KOZLE (Kosel; Cosel)

KOZLE (Kosel; Cosel), town in Silesia, Poland. Jews lived in Kozle long before the first documentary evidence of their presence in 1373. In 1563 Emperor ferdinand I decreed, on the urging of the municipality, that none might reside there any longer. According to an imperial decree of 1713, Jewish merchants were prohibited from even entering the town, although in 1750 two merchants were recorded as living there. The number of Jews in the town increased from 30 in 1766 to 112 in 1782. In 1820 a community was organized and a school opened, and five years later a private home was converted into a synagogue. A new synagogue was consecrated in 1884 when the community numbered 236 persons (4.7% of the total population). The community subsequently declined to 119 in 1910 and 80 in 1932. By 1939 only 24 remained. The community was destroyed during World War II and not reestablished since. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Bronn, Geschichte der Juden in Schlesien (1896–1917), passim; FGW, 103–4.