International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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Alternate names: Turov [Rus], Turów [Pol], Turaŭ [Bel], Turev [Yid], Turaw, Toorof, Belarusian: Тураў. Russian: Туров. טוראוו - Yiddish.  52°04' N, 27°44' E, in S Belarus, 70 miles E of Pinsk, 65 miles W of Mazyr (Mozyr). 1900 Jewish population: 2,253. ShtetLink.

 

The cemetery is 2.5 km from Turov on the road to Khil'chitsy (52 02'N 27 38'E). The alternate Polish name is Turew, in Mozyr province at 52 04'N 27 44'E. Present total town population is 1,000 - 5,000 with fewer than ten Jews. The earliest known Jewish community in town dates from the seventeenth century. The isolated Orthodox cemetery on a hillside has no sign or marker. The cemetery is reached by turning directly off a public road with access open to all. A broken fence with no gates surrounds the site. 100 - 500 stones are visible. No special sections. The nineteenth and twentieth century rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones and finely smoothed and inscribed gravestones, some with metal fences around graves, have Russian and Hebrew inscriptions. A Holocaust memorial exists. The cemetery contains marked mass graves. The present owner of the cemetery property used for Jewish cemetery only is unknown. The cemetery is visited occasionally by private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) and local residents. Maintenance has been stones re-erected and cleaned by Jewish individuals abroad in August 2005. Current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. No structures. Donald Szumowski (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) completed the survey 7 October 2005. He visited the site with Yuri Dorn. No interviews.[October 2005]