Original subtitles

All it takes for evil to triumph is for

good people to do nothing. Edmund BG

1729-1797 Occupied France 1942 2 H

Turkish passport

I lived through that war. And I

survived. That's why these memories now

feel like a novel to me. Like a novel.

You might feel like these events aren't

real. Because you only read about them

in books. They appear differently to

you. But because I was there, they are

all real to me. And I was only 20 years

old then, I wasn't a baby. I lived

through those events. I was going to

the cinema, I was going to restaurants,

I saw the curfews, the bombardments,

the soldiers in the streets, the raids.

People were arrested and taken away.

Posters were hung on the walls. They

said, "These people were shot, those

people were shot." My father came home

with a newspaper under his arm and told

my mother that war had been declared. "

She said. The date was August 3, 1939.

Of course, I have memories of the war.

Running in the streets, bombardments,

hiding in cellars. One of my sisters

was disabled. She couldn't walk, and it

was extremely sad, very difficult times

. We were deprived of food in Paris. We

lived through very difficult years

between 1940 and 1943. There were

separate ration cards for shoes and for

bread. Everything was under very strict

control. When the Nazis came to Paris,

the government accepted all the

conditions they put forward. Because we

were Jewish, it was made mandatory to

stamp our Turkish identity cards with a

Jewish mark. Because they accepted us

as Turkish Jews, we did not wear the

Star of David, which was an extremely

humiliating symbol.

Jews not allowed. Et pour cela, nous

avons évité de porter l'étoile juive

qui était un élément extrêmement

humiliant. That was the terrible part.

We were always afraid. Wherever we went

, whatever we did, we were always in

fear. Constantly in the street with

Germans..." We were encountering them.

My mother would tell me, "Don't take

any candy or anything like that, it

might be poisoned." She was always

afraid. There were

restrictions on controlling Jews. Do

you know? It was the same for schools.

We weren't allowed to go to school. We

had restrictions on many simple things.

When I say simple things, I mean we

were forbidden from entering parks.

Entering cinemas and theaters was also

forbidden. Certain professions were

also forbidden. Because of my age, this

didn't affect me, but of course, the

parks concerned me. We could only

travel in the last carriage of the

subway. We were forbidden from going

out at certain times. After a certain

time in the evening, we had to hand

over the radio. It was absolutely

forbidden for Jews to listen to the

radio. Everything was forbidden. During

the occupation, a huge anti-Semitic

exhibition was organized at the Berlit

Palace. A gigantic billboard with a

vulgar caricature of a Jew was hung.

The entire exhibition depicted Jews as

cursed. It showed how Jews were in your

lives. All these people were Jewish. We

didn't know this. The French didn't

know either. A little boy would point

and say to his mother, "Look, there's a

Jew here." What were we supposed to do?

Grab our jackets and run away? At night

, I could hear the German soldiers

breaking down the doors upstairs. Then

I heard people crying. They were

looking for families. They were kicking

and shouting, "Get out, get out!" I was

only 12 years old. I just stood there,

crying and waiting. Listening to all

that was terrifying. We were very

scared for four years. Every day we

heard people being taken away. At night

, we all slept under the beds,

listening to London radio. We followed

it hopefully, wondering if we could

ever win the war. We were curious about

that. I remember a few things from the

war period. For example, I remember the

sirens. When we heard the sirens, we

would panic. It was a terrible thing. I

remember very clearly now, when the

noises started at midnight, my mother

and father would wake us up and wrap us

in blankets like bundles. My disabled

brother and my younger brother, who is

now deceased, were with us. We were

wrapped in blankets. They would take us

away, shouting, "Hurry, hurry!" We were

very scared. We would cling tightly to

our mother. We would all go down to the

basement under the apartment building.

I remember it very well. When bombs

started falling in Paris, we would grab

our gas masks and go down to the

basement. We would have flashlights

with us as we went down. Some people

would bring candles. We would all hide

there until the sirens stopped. It

would be really, really cold down there

. I remember a lot of children crying.

I was shivering from the cold too. What

I remember most is fear and anxiety.

And that has always stayed with me. I

get terrified at the slightest noise. I

hate sirens. I would start trembling.

The sounds of bombs and explosions

affected me tremendously. They had a

very strong impact on me. In the

evenings, when the alarm went off at

home, we would immediately go to the

metro near our house. We would have gas

masks with us. You know what happened.

