Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Broken headstone carved with a bookshelf filled with books, indicating the final resting place of a scholar, recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
- Date
-
creation:
approximately 1850-1899
recovered: 1989
use: after 1939 September
- Geography
-
use:
Jewish cemetery;
Turek (Poland)
use: Organization Todt local headquarters; Konin (Poland : Powiat)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Muzeum Okręgowe w Koninie
Physical Details
- Language
- Hebrew
- Classification
-
Jewish Art and Symbolism
- Category
-
Jewish ceremonial objects
- Object Type
-
Jewish sepulchral monuments (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Broken, rectangular gray sandstone grave marker carved with a raised frame with a triangular peak above a bookcase with open doors and 3 shelves of books, including one propped sideways between 2 volumes. On the right and left sides are vertical, rectangular panels with a Hebrew character, pen, on the right and nun, on the left, for po nikbar [Here Lies]. The background is smooth and recessed with leaflike embellishments. The top and sides are straight and intact; the bottom is broken off with a nearly straight edge.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 15.250 inches (38.735 cm) | Width: 24.375 inches (61.913 cm) | Depth: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm)
- Materials
- overall : sandstone
- Inscription
- front, left and right, carved : Hebrew [nun peh; po nikbar, Here Lies]
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Turek. Jewish cemeteries--Desecration--Poland--Turek--History--20th century. Jewish cemeteries--Destruction and pillage--Poland--Turek. Offenses against religion--Poland--Turek--History--20th century. World War, 1939-1945--Cemeteries--Desecration--Poland--Turek. World War, 1939-1945--Cemeteries--Destruction and pillage--Poland--Greece.
- Geographic Name
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The tombstone fragment was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by the Muzeum Okregowego W Koninie.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-10 13:52:47
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3509
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The collection consists of two paintings from the Kolo synagogue and six tombstone fragments from the Turek Jewish cemetary.
Desecrated, broken tombstone with carved hands symbol from Turek Jewish cemetery
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Desecrated, broken tombstone with carved candelabra from Turek Jewish cemetery
Object
Broken headstone carved with a candelabra with candles, traditionally used to mark a woman's grave, recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
Desecrated, broken tombstone with carved Torah scroll from Turek Jewish cemetery
Object
Broken headstone carved with a Torah scroll, indicating the grave of a reader of the Torah, Kohen recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
Desecrated tombstone in 2 sections with carved scrollwork from Turek Jewish cemetery
Object
Broken headstone carved with a pair of hands symbolizing the tribe Kohen recovered during a 1989 renovation of a building in Konin county, Poland. The tombstones, from the desecrated Turek Jewish cemetery, were broken and used as paving stones for the courtyard of the local headquarters for Organization Todt. This sandstone marker was mass produced in the late 19th century. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Hundreds of Jewish men from Turek were taken as forced laborers. By January, all Jewish property was confiscated and the remaining Jews were confined to a ghetto. The synagogue was set on fire and destroyed. In October 1941, the ghetto was liquidated and Turek was Judenfrei (free of Jews.) Organization Todt was in charge of road and large scale construction projects, such as factories and fortifications, for the German Reich. By the early 1940s, it controlled over a million workers, slave laborers, war prisoners, and camp inmates.
