed a Judenrat that had to prepare the lists of Jews available for work and collect the levies and fines that were imposed on the community (money and valuables).

In late September 1939, the SS destroyed 30 houses that were inhabited by Jews and many families were left homeless. By the end of 1940, with the annexation of the area to the Reich, the deportations also began. On December 11, 1940, the Jews living in the neighborhood near the market square were deported. The Germans confiscated their homes and all their property and deported them to Szymanów near Błonie. It is worth mentioning that the monks from the monastery in Szymanów helped the deportees with food^[1]. The deportees were then dispersed from Szymanów to the towns of Błonie, Grodzisk, Wiskitki, and Żyrardów. From there, they were deported to the Warsaw ghetto.

On June 23, 1941, a day after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the second deportation of the Jews of Kowal began. About 350 men aged 14-65 were transferred to Wloclawek and from there to forced labor camps in the Poznan area. Most of them died there from starvation and disease. Those who survived were sent to Auschwitz.

In mid-October 1941, the third and final deportation took place. The local ethnic Germans rounded-up about 400 women, children and some elders in the Kowal church and kept them imprisoned for 10 days without food. From there, they were taken to the Czerniewice train station and sent to the Lodz ghetto. Most of them were sent to the extermination camp in Chelmno. By then, the Germans had already demolished the Jewish cemetery in Kowal.

Translator's note

1. The Franciscan Monastery of Niepokalanów is actually located in Teresin – during WWII, the name of the local train station that served as a transit point for deported Jews was Szymanów Return

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