Along with the gas masks, we would take

some sugar and water and sleep on the

metro until the sirens stopped. During

the Veldiv raid in July 1942, there was

an awakening among the public. They

started asking what they had done to

those children and the elderly. They

were carrying them on stretchers to the

doctor. Until then, the Nazis hadn't

wanted to arrest children, but there

they rounded everyone up. Do you know

what they did? They separated the

children from their families. They took

the children away. They took about 100

children to two camps, Pitivie and

Bonle Roland camps in the Luaria region

, and they stayed there. These children

no longer had families. The little ones

were crying and wetting themselves.

There was no one to take care of them.

Some didn't even know their names,

and the community was starting to feel

uneasy seeing this. Because these camps

were in the heart of the cities.

After a large meeting on July 2, 1942,

a friend of ours in the French police

came and warned us that a major raid

would take place the next day. My

mother took me to the train station and

warned me, "I will hold your hand, but

don't pretend you know me. I will show

you a woman; you will go with her." My

mother had instructed me not to speak.

I knew where my father was, that he was

hiding, but I was not to say anything.

I didn't speak. She said nothing.

Seventeen people from our family were

taken away in the great raid. None of

them returned. None of them returned.

Even though we were under protection,

even though we were citizens of neutral

Turkey, which was not occupied during

the war, bad things could still happen

to us. Between 1940-41, we were under

the protection of the Turkish

government. When the French and German

laws mandated that all Jews wear the

yellow star, and other various

regulations came into effect, it was

very normal for citizens of different

countries to apply to embassies and

consulates for protection. There were

officially registered Jews. And there

were Jews we could call unregistered.

These were either negligent individuals

who hadn't renewed their registrations

or who had married a Turk and hadn't

yet registered with the embassy. All

these Those in this situation, or those

who had neglected their duties, sought

Türkiye's protection. My father

regularly paid the consulate fees each

year to maintain his Turkish

citizenship. Thanks to this, on three

occasions between 1939 and 1943, when

he was arrested, he was released as a

result of the intervention of the

Turkish consulate or embassy. But these

people had no documents. Those who were

unregistered had no written proof. So,

the officer at the door, Antuan, taught

them a few Turkish sentences. When they

arrived in front of the embassy, they

were asked for their documents, and if

they didn't have them, they were asked

if they could at least speak Turkish.

They would repeat the sentences they

had learned a few minutes earlier. And

this knowledge of Turkish was accepted

as proof that they belonged to this

nationality. Then they were given a

certificate, and thanks to this

certificate, they were either released

from the concentration camps they had

been sent to or exempted from the daily

raids in Paris. My father always told

me, "Never, ever say you are Jewish.

Never. Sosturka, Sosturka, Sosturka.

You are Turkish, you are Turkish." He

kept telling me this incessantly. They

were saying this. They were very scared

. Because I was the only one going to

school. I was the only one who could

tell something, who could reveal

something. I remember it very well. I

had learned my lesson very well. I

should never have said that I had the

star. Never. Because my father wouldn't

have wanted that. Maybe that's what

protected me in the neighborhood. I had

an aunt who lived in Limoges. During

Germany's occupation of France, they

went to arrest her. Thanks to her

Turkish passport, she and her two

children were saved. Unfortunately, her

husband was exiled, and we never knew

what happened to him after that. When

the German command imposed the

obligation to arrest all Jews,

Selahattin Ülkümen met with Kliman,

who was then the SS general of the city

, and explained that all Turkish Jews

there were considered Turkish citizens

according to the Turkish constitution,

regardless of race or religion. It

wasn't easy to convince the German

general, but he finally succeeded, and

42 Jews were saved. Many Turkish

diplomats, using their own initiative,

risking their lives, and fighting hard,

saved a handful of Jews from certain

death. I never wore the yellow star.

Because On the one hand, we weren't in

the occupied territory. We weren't

obligated to wear it. On the other hand

, since our Turkish identity was

confirmed, we weren't required to wear

the star. However, many people from my

family circle living in Paris, despite

being Turkish citizens, were arrested

on the subway for not wearing the star.

So our position became somewhat

privileged. On the one hand, we were

branded with the infamous Jewish stigma

. We had to carry our identity cards,

but we weren't required to wear the

yellow star. This was a great advantage

for us, thanks again to the

intervention of Turkish diplomats with

German authorities.

