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Turkey & The Holocaust: Turkey's Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945 |
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reviewed by Stacy Maruskin |
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Author: Stanford J. Shaw |
ISBN:
0-333-58234-9 |
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Publisher:
Macmillan Press LTD |
Page:
305 |
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Type:
Hardcover |
Price:
$193 |
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Place of Publication:
London |
Published in:
1993 |
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Review: |
It is a shame that more are not aware of the courage Turkish people possessed in their efforts to save the Jewish community during World War II. There are always new movies or books providing valiant details of that terrible mark in world history, but why does one rarely hear anything of Turkey’s role? There is a lack of international attention and enthusiasm for their efforts. Fortunately, "Turkey and the Holocaust" by Stanford J. Shaw sheds light on the little known developments that Turkey initiated to ensure the safety of their Jewish population abroad and the aid it provided to European Jews facing Nazi persecution and aggression. Shaw has written several books chronicling Turkish history, including "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" and "The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic," all of which display his great knowledge on the subject.
The Ottoman Empire, predecessor to the modern day Republic of Turkey, was a safe harbor for minority groups from the earliest days of its inception. Nearly 500 years before the Holocaust, the Empire was a place of refuge for many of the Sephardic Jews who fled Spain during the reign of Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. Religious tolerance was part of the Ottoman creed, an amicable trait that Turkey inherited.
The author begins the book with Ataturk’s welcoming of several hundred refugees in 1933, many of whom were dismissed by the Nazis and escaping persecution. Several were distinguished individuals who made incredible contributions in Germany as physicians, artists, professors etc. and many continued with great success in Turkey; some went on to establish prominent university faculties and countless others provided a wealth of knowledge for Turkish generations to come. Turkey received several threats throughout the years from the German government for its acceptance of Jewish refugees and for its refusal to hand over their own Jewish population, a surrender that would result in certain death for those Jews. The reader is able to see the transformation of the Jewish community in Turkey during this time through Shaw’s examples; there was greater political participation and assimilation due to the anti-Semitic events that were transpiring around them.
Turkey’s part in saving Turkish Jews from Nazi harassment is carefully highlighted in Shaw’s following chapter. There were approximately 10,000 Jewish Turks residing in France, many of whom lost their Turkish citizenship by renouncing it in favor of the “greater advantages of citizenship of one of the countries of Western Europe.” Nonetheless, when the Turkish diplomats bore witness to the Nazi persecution Jews faced during Germany’s occupation of France, they began to work at the diplomatic level and behind the scenes in order to save the Turkish Jewish population throughout Europe. Many jeopardized their lives on several occasions, and Shaw captures the tense mood and dangerous risks faced by those involved. The documented correspondence Shaw provides describes the efforts that Turkish diplomats underwent to block anti- Jewish discriminatory measures against Jewish Turks in France. The trials and tribulations they faced incites anger at the repeated arrests, property seizures, forced deportation to Nazi death camps and the bureaucratic mess that ensued in order to save those victims. It is astonishing that the Turkish diplomats who desperately tried to save Turkish Jews never lost hope or wavered in their dedication. While other countries continued to let their Jewish population face the fate of the Nazis, Turkey fought for them. When Shaw recounts Necdet Kent’s heroic efforts to save eighty Jews boarded on a wagon like cattle, to be shipped to an extermination camp in the East, the reader cannot help but be moved by this inspiring tale. The bulk of this chapter focuses on Turkey’s efforts to repatriate the Jewish Turks to Turkey, and Shaw provides several files with various diplomatic correspondences trying to ensure proper paperwork and safe passage for Turkish Jews wishing to reside in Turkey or continue on to Palestine.
The final nod of Shaw’s book is given to those whose active participation led to several European Jews being saved. The author discusses the gradual shift that Istanbul made; the city soon found itself playing a vital and active role during the Holocaust due to its strategic location in helping Jews reach Palestine. Shaw reiterates Turkey’s desire to avoid Nazi aggression, a Kemalist ideology that promoted peace at home and peace abroad; however, despite the Turks restrictive policies, Shaw asserts these were more for show and that Turkey actually offered assistance to the Jewish Agency operating in Istanbul. The Agency aggressively tried to rescue as many European Jews as possible from its offices in Istanbul and throughout Turkey. Shaw dutifully describes the efforts they made to save the lives of their brethren. It was due to an environment of religious tolerance in Turkey that so many Jews were able to make safe passage on to Palestine and Shaw drives this point in the extensive research he has provided. Turkey faced threats from every side, yet it continued to allow European Jews into its country for safe transit. The country turned a blind eye so that Jewish groups could provide assistance and relief to refugees while it maintained neutrality throughout the war.
As the author illustrates from the first pages of the book, Turkey’s role throughout this grim historical event is viewed as insignificant since it is barely discussed compared to others. They saved nearly 30,000 Jews, but for those who weigh it against the devastating number of six million, they regard the figure as miniscule. We are taught to value our existence as being priceless, so whether it is one, a thousand, or a million, the role that Turkey played should be brought forth more often, not reduced due to statistics. The countless people alive today because of Turkey’s efforts to save their ancestors would most likely say the same.
Shaw’s inclusion of several correspondence letters, speeches and a rich and resourceful appendix provide an opportunity for the reader to see clearly into the minds of some of Turkey’s most important and influential people from the state and society, as well as those who participated in anti-Semitic rhetoric. His access to the Turkish, German, United States and other diplomatic archives reveals the astonishing truths of Turkey’s vital role in providing refuge to thousands of Jews journeying to Palestine and its part in saving its own Jewish population, even those who abandoned their Turkish citizenship after settling in Western Europe. He easily takes the reader back to a time of confusion, fear and bravery. The material provided contributes to a great monograph on this rarely discussed subject.
I believe this review should conclude with the wishes expressed by Stanford J. Shaw. “May Turkey’s role in rescuing Jews from the Holocaust stimulate a realization which will encourage a willingness to perceive history in the light of the story it presents rather than through the distortion of encrusted prejudice.” No one else could have summed it up better.
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about book: |
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The neutrality maintained by Turkey during most of World War II allowed it to rescue thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in the Nazi-occupied or collaborating countries of Europe. In France, the Turkish consels in Paris and Marseilles intervened to protect Turkish Jews from the application of anti-Jewish laws introduced both by the German occupying authorities and the Vichy government, and rescued them from concentration camps, getting them off trains destined for the extermination chambers in the East, and arranging train caravans and other special transportation to take them through Nazi-occupