Alternate names: Turţ [Rom], Turcz [Hun], Hebrew: טורץ Turc, Turtiu, Turts, 47°59' N, 23°13' E, in NW Romania, 20 miles NE of Satu Mare (Szatmár), 9 miles E of Halmeu (Halmi). Jews settled here in 1367 then left for Bulgaria until the late 19th century. 1899 Jewish population: 264 (3%).
Yizkor: Zikhron netsah la-kehilot ha-kedoshot Halmin-Turcz ve-ha-seviva asher nehrevu ba-shoa (Tel Aviv, 1968)
- JOWBR: Jewish Cemetery burials
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), pp. 1350-51: "Turt".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Romania, Vol. 2 (1980), p. 162: "Turţ".
- JewishGen Hungary SIG
- JewishGen Romania SIG
The Jews of Turt were taken from their homes by the Nyilas (Arrow Cross) during Pesach 1944 and put in the Shul where they were prevented from leaving and were intentionally made to urinate and defacate in the Shul, This process was repeated in many, many locations of Jews. They were not allowed to eat or drink either. After a few days, some say a week, they were all put on trucks and taken to the ghetto in NAGYSZOLLOS also know as SZOLLOS which is in present day VYNOGRADIV, UKRAINE, not to the Szatmar ghetto. This was possibly because under Hungarian administration Turcz was historically considered part of UGOCSA county of which Satu Mare was not a part and Nagyszollos therefore was the obvious administrative center from the SS perspective. After being in Nagyszollos' ghetto for 1-2 weeks, they were sent to Auschwitz where most of them were murdered. Some of the younger men and women survived because some of the men were in the Hungarian Forced Labor Battalions (where many including some of my uncles were killed) and others somehow made it through the hell of the camps and the liberation (when many also died from eating too quickly). My grandfather, Miklos (Nicholas) Farkas was one of the very few survivors of his labor battalion unit last based in Siegendorf, Austria. The other Jewish men from Turcz died along the Eastern Front in Ukraine. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., San Francisco, California. [March 2009]
US Commission No. ROCE-0593 -
The cemetery is located at Turt, 3937, judet Satu Mare, 4759 2313, 281.1 miles NNW of Bucharest and 30 km from Negresti Oas. Alternate name: Turc (Hungarian). Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
Mayor Ciupac Ioan, Town Hall of Turt, judet Satu Mare
The Jewish Community of Satu Mare, Decebal Street no. 4A, 3900 Satu Mare, Romania, tel. 0040-61-713703
The Federation of The Jewish Communities of Romania, Sfintu Vineri Street no. 9-11, sect. 3, Bucharest, Romania
"Dr. Moshe Carmilly" Institute for Hebrew and Jewish History, Universitatii Street no. 7-9, room 61, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Director: Ladislau Gyemant, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
"A.D. Xenopol" Institute of History, Lascar Catargi Street, no. 15, 6400- Iasi Judet Iasi, Moldavia , Romania. Tel. 032/212614; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Director: Alexandru Zub.
Key holder and caretaker: Pop Gheorghe, Turt, no. 328
The 1880 Jewish population by census was 221, by 1900 census was 340, and in 1930 was 350. In May 1944, the Jews were gathered in the ghetto of Satu Mare and on May 19, 22, 26, 29, 30, 31, and June 1 were deported to Auschwitz. The unlandmarked Orthodox, Hasidic cemetery was established in second half of the 19th century. Noteworthy individuals buried in the cemetery: 3 Cohanim. Last known burial was inter-war period.
The hill and flat land, separate but near other cemeteries, has no sign or marker. Reached via private property, access is open with permission. A fence with a non-locking gate surrounds the site. Approximate pre-WWII size is unknown. Approximate post-WWII size is 62 x 14 m. 100-500 stones are visible. 20-100 stones are not in original location. Less than 25% of the stones are toppled or broken. Location of stones removed from the cemetery is unknown. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is not a problem. Water drainage is good all year. No special sections. The oldest known gravestone dates from second half of the 19th century. The 19th and 20th century marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and concrete flat shaped, smoothed and inscribed, and carved relief-decorated, and double tombstones have Hebrew inscriptions. No known mass graves. The local Jewish community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are residential. Rarely, private Jewish or non-Jewish visitors stop.The never vandalized cemetery maintenance has been re-erection of stones, patching broken stones, cleaning stones, and clearing vegetation by local non-Jewish residents in 1998. Current care is regular unpaid caretaker. No structures.
Claudia Ursutiu, Pietroasa Street no. 21, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, tel: 0040-64-151073 visited the site and completed the survey on 30 June 2000 using the following documentation:
Recensamantul din 1880. Transilvania(1880 Transylvania Jewish Population Census.) coord.: Traian Rotariu, Cluj 1997.
Recensamantul din 1900. (1900 Transylvania Jewish Population Census) coord.: Traian Rotariu, Cluj, 1999
Recensamintul general al popula]iei din 29 decembrie 1930, ( The General Census of the population from december 29, 1930), vol. II, Bucuresti 1938
Carmilly-Weinberger, Moshe. History of the Jews of Transylvania (1623-1944), Bucuresti, 1994, in Romanian
Recensamantul general al populatiei Romaniei din 29 decembrie 1930, vol. II (The General Census of the Population of Romania from 29 December 1930, vol. II), Bucuresti, 1938
Recensamintul general al populatiei din Romania din 7 ianuarie 1992 (The General Census of the Population of Romania from January 7, 1992), vol. I, Bucuresti, 1994
Coriolan Suciu, Dictionar istoric al localitatilor din Transilvania (The Historical Dictionary of Localities in Transylvania), vol. I-II, Bucuresti, 1967
Carmilly-Weinberger, Moshe. History of the Jews of Transylvania (1623-1944), Bucuresti, 1994, in Romanian Otto Mitelstrass, Historisch-Landeskundlicher Atlas von Siebenburgen, Ortsnamenbuch, Heidelberg, 1992
Microsoft Auto Route Express 1999
Zsido Lexicon, ed. by Ujvari Peter, Budapest, 1929.
Izvoare si marturii referitoare la evreii din Romania (Sources and Testimonies on the Jews in Romania), vol. III/1-2, coord. L. Gyemant, L. Benjamin, Bucuresti, Ed. Hasefer, 1999
Ladislau Gyemant, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Evreii din Transilvania in epoca emanciparii, 1790-1867 (The Jews of Transylvania in the Age of Emancipation 1790-1867), Bucuresti, ed, Enciclopedica, 2000
Claudia and Adrian Ursutiu interviewed Pop Gheorghe, Turt. [January 2003]