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• The first mention of Turov (in Belarussian - Turov) in written sources ('Povest vremennych let') was in 980 as the center of Turov Principality. There is ? lot of legends connected with the name of this Belarussian town. According to the one of them the name 'Turov' was created from the personal name of the Variag (Scandinavian) dukes - Tur (or Tura). Since the end of XIII - the beginning of ?IV century Turov was in the squad of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (in ?V century - the possession of Lithuania Duke Skirgayla and after his death - of the famous Belarussian Astrozhskiya family). In the middle of XVI century of Turov was ? part of Troky (today - Trakai in Lithuania) and in Pinsk povet of Brest voevodstvo. In the result of Tatarian invasion in 1502 and 1521 Turov suffered seriously. In 1535 Russian troops of duke Fedor Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky destroyed Turov and the whole region. The first mention of Jews in Turov was the first quarter of XVII century. According to the decision of Lithuanian Vaad (? council of main Lithuanian rabbis and community leaders) since 1623 Turov Jews were under control of Pinsk kagal (community). Not far from it, between the marshes, is situated ? lake with two names 'Kniaz '('Prince') and 'Zhid' ('Jew'). The lake was known as the possession of prince ?lelkovich-Slutski, in the second half of XVII century - of famous magnat family - Radzivil, later - of Vitgenshtein. ? legend says, that ?lelkovich-Slutski dukes hated his brother. ?? put him in ? special castle on the lake. Late the flood destroyed this castle. Prince died under the ruins of the castle. After these events the lake received ? name 'Prince'. Another legend says, that lake had only kosher fish: pikes, perches and others. Also, according to the next version of the legend Radzivil lived in the castle on ? Lake with his Jewish mistress. She died in the result of the flood and the lake received ? name 'Zhid'.

  Native inhabitants in Turov supported to the insurrection of the Ukrainian kazaks of Bagdan Chmelnitsky. It was ? period of awful tragedy for the Ukrainian and South Belarussian Jewry. Chmelnitsky and his supporters organized many bloody Jewish pogroms. The chief of the Grand Duchy army (vialiki getman Litouski) famous Yanush Radzivil in 1649 attacked the kazaks in Turov and the majority of them were killed. In 1655, during the war between Moscow (tsar Alexis Mikhailovich) and Rzhech Pospolita (Union of the Polish kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), Russian troops occupied Turov. Occupation and the ?olicy of Jewish pogroms of Moscow ruler were the continuation of the terrible epoch for Belarussian Jewry. In 1695 Polish king and Lithuanian duke Yan III Sabeski gave in Pinks and Turov catholic bishops ? right for the special taxes from the Turov inhabitants and kagal. More then 316 Jews lived in Turov in 1765. In 1793 Russian troops occupied Turov. Turov became ? part of Mozyr (in Belarussian - Mazyr) uezd in Minsk gubernia, the possession of Sologub. In 1793 in Turov were about 500 houses, 7 churches and ? synagogue. In 1797-1800 English trade companies of Pitt and Forster had their business in the forests of Turov region. It was ? very bad period for local ???l?g?. The main occupations of Turov Jewry in the XIX century were small trade. Their customers were Belorussian peasants. Jews sold them soap, candles, nails and other important goods. Jews took an active part in wooden and fish trade. On of the peculiarities of Turov region Jews was their role in agriculture. In 1886 mor? then 105 Jewish farmers families lived in Turov.

  Great damage for local economy was the fire of 1834 - major part of shtetl, two mills, several little plants, etc were destroyed by the fire. In 1847 the Jewish population increased to 1447, the results of the first Total Russian Census in 1897 cleared in Turov 4290 inhabitants and among them 2253 Jewish. At the beginning of XX century Jews had here 3 prayer houses and private female school. In Turov worked local post-office, water mill, one wharf on Pripiat' river. After WW-I, and Bolshevik revolution Turov was known as the center of the district in Mazyr akruga (region). In 1925 its population was about 25,070 people, including 22,197 - Belarussians, 2808 - Jews, 32 - Poles, 25 - Russians, 6 - Germans, 2 - others. Turov had 32 stores, timber plant and so on. Jews had two synagogues and one rabbi. Soviet authorities organized ? professional and political coracles in Yiddish. In 1925 shtetl had 5393 inhabitants. In 1931 Yurka Snitko wrote in his article in the newspaper 'Shliachy kalektivizacii' (No 8 - 'The steps of collectivization') about Jewish agricultural settlement ('artel') in Turov region. Since 1930 Turov had ? special region newspaper ('Leninskie zavety' - Lenin s testament). On the 22th of June, 1941, Germany invaded Soviet Union. Turov was occupied by Nazis on the 14th of July, 1941 and liberated by Red Army only on the 5th of July, 1944. Turov Jewish community was diminished.

  (contributed by Leonid Smilovitsky)

• There is an article about Turov in the Russian language Jewish Encyclopedia (Evreiskaya Encyclopedia). The article can be found in volume XV, page 57, and is 18 lines long. (contributed by Joel Spector)
• Turov was in the Turovskaya volost' (courtesy of Vitaly Charny)

Links for the shtetl of Turov

Links for the uyezd of Mozyr

Links for the gubernia of Minsk

a plan of this shtetl, made in 1926 (contributed by Leonid Smilovitsky)

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