Jewish Community of Kozminek

Koźminek is a town in Kalisz County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Koźminek. It lies approximately 17 kilometres east of Kalisz and 118 km south-east of the regional capital Poznań. The town has a population of 1,800 (Wikipedia, 2023).

A Jewish community appears to have developed in Kozminek from the 1820s (1).

A ghetto was created by the Germans in WW2 and Jews were subsequently killed nearby or transported to concentration camps (2)

After WW2 there was no Jewish community in Kozminek.

“Koźminek – historia nieznana. Żydzi” [The Secret History of Koźminek: Jews] A movie about the life of Jewish community in Koźminek. While preparing the movie, its creators managed to contact Jews who have survived the ghetto of Koźminek (in Polish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIkUxiKCpEc

Chaim/Zycie project, highlighting a local Kozminek organisation aiming to commemorate the Jewish community of Kozminek (Google Translate link of Polish website). The film (3) was made by members of this organisation. https://chaim--zycie-pl.translate.goog/ludzie-i-dzialalnosc/429-sto....

Kozminek Memeorial Page on Chaim website describing the creation of a lapidarium (collection of gravestones) and memorial in Kozminek in 2020. https://chaim--zycie-pl.translate.goog/wiadomosci/8-news/409-kozmin....

(Under construction - more information on the Jewish community welcomed).

1. https://czestochowajews.org/wp-content/uploads/matuszczyk_eng.pdf
2. https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/kalisz1/kal275.html