My father, Fikret Özdoğancı, had

good relations with General Vonscholtis

, which was, of course, also to the

benefit of the Jews. For example, all

Jews were ordered to wear the yellow

star with the word "Jew" on it. They

were obliged to do so. My father, after

much effort, walking and arguing with

Vonscholtis, resolved this issue in the

following way: the star was placed on

the coat or jacket...It was to be worn

inside. It wouldn't be visible from the

outside. Because those who wore that

star couldn't enter any place where

Germans were present. They were

forbidden from going to restaurants, or

any public places. During the

occupation, we were relatively

protected. That is, we didn't wear the

yellow star. My parents had retained

their Turkish citizenship. One day, the

Germans knocked on our door and asked

for our documents. My mother handed

them the documents. They had a Turkish

stamp on them. They said, "Okay, okay,"

and left. The doorman would tell the

Gestapo who came to arrest my father.

He lived on the 5th floor. They never

came upstairs. The doorman said, "Mr.

Mizrahi is Turkish." Finally, he said

he worked at the Turkish embassy, which

wasn't true either. The Turkish

ambassador emphasized that they were

protecting us, but the situation with

the Germans was completely uncertain.

Therefore, he told us not to go to

parties, not to be out in the evenings,

and to protect ourselves. The

atmosphere was very heavy. We had no

idea what was happening in the

concentration camps. It was

unimaginable. Then they started

arresting Jews. On December 12, 1941...

As I was exiting the subway on the

Champs-Élysées, the first major raid

on Jews took place. We had no idea.

That day, the police had been ordered

to arrest 1,000 Jews. They were going

to search their homes. They had lists

of names. But when they couldn't find

1,000 Jews in their homes, they rounded

them up from the streets around 4:45

p.m. On December 11, 1941, a German

general was assassinated on the banks

of the Seine. The Germans immediately

imposed a curfew. In Paris, it started

at 6:00 p.m. I had an appointment with

a friend at a restaurant in the Place

de la République. Suddenly, we heard

an extraordinary noise. Jeeps and

motorcycles, along with SS officers,

had arrived and stopped in front of the

restaurant. Everyone started showing

their ID cards. When it was my turn,

they were going to look at my ID card.

It had "Jew" written on it in large red

letters. I gave them my ID card, but at

the same time, I pulled out a document

from the Turkish embassy from my pocket

. I also said that I was an official

Turkish citizen. Upon this, a German

soldier said to me in French, "You may

be Turkish, but you are Jewish." They

arrested me. My friend was Catholic. I

asked him to tell my mother that they

had arrested me.

My mother ran to the consulate. The

consul said they would do everything

they could. He reassured us, saying, "

Don't worry, we'll probably get to a

conclusion." I

was getting off the subway. German

military police asked me for my

documents. I showed them to him. I saw

the word "Jew" on them. "Follow me," he

said. I don't know how long, but after

a while, in the middle of the night, we

arrived at Kompiyen station. We got off

the train there. Soldiers surrounded us

on both sides. They had rifles. I think

we started walking in groups of five.

We didn't know where we were going. We

were just walking. It was a cold winter

day, December 1941. It was really very

cold. I had a coat on. The raids were

terrifying. I think the biggest raid in

one area was in 1943. There were many.

It continued non-stop. Arrests were

happening. That was the atmosphere

every day. Anxiety was rampant. People

were constantly being arrested. There

had been more significant raids as well

. These things made the occupation even

more visible. Of course, we had many

relatives in the neighborhood. Many

tragedies occurred. For example, my

cousin had just gotten married, and the

day after the wedding, her husband was

sent into exile. Yes, there was a very

harsh, very difficult atmosphere during

the war. The German occupation, the

raids. People were being deported to

Achwitz. But we didn't know yet that it

was a death camp. We thought it was for

working in Germany. Fear came later. At

that time, we didn't know what would

happen to us. The next day they sent us

to Drans. It was a terrifying place.

Because life there was very difficult.

There was no heating in the wards. We

spent six months there during the

winter with very limited food. It was

very difficult. Then the Germans caused

this scarcity in Paris as well. I say

Germans, but mostly Nazis. My sister,

who was free, went to the Turkish

embassy on Ottoman Boulevard every day

for weeks and talked to the officials

there about what to do about the

citizens. I think at that time, Turkey,

the Turkish government, wanted to

protect and save its citizens.

A humanitarian act. Otherwise, they

were sending everyone away. According

to the Germans, if you were Jewish, you

were going to a concentration camp. And

that was the end of it, unfortunately.

It's a great pity. Some of us died from

cold and hunger. There were elderly

people. Some had diabetes. They

couldn't withstand the cold. Strenger.

The roll calls, conducted in the

freezing cold at dawn, sometimes lasted

3-4 hours. But since I was 20 years old

at the time, I was able to endure this

treatment. We survived under these

conditions for about 15 days. The

restrictions were terrible. The

situation was the same everywhere.

