Remember Jewish Turobin

HISTORY OF JEWISH COMMUNITY

Jews settled in Turobin beginning as early as 1420. By the 17th century, a well-organized kahal functioned in the town, and owned a synagogue erected probably around 1657. In 1825, a new brick synagogue was built in Turobin. In 1915, it burned down and was rebuilt after 1918. A prayer house for women was attached to the synagogue. The Jews of Turobin earned their living mostly from fur
and leather trade, crafts (mostly tailoring), and tavern and inn-keeping. They sold such products as grain, honey, alcohol, meat, industrial goods, cloth, herring, and salt. In 1648, during the invasion of Khmelnytsky's Cossacks, the town was destroyed and some of the Jewish inhabitants of Turobin were killed. During the years 1712-1715, Turobin lands were leased by Herszek Chaimowicz, a Jew.

In the second half of the 17th century the community was restored, and as many as 126 Jewish families lived in Turobin at the turn of the 19th century. On June 30, 1754, there was a fire in the town as a result of which 10 Jewish houses worth 20,750 zloties were destroyed. Mordko Pejsakowicz from Turobin took part in parliamentary sessions of the Four-Year Sejm (1788-1792). In 1799, there
were 2,161 inhabitants in Turobin, including 480 Jews (22%). In 1820, the town was inhabited by 1,866 people, including 501 Jews (26%). In 1869 there were 2,782 inhabitants, including 1,065 Jews (38%). In the mid-19th century, Wulf Goldman and Chaim Wajsner were supervisors of the synagogue.

In about 1910, the wealthiest Jews in town were Chemia Zylbersztejn, Szyja Rozenfeld, Szyja Naj, Moszek Rozenfarb, Icek Gajer, Icek Kaminier, Dawid Tauman, and Benjamin Fersztendyk. In the interwar period the Jewish community of Turobin had a brick synagogue, a cemetery, and a wooden mikvah. Before WWI, anti-Semitic riots broke out in the town. Many Jewish political parties and organizations
were active in the town. Aside from Zionist parties formed before the First World War (Mizrachi, Poalei Zion, and others) and the Jewish Labor Party "Bund" active from 1906, the Orthodox Agudat Yisrael was established and won strong support among the local inhabitants. Besides traditional aid institutions such as Bikur Chojlim, Linas Checedek or Hachnasat Orchim, there were numerous
modern social and cultural organizations operating under the auspices of specific political parties and organizations. The Jewish community of Turobin was greatly influence by the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, movement, with its center in the nearby Zamosc. In the first half of the 19th century, the influence of the Hasidic movement was also extremely strong.

Wysokie was a town near to Turobin. The managers of the synagogues in Wysokie in the interwar periodincluded: Szloma Goldsztejn, Mordko Grosman, Moszko Kesler, Szaja Kostycki, Mordko Liberman, Jankiel Rabinowicz, Josel Rozenblum, Abram Sztejnberg, Icek Watsztejn, and Josef Zemlak.

In 1913, a Jewish Public Library was opened, and in 1924 a Jewish Cooperative Bank was established, which offered low-interest loans. Other financial institutions in Turobin included a Loans Fund "Provident" set up in the late 1920s and a loans fund established by Jewish craftsmen in town. The village of Turobin was featured in a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer entitled "The Wife Killer".

TUROBIN DURING THE HOLOCAUST

The Jewish population before the outbreak of World War II was around 1,400 people in Turobin. In late September 1939, about 100 Jews fled the village eastward, together with the withdrawing Red Army. At the beginning of the German occupation, Turobin became a place of concentration for Jews from various regions of Poland. In 1939, about 1,250 Jews from Lodz, Kolo, Konin and Slupsk were resettled to Turobin; in 1940, about 500 Jews from Lublin, and in 1942 several hundred Jews from the neighboring towns and villages were relocated to Turobin. In winter, 1942, around 5,000 Jews were in Turobin. Unlike at other locations, there was no designated ghetto area. The resettled people were accommodated in the buildings located around the market square and in the community buildings, and most especially the synagogue. A Judenrat was created per German orders and consisted of: Abram Baumfeld, Shmuel Drimler, Tuvia Frumer, Berel Halperin, Yechiel Kuper, Szulim Sznajder, Abram Zweken.

In April of 1942, the Nazis murdered about 100 Jews, including 20 children. In May of 1942, almost 3,000 ghetto dwellers were driven to Krasnystaw and then taken to the Sobibor Death Camp. In spring of 1942 the Nazis formed a forced labor camp in Wysokie. Soon after, around 200 Jews were transported there from Turobin and other surrounding towns. They stayed in two houses belonging to local farmers. In the autumn of 1942, all of them were sent to Belzec.

The Turobin ghetto was liquidated in October of 1942. Some camp laborers, mostly the old and the ill, were murdered on the spot. The others were driven to Izbica -- from where some were taken to Trawniki Labor Camp. Those unable to work were sent to the Belzec Death Camp. A group of leaders from the Jewish community -- including Szloma Kipfer (Kupfer), unknown Brandt, Icek Jaffe, Szyja Liberman, Abram Wolf, Dawid Akerman, Mordka Baum and his daughter, Abram Baumfeld, and Abram Cwekin, among others -- were executed by firing squads in gorges near the village of Olszanka.

The old Jewish cemetery in Turobin was probably established in the early 17th century, and functioned until 1941, when it was destroyed by the Nazis who used the gravestones to pave roads. In the 18th century a new Jewish cemetery was established in Zamkowa Street, and it functioned until 1942. At present it is a field. In 1994, several preserved matzevot from the Turobin cemetery were found dating back to the 19th and 20th century. In the 18th century, a new Jewish cemetery was established on a plot of land located outside the town and purchased by the kahal from Sebastian Stodzki. The cemetery functioned until 1942. During the Second World War, the Nazis devastated the synagogue. After the war, a local cooperative used the building of the synagogue until its dismantling in the 1960s. The Jewish community of Turobin, including all Jewish residents, ceased to exist, after October 18, 1942.

Please review the site content below. Zachor - We Remember.

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[Turobin Yizkor Book (Hebrew)]
[List of Jewish Taxpayers in Turobin, 1936]
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