Kozienice (Polish pronunciation: [kɔʑɛˈɲit͡sɛ] ⓘ; Yiddish: קאזשניץ Kozhnits)[1] is a town in eastern Poland with 21,500 inhabitants (1995).

History of the town dates back to 1206, when – together with neighboring villages, Kozienice was owned by the Norbertine Nuns from Płock.

Located on the ancient road from Kraków to Vilnius and on the edge of the Kozienice Forest, the town became one of favorite retreats of King Władysław II Jagiełło, who founded a church there in 1394.

Due to close proximity of the Kozienice Forest and, thus the easily accessible wood supply a pontoon bridge was built over the river, which was later moved to Czerwińsk and used by Polish troops to cross the Vistula (Wisła) between June 30 and July 3, 1410 (see Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War).

It was a royal town, administratively located in the Radom County in the Sandomierz Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown.

[3] In 1652, the town was decimated by a cholera outbreak, and four years later, during the Deluge, a battle between Poles and Swedes took place there.

In 1782 Kozienice burns in a fire, and due to the efforts of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, the town was rebuilt, and wooden buildings were replaced by stone houses.

In 1809, Poles led by General Józef Zajączek defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Kozienice, and the town then became part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw.

[7] In the mid-19th century we must highlight the enormous influence of the Jewish community of Kozienice composed of the Aidenbaum, Borensztein, Cytron, Fiszman, Frydman, Goldsztein, Grossman, Hopstein, Horowicz, Rotenberg, Tenenbaum and Wolbergier families among many others.

During the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Germans forced 2,000 Jews into a small local church, where many of them died of suffocation.