Nothing changed for those who were

deported or who would be deported later

. We didn't eat. There was nothing to

eat. There was only soup, turnips, or

things like vegetable peels. If you can

call that living, we were trying to

live without doing anything. Yes. How

can I describe it while we were in

Drani? We were under pressure every day

. There were roll calls in the

courtyard several times a day. Because

they were afraid of us escaping, of us

getting away. Standing and waiting for

hours in the cold was very difficult.

Those were very difficult days. Every

day I heard that someone was going to

Auschwitz, another was going somewhere

else, that someone was dying. Wars

happen, but when you attack a race,

that's a terrible thing. If they kill

you because of your religion, that's

inhuman. People were so ashamed that

they allowed all of this to happen.

Being hungry is one thing, but the

feeling of starving to death is

something else entirely, very difficult

for someone who has never experienced

it to understand. It was like a kind of

selection process. A place of mixing

and choosing. For example, could there

be someone important who wouldn't be

killed? That's what they were looking

for. There were 76,000 Jews in Drans.

French Jews.

There were French Jews. 76,000 people

were deported, and a maximum of 2,500

survived. The Turkish embassy came to

Drans about 15 days after we arrived to

take us out. I was released after 2.5

months. Because I was an official

Turkish citizen. But then I learned

that my mother had applied to the

embassy. In fact, 3 months later,

exactly one week before they were to be

sent to AOSF, they released me. But of

course, my half-brother arrived. Well,

he was more or less a thin, starving

thing. One morning on February 6, 1942,

after roll call, while I was in my cell

with the others, a German soldier came

and said, "Lazar Russo." I said, "

That's me." He said, "Follow me. Take

your blanket, your bowl, your spoon,

your registration number." My number

was 3 2 3. It was engraved on a piece

of metal. I went into an office. A

high-ranking officer was sitting inside

. "Lazar Russo?" he asked. I said yes.

He said, "Sign here." I signed. He

showed me a stamp. He told me to sign

over it. "Okay, now you're free.""He

said, and asked me if I had any money.

I said I had some. He gave me a

third-class ticket for the train to

Paris. The embassy had done its

research. The embassy knew that Jews

were being arrested on certain dates.

They knew that raids were being carried

out against Jews. They had done their

research based on this. They knew that

Jews were being arrested. And among

these Jews was a Turkish Jew. That was

me. And this Turkish Jew had to be

freed. In this whole story I've told,

one thing is certain: no country in

Europe under Nazi occupation had the

means to defend its own citizens.

Unfortunately, the same was true in

France, and amidst all these countries

that indifferently watched Jews being

exterminated in concentration camps and

death camps, Turkey did everything it

could. It bravely, stubbornly, and with

great desire tried to defend its

citizens. I had the honor of meeting

Ambassador Necdet Kent. He shared his

secrets with me. He told me that when

he was the vice-consul in Nice, they

helped a great deal in protecting Jews

and saving them from deportation. One

of the stories was this: Some Jews had

Turkish passports..." Despite this,

they were arrested by the Germans and

put on trains to be taken to camps.

Kent boarded the train with these

people and told the Germans, "I will go

to the camp with them. If you don't

release them, we will have a big

problem with Turkey." Upon this, the

Germans were forced to release them. He

always told me that he learned a lot

from his experiences at that time, but

he feared that the world hadn't learned

enough. Another Turkish diplomat worth

mentioning was Necdet Kent, the consul

in Marseille. Kent boarded the train

that was taking the Jews rounded up in

the Marseille raids to the death camps.

He told the authorities that 81 of the

people inside were Turkish citizens.

The Nazis didn't want to accept his

explanations. Because, after all, a Jew

was a Jew, and all Jews had to be

deported from Türkiye. Upon this,

Necdet Kent and his deputy boarded the

train. "Okay. Then we'll go with them

to the final stop.""They said so.

Naturally, to prevent a diplomatic

scandal, the Germans were forced to

stop the train at the next station and

released the Jews they wanted to take

with them, along with the two diplomats

. Thus, 81 Jews from Marseille were

saved thanks to this intervention.

Although the train incident is the most

famous story written and spoken about,

no one should forget it. For a long

time, not only my father, but all the

diplomats, the officials at the Paris

embassy, the ambassador, his deputy

Namık Yolga, other consuls, Selahattin

Ülkümen, and many others risked their

lives and careers to save many Turkish

Jews. One day, there was an incident in

Mila. In front of the building, the

consulate, there was a large garden,

like a courtyard. There was also an

iron railing. The consulate was on a

street. Another street runs

perpendicular to this street. We were

right at the end of it. My mother and I

were playing in the garden. A woman

came with a child. The woman's

complexion was pure white. I've never

seen such a color in my life. My mother

went to the woman to ask what was wrong

and to talk to her about something."

