United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Chil Turek (1903-1971) was born in Warsaw, Poland to Isaac and Cypojra (née Goldberg) Turek. He had two brothers, Mendel and Jakov, and one sister, Astra. He married Maria Cwajbaum (d. 1943) of Warsaw in Paris, France in 1927. They had two children, Sarah (1928-1943) and Aaron (1932-1943). The Tureks were in the Warsaw ghetto from 1940 to 23 April 1943. They were then transported to the Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp until July 1943. It was here that Maria, Sarah, and Aaron were killed. Chil was transported to the Radom concentration camp where he remained until July 1944. He was then transported by train to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then sent to the concentration camp in Vaihingen an der Enz in August 1944. In April 1945 he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp. After the war he was in the Feldafing and Stuttgart-West displaced persons (DP) camps in Germany. In the DP camps he worked as a locksmith instructor. Chil immigrated to the United States in 1949 on the USS General Haan. He settled in Providence, Rhode Island, and married Mary Russian later that year. Their daughter, Cheryl Iris, was born in 1952. He worked at the Imperial Knife Company until his death by myeloma in 1971.
Copyright Holder: Mrs. Cheryl LaRossa
box 1
The Chil Turek papers are arranged alphabetically by subject.
The Chil Turek papers primarily contain identification cards, employment and testimony documents, photographs, and restitution papers that document his time in displaced persons camps at Feldafing and Stuttgart, Germany from 1946-1948. The employment and testimony papers relate to Chil’s work as a locksmith instructor and his testimony that he was in concentration camps in Lublin, Radom, Auschwitz, Vaihingen an der Enz, and Dachau. The identification cards include papers issued from the Political Prisoners Committee, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; the International Information Office – Dachau; the Stuttgart-West, Germany displaced persons camp; and the Labour Zionist Party. Also included is a calendar book from 1940 that Chil used as an address book after the war. The photographs are primarily from the displaced persons camps at Feldafing and Stuttgart-West, Germany. They include photographs of Chil working in a mechanics shop, his friends, and his cousin Chana Rosenman. Also included are two family photographs. One photo is a group picture from Michalin, Poland, 1932. It is likely that Chil’s wife and mother are in the photograph, along with his daughter Sarah. The other photograph is of his children Sarah and Aaron. The restitution papers include bank statements and correspondence relating to his claims, as well as his inheritance after his death in 1971. The bulk of the correspondence are letters from the United Restitution Office. He had claims for restitution for health related problems that he felt were developed at the concentration camps, as well as jewelry and valuables taken by the Nazis. Correspondence after 1971 is with his wife Mary regarding his pension and inheritance.
Chil Turek papers