ORGINS OF THE NAME TURKEL

from the Turkel website at www.turkel.com

It gives what we believe is an accurate history of the name Turkel by David Turkel
ORGINS OF THE NAME TURKEL

There are Christian, Jewish and Muslim Turkels scattered all over the world today. While we may no longer share a common faith, we all probably have a common origin; in the Ottoman Empire. So, no matter how far our families may have wandered, we are still cousins. To borrow a line from a well-known American humorist, author and radio personality - Garrison Keilor, "...our women are strong, our men are good-looking, and our children are above average".

My Turkels are doubtless Sephardic Jews whose connection with the Ottoman Empire may go back for as much as 500 years. While some Jewish Turkels still reside in modern-day Turkey, and hundreds live in the USA, I am certain that we all occasionally wonder how did it all begin?

By the end of the first millennium, Jews were to be found in virtually every country of eastern and western Europe. Centers of Jewish population ranged from London to Mainz and from Moscow to Madrid. Interestingly, very few Jews remained in what is today, the state of Israel, with the vast majority living in the Diaspora. Following the Crusades, Jews were systematically expelled from every "Christian" country. Such expulsions reached their peak during the 14th and 15th centuries. As they were expelled, many Jews simply moved to an adjoining territory, however, as each area in turn adopted its own version of anti-Jewish restrictions, Jews began to search for an ultimate safe haven. This was provided by the Turks, and for almost 500 years (from the 11th to the 16th centuries) there was a steady inflow of Jews into Turkish territories. In 1453 the last "western" outpost (Constantinople) in the middle east, fell to the Turks. During this period many Jews chose to settle in eastern Poland, Lithuania and the western Ukraine, however it is clear that the Turkels were among those Jews who migrated instead to the Turkish empire or to Turkic countries or areas which were conquered by the Turks (northern Africa, the middle east, and much of eastern Europe). In any event, it is clear that they wound up living under Turkish rule, as did many of the world's Jews, by the beginning of the 17th Century.

The name Turkel is not unusual in modern-day Turkey. As "hand of the Turk" it reflects a certain pride of homeland and/or origin. In comparison, it would not be an insult for a Jew in Israel to be called a Yad Shel Israel (Arm of Israel).

By the mid 18th century, Jewish Turkels likely lived in many of the major cities of the Ottoman Empire. While many of our Turkel cousins still reside in Turkey, some lived in the Turkish provinces bordering the Black Sea -- most likely, its northern shores. It is probable that our branch of the greater "Turkel Tribe" found themselves in the area of Turkey captured by Russia's Catherine The Great in 1783. Just 7 years later, in 1791, the Empress created the Pale of Jewish Settlement. Many Turkels were forced to move to that portion of the Pale closest to the Black Sea territories. A few Turkels, not wanting to live under Russian domination (after enjoying the relative freedom of Turkish rule) determined to move farther westward to Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In 1797 Austria began readmitting Jews. Our family's verbal history seems to support this theory (the story about the Turkel who lived in or near Odessa and whose pet fox attacked the wife of a Russian military officer, causing the Turkels to flee westward).

In 1797 all persons living under Austrian rule were required to take a surname, and 7 years later (1804) all persons living in the Russian Pale had to do the same. Seeing as how our forbearers had only a few years earlier been Turkish citizens, it is understandable that they either kept their Turkish surname or took one that indicated their Turkish origins.

While our family's Turkish connection is clear, there are some contradictory theories that have been circulated. None, however, can explain the presence for many centuries of the Jewish Turkels currently living in Turkey. One story would have the Turkels originating in Raussnitz/Rousinov, Czechoslovakia as decendants of a young man who was kidnapped by the Turks. Another suggests our origin was among the defenders of Vienna when it was besieged by the Turks in the 17th century. Others suggest that Turkel is merely a shortening of the name "Turkeltaub" (German). It is humorous, but understandable that each branch of the Turkels would like to believe that all Turkels originated in their sthetel. Actually, it is most likely that our family arrived at its name by virtue of having spent hundreds of years living in the Turkish empire. Likewise, our families' sojourn in the villages around Tremblova, Podwalaczeska, Tarnopol and the western Ukraine was probably quite brief (only 2 or 3 generations). Accordingly, it is logical to focus on Turkey and not the Russian "Pale" for our family's origins. Indeed, as "Wandering Jews" we may never have felt truly at home in any country, but the name implies that at some point we acknowledged our Turkish connection -- 500 years is a very long time!