They started. My mother opened the iron

bars. She let the woman in. She told

the woman to go into the building. The

woman took her children and went into

the building. I told my mother to close

the door again. A car arrived. Two

people got out of the car. One of them

came to the iron bars. Probably to go

inside, or to talk to my mother there.

My mother and they started talking. She

says they talked for 5 or 10 minutes

and then the Germans left. There was no

incident there. My mother and I went

inside. My mother and father were there

, and they told her to talk to this

woman, that the Gestapo had come. Had

they killed her husband or taken him

away? The woman sees this. She starts

to run away. The consul randomly

appears on the scene. He said something

to her, I mean, I won't let this woman

leave here, he told my father. And my

father said, then we'll get something

for her. We'll accept her as a Turkish

citizen. I don't know the paperwork for

the minister and the two children,

let's just say...But I know that this

woman stayed there. She stayed in the

consulate for about a month. Then this

woman left the consulate. This shows

that this woman...The required document

shows that a Turkish passport was

issued. There was no other way for this

woman to leave.

In the last few days, we were told

buses would come to pick us up. But we

didn't know if the buses would take us

to the train that would take us to

Achwitz, or if it would be something

else. However, when we arrived at the

Lutesia Hotel in Paris, we learned that

we could be released and return to

Türkiye. My sister went to the

consulate and intervened to secure our

release and the release of others. We

had dual citizenship. Our photos were

added to my parents 'passports, and all

three of us became Turkish citizens.

Because we were not yet adults, we were

Turkish due to our families and

traveled as Turkish citizens. My mother

was recognized by the Turkish consulate

. She came in 1933 to marry my father.

When she heard from her family that

Kurds could return to their country,

she went to the consulate to register.

But because I was born in France, the

consulate didn't accept me. My mother

didn't know that she had to register me

at the Turkish consulate at birth. She

tried very hard to convince them to let

me go with her. She went many times and

stated that I was also Turkish by birth

. Finally, I went with them. I managed

to go to Türkiye by train in 1943. One

day, my sister learned that the Turkish

consulate had said, "Either we take you

back to your country of birth, or we

leave you to the mercy of the Nazis,

like the French." A year later, I was

summoned by the Turkish embassy, and

the official said, "You need to return

to Türkiye to fulfill your military

service." My mother and siblings were

living there. I had to leave them

behind. Immediately, it occurred to me

that since I had been released, they

were no longer in danger. Of course, I

owe my life to Türkiye. I immediately

told them, "I am at your service."

Cevdet Dürn was the ambassador in

Paris, and Namık Kemal Yonga was his

deputy. They saved approximately 1802

Jews by attaching their photos to the

passports of Muslim Turkish students.

In this way, they gave them a kind of

passport and therefore permission to

pass through. It was illegal, but it

was legal. They were gathering all the

Jews in Paris at the Drans de Turkish

Jews. Of course, they had also gathered

our citizens there. One day, my father

received a phone call. News of the

threats was coming in. So, regarding

the arrest of some of our citizens

there, the process was as follows:

First, they would go to the German

office in Paris. Then, they would go to

the German office in the region where

the citizens were located. Taking blank

passports with them, they would stop

the process just before the Turkish

citizen boarded the train. At that time

, I can say that Turkish diplomats had

considerable power against Germany.

They used it to the fullest extent,

rescued those individuals at the last

minute, took their cars, and brought

them back.

Another example is Bey Erkin. He was

the Turkish ambassador to the VID

between 1940 and 1943. With his

intervention, a significant number of

officially registered and unregistered

Jews were rescued. Most of the European

Jews rescued by Turkish diplomats did

not actually have a real Turkish

identity. They considered themselves

French Jews if they lived in France,

and Italian Jews if they lived in Italy

.

Three months before the rescue, my

father, as usual, went to the Turkish

embassy. The ambassador told him, "If

you want, we can put you on a train,

and you can go." He said, "The Turkish

consul was a friend of my father's. He

told him,' We are planning to declare

war on Germany. If you don't want to

return to Türkiye on the train that

will be arranged from February 1944

onwards, we may no longer be able to

protect you. 'My father came home and

said to us,' Look, children, we're

going to die someday anyway. If we're

going to die on the way, let's get on

that train. 'The

Turkish consulate sent a message to my

mother. It said,' Turkey is very soon,

it seems, planning to declare war on

the Germans. From the moment war is

declared, we will no longer be able to

protect you. 'But we organized a train,

prepared a carriage for our Turkish

citizens, and came from Paris to

Istanbul by train. Towards the end of

1943, the ambassador told us,' If you

don't return to Türkiye, we will no

longer be able to protect you. '""He

said,' You must return to Türkiye.

