A settlement called Turek was mentioned as early as in 1136 as a property of archbishops from Gniezno. It was granted town privileges in 1341. The town could develop thanks to an advantageous geographic location at the crossing of different trade routes. A great fire destroyed the town in 1523. First Jews began to settle in Turek in the 18th century. The town was in the Prussian partition from 1772, then it became a part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 and eventually belonged to the Kingdom of Poland from 1815. 82 Jews lived in Turek in 1821. An independent Jewish Community was established here in the middle of the 19th century. 653 Jews lived in the town in 1857 and constituted 14% of total town population. Weaving developed rapidly in Turek in the 19th century and Jews had a huge impact on this development. There were 2,072 of them living in the town in 1897, which is exactly a quarter of total town population. 2,335 Jews lived in Turek in 1939 and constituted 24% of total town population. Turek was captured by the German troops at the beginning of the Second World War, in September 1939. The town was incorporated into Germany. The Germans established here a ghetto in spring 1940 and gathered around 5,000 local Jews. All of them were transported to the ghetto in Kowale Pańskie and then to the extermination camp in Chełmno nad Nerem.