Amongst the Christians, to this day, legends have been passed down
from generation to generation about the holiness of the Maggid. They also
know that the famous Polish prince Józef Poniatowski⁶⁵⁴ [4] had visited the little
house where the Maggid once lived and had written his name on the wall,
amongst those of all the visitors from all corners of Poland who had all felt
obliged to inscribe their name on the day of their visit.
The majority of the inhabitants of the shtetl were Jewish craftsmen in the
shoe trade, who earned a living by manufacturing shoes for the large cities.
All in all, [it is] a shtetl like all Jewish shtetls, but with something extra:
its yikhus. He’s from Kozienice, the Maggid’s shtetl.
The historical sites in Kozienice are the following: the Maggid’s synagogue
– which he himself built and laid out 100 gold ducats for the foundations
(as related in the town pinkas), the little house where he was born
and lived his entire life; and his tomb in the cemetery. In Kozienice, there
is also the great historic palace of the last Polish king, Stanisław August
Poniatowski,⁶⁵⁵ which tour groups would visit because of its historical importance,
its royal splendour and beauty, and everything which bore the stamp
of the generosity and [5] largesse of a Polish monarch.
Volksdeutsche made up the majority of the Christian population of the
shtetl. And the large German settlement of Wilki was not far away.
The Germans had very good neighbourly relations with the Jews. They
rented their fields and gardens to Jews, sold their grain to Jews, and in general
were very friendly.
And so it all appeared, until …
2. The atmosphere on the eve of war
There had not been such a successful year for a long time, the peasants revealed
to the Jews of the shtetl. The Jews were pleased: They would not have cause to
be angry at the summer visitors who came and made everything more expensive
by buying everything up. If it was a good harvest, there would be enough
for everyone...
654 Józef Poniatowski (1763–1813), prince, nephew of King Stanisław August. General, military commander in the war with Russia in 1792, then commander of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw, marshal under Napoleon.
655 In the original, incorrectly, Zygmunt August Poniatowski.