Otherwise, you will no longer be

protected. 'So we decided to leave. But

of course, it was a very difficult

situation, very difficult. But since it

was the only solution, we decided to

leave. The time of departure was in

February 1944, in the middle of winter.

The embassy informed us by letter. We

didn't have telephones then. They had

to send letters to everyone. Then it

spread by word of mouth among the Turks

. At that time, they were called Turks

with recognized citizenship. When you

had recognized citizenship, you were

summoned to the embassy. The consul

gave us a ticket. A train ticket. He

said,' You have a train ticket for two

days. You will pack up in two days and

you will leave in two days. 'For my

mother, leaving home wasn't easy. All

the belongings, all the memories,

everything stayed at home. Can you

believe it? Just close the door and

leave. It wasn't that difficult for you

or me. It wasn't that hard, but I was

thinking about my mother and father.

Now, thinking about it, it weighs

heavily on me. It was a very difficult

thing. In January or February 1944, my

family, thanks to Turkish passports and

the protection of the Turkish

government, left in a train car full of

Jews..." How did he decide to travel to

Türkiye by train, crossing all of Nazi

Europe? How could he have shown such

courage? He went to the consulate to

thank them. The consul said then, "This

is our duty, our responsibility."

After countless visits to the Turkish

embassy on Osman Boulevard with our

Turkish documents, one morning in March

1944, we boarded the train from Gardest

. It was very sad. I still remember

that atmosphere very well. It was

covered in the smoke of the locomotives

. There were very few people in the

station, and the atmosphere was chaotic

. There were German soldiers almost

everywhere. There weren't many, but

they were everywhere. We boarded a

passenger carriage with very classic

compartments. There was only one

carriage specifically for us, but the

train was about to leave. My father

came to our compartment and kissed my

mother and me. I still remember that

moist kiss he placed on my cheek, and I

still feel his mustache pricking my

face. He got off the train, and I never

saw him again. I came to the station. A

German train was standing there. There

was a Mitropa train and a Turkish

carriage. With the crescent and star

emblem. We boarded the train in

Gardoles. I remember that very well.

But what did we do with our suitcases?

I don't remember if they came

separately. The train was a very

ordinary train with normal compartments

. There were probably 40 or 60 people

on that train.

We stayed in France until 1944 during

the occupation. Because the train to

Istanbul, organized by the Turkish

government, took place in 1944. The

journey took 10 days. The reason it

took so long was that we were attached

to a locomotive going somewhere for 300

km. But when the locomotives were not

available, the carriage would be kept

in a depot for 2 days until another

locomotive arrived. Then it would be

attached to another locomotive for

perhaps another 500 kilometers. Of

course, we children were incredibly

bored in this situation. We were very

cold and I was very scared. Because at

one point, our train, which had many

carriages, I think was in Sofia station

or a station in the Balkans...It had

stopped. Because there was a fire and

we were trapped there. I remember being

very cold on the train. Because it was

February. The weather was very cold as

we crossed the Balkans. The windows

were practically frozen. You couldn't

even see outside. The alarm was ringing

and we were stopping frequently. There

were a lot of children around the same

age. So we were having some fun. We

weren't quite aware of what was

happening. How old can you be at 7 and

a half? At least that's how it was for

me. It was more like an adventure than

a sad memory. I remember them coming to

accompany us at the station. We got on

the train and I remember being in the

compartment for 6 days. Sometimes some

people would get up so that others

could sleep. We only waited at stations

to get water and food. A strong sense

of anxiety prevailed throughout the

entire journey. There was a heavy,

oppressive atmosphere. At every station

, of course in places occupied by the

Germans, the train was stopped by

contradictory orders from German

soldiers, and we were sent to depots.

We waited there for hours without

knowing what would happen. Suddenly,

the train could be diverted to a

concentration camp. It was impossible.

There was nothing. Anything, anything

could happen. One day the train stopped

in Hungary. We got off the train. We

walked a little way along the tracks.

There was a young woman on the side

with a baby in her arms. She was

breastfeeding her baby. Suddenly the

train started moving again. What would

it be like to be left alone with a baby

in your arms in Hungary during the war?

