Jonas Turkow

Who is Jonas Turkow?

Jonas Turkow was born in 1898 in Warsaw, Poland and died in 1987 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was an actor, stage manager, director and writer.

He was the brother of the actor Zygmunt Turkow, the actor and writer Icchak Turkow and the journalist Marek Turkow, and husband of the famous actress Diana Blumenfeld.

In 1916, with his brother Zygmunt, he organized and performed in Dos artistishe vinkele, then spent some time with David Herman and in the brothers Hernfeld's German comedy theater.. From 1917-1920 he played in Esther-Rukhl Kaminski's troup; in 1921 he organized Dos baveglekhe dramatishe teater touring Poland and Galitsia. Subsequently he toured with Di yunge bine. In 1926 he was hired to direct the cultural Yiddish theatre in Kraków. He received the first state subsidy given in Poland to any Yiddish theater. During the 1930s he was director for kleynkunst revi-teater in Kaunas.

He was imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto during the years 1940-43, and was later a member of the underground. After the war, as a member of the Central Jewish Committee of Poland, he investigated 18 cases of Jewish collaboration with German Gestapo. He lived since 1950 in Israel.