A consular official was with us. He was

looking at us, counting us, checking us

. If we were on the passenger list,

there was no problem. He made sure no

one was left outside. One of our

parents had spoken to the German

soldiers and, of course without any ill

intent, had told them that we were a

Turkish Jewish convoy. Upon hearing

this, we heard the Germans' "Aus AUS"

orders and they kept us under

surveillance all night in a

snow-covered field. We were all

terrified. Then there was a gentleman,

whom we jokingly called our guide, who

spoke German. Mr. Gabay. We argued with

them in German and so we were able to

continue our journey. Every evening at

every station, the Germans would come

to the train with a dog and ask for the

leader of the carriage. My father would

tap his heels, give a military salute,

and introduce himself in German. He

would show them the list of Jews. Then

my mother and your father...Say goodbye

. This is the last time you'll see him.

That's what he said. It was the same

thing every night. The fact that we

were a Jewish convoy returning to

Türkiye apparently confused some

German officials, and some wanted us to

turn back. A difficult situation arose,

but eventually it was resolved, and we

set off again. What else can we say

about that journey? It was extremely

uncomfortable. There was no heating in

the carriages because we were a

military train. There was no water. The

toilets overflowed. We didn't know how

to use the toilets. We stopped

frequently. Then we would get off the

train and collect snow in tin cans.

Then we would melt it in small

containers and use it as water.

Everything was terrible. I would say it

was a journey of impossibilities.

People helped each other. Many people

were talking in the corridors, but in

the end, we were cramped. Once, I think

it was Sofia. I'm not entirely sure,

but it was a city in the Balkans. We

saw flames in the distance. I saw a lot

of people. There were Germans on the

platforms. People were talking amongst

themselves. I think the person guiding

us was arguing with the German

officials. Because the Germans didn't

know what we were doing, why we were

there, that we were Jewish...They must

have asked if we weren't. Nobody was

wearing a star. We had the Germans '

permission and our parents' Turkish

passports. Eventually, after a night

and a day, our train set off again. We

were extremely bored after spending two

days in the carriage doing nothing.

There were probably 5 or 10 children on

the train. We were bored throughout the

journey. One of the children mentioned

the alarm, but we were passing through

places where there was nothing. What

would have happened if the alarm had

gone off? What would have happened? The

carriage was alone. We were passing

through deserted places. Nothing would

have happened. It all came down to

pulling the alarm lever. But nobody

wanted to do it. Whoever wants to do it

, will you pull it? We kept saying no,

no, and then suddenly I pulled it.

Nothing happened. Because the carriages

weren't connected to each other. There

was no pressure in the compressed air

hoses. The system wasn't working. The

next day, when this famous carriage was

reconnected to the entire train in the

middle of the station, and the pressure

and air connections were made, the

alarm started going off everywhere. The

soldiers were completely bewildered.

You're in a German station full of

armed soldiers, and there's a carriage

full of Jews, and this Jewish carriage,

I don't know if it was Munich or

somewhere, was standing in the middle

of the station with the alarm going off

. From the child passengers...Albert

Karel, one of them, had activated the

alarm. He had pulled the lever to

activate it. All the adults on the

train were furious. The children had

their ears pulled. Because German

soldiers had swarmed onto the train

like a storm. They surrounded us.

Everyone was terrified. This journey

should have normally taken 3 to 4 days.

But it took 10 days. Because we had

been stopped in Stuttgart for 23 days

due to bombing. While in Sofia, we were

under heavy bombardment. It was

terrifying. There were explosions on

top of the carriage in the middle of

the day. All my parents 'suitcases were

in the last carriage of the train. Then

they all completely disappeared. It was

something else at night. We had been

told beforehand not to bring heavy

suitcases into the compartments.

Because normally the railway was bombed

at the Bulgarian border and we would

have had to walk at least 45 kilometers

. The only thing I remember is that

when we arrived in Sofia, the railway

was cut due to bombing. So the train

stopped. We couldn't go any further.

Also, when we stopped at the station

while passing through Bulgaria, women

in headscarves came and gave us bread

and food. I remember him bringing

things. I was 8 years old. I loved to

sing. At our family gatherings, my

father, who longed for the Bosphorus

and Türkiye and hadn't been able to

set foot there for so long, would close

his eyes and sing Turkish songs. This

song was etched in my memory. I started

singing it in the compartment. My

mother was furious. She scolded me,

asking how I could sing in Turkish in

such a situation. But I still started

singing. I was singing the song I

remembered. "He didn't take my life,

Ali. May God not take my life, may God

not take my life. He dripped on my tent

. He dripped on my tent. May God not

take my life, may God not take my life.

He didn't take it." What

I still remember very clearly is

immense suffering. A terrible cold and

intense fog. Everything was foggy.

Everything was gray and dark. Yes. This

was truly an extraordinary event.

Something that will never be forgotten.

It was like a gift from the sky. Yes.

It was magnificent. Suddenly, we were

completely free in Türkiye. This was

an extraordinary liberation for us, and

to Türkiye...Arriving was a great joy.

We had finally arrived in the beautiful

city of Istanbul. This was truly an

extraordinary discovery. It was a

complete liberation. Turkish diplomacy

literally saved our lives. If the

Turkish Embassy hadn't been in

agreement with the Germans and given us

the necessary documents within the

specified timeframes, we would never

have been able to emigrate to Türkiye.

And as a result, we would probably have

been arrested and deported. That's why

I say I undeniably owe my life to

Türkiye. This is undeniable. This is

an absolutely indisputable fact.

Later, we learned that there were eight

trains scheduled to leave from Paris.

Two in February, two in March, two in

April, and two in May. The last ones

were in May. We went on the last one or

the one before it. Everywhere there

were people who contributed to saving

the Jews. And there were many people in

Europe as well. They made themselves

known in some way. However, the Turkish

diplomats who did this work didn't make

an effort to gain recognition. This

might be due to the character of the

Turks. Finally, one day we arrived in

Istanbul, and that fear was gone. I had

left France as a little girl with

immense fear inside me, to put it

simply. I had come to a sunny, friendly

, and warm country in every sense of

the word, and I spent two unforgettable

years there. We were no longer afraid.

Nothing remained. Life was back to

normal. Life was for everyone. Life was

like being a neighbor. Nobody asked you

if you were Jewish, Catholic,

Protestant, or Muslim. We were free.

Yes.

I will be eternally grateful.

April 24, 1944, was a rebirth for me

and my siblings. We started living

again that day. I can never forget my

debt to Türkiye, and I always say it

is my second homeland. I am Turkish and

French. Not French and Turkish. I am

Turkish and French. Because I was born

on April 24, 1944. That was my birth.

If I had been French, I wouldn't be

alive today. Being Turkish saved my

life. I am sure of it. There is no

doubt about it. I am extremely grateful

. Because if my parents hadn't been

under Türkiye's protection and hadn't

boarded that train to Türkiye, perhaps

they would have arrested us in a

last-minute raid, and we wouldn't be

alive today. My father always said, "

Never forget that the Turks saved our

lives." If my mother hadn't kept trying

, if the Turkish ambassador hadn't

taken a firm stance against the Germans

, I think I would have died and

wouldn't be able to talk to you about

this now. Considering all the suffering

we endured, it's a miracle I'm still

alive. Perhaps we would have died along

with the others. Thank you so much.

Thank you for interviewing me and for

letting me tell you all this. You are

very kind. Because thanks to these

statements and stories of rescue, this

will endure into the future. It will

show the world that this wasn't just a

life from history, a fictional life. We

have passed on to our children and

grandchildren the understanding that

remembering this is a duty and that we

are grateful to the Turkish government.

They know very well that if we are here

today, it is thanks to what the Turkish

government did for the Jews during the

war. I am telling you what happened to

me. That train left Paris. It crossed

Europe engulfed in flames and arrived

in Istanbul, a peaceful port. Nobody

knows. Nobody knew. Nobody understands.

I don't

know if there's anything else to add to

this. Others must have told their

stories too. Thank you very much.

Dedicated to the Turkish diplomats who

saved the lives of Jews in Europe

during World War I. Numan

Menemencioğlu, Minister of Foreign

Affairs 1942-1944. Behiç Erkin,

Ambassador to Paris 1940-1943. Piluzan

Selçuk, Consul in Belgrade 1940-1943.

Cemal Özkoya, Consul General in Athens

1942-1944. Saffet Arı, Ambassador to

Vichy 1942-1944. Pertev Şevki Kandemir

, Consul in Budapest 1940-1945.

Abdülhalat Bilden, Consul in Budapest

1940-1945. Kudret Erbey, Consul General

in Hamburg 1940-1945. Galip Evren,

Consul in Hamburg 1940-1945. İrfan

Sabit Akça, Consul in Prague 1940-1945

. Selahattin Ülkümen, Consul in

Rhodes. 1940-1945. Whoever saves a life

, it is as if he has saved the whole

world. Talmud Sanhedrin 37A Quran,

Surah Al-Maidah, verse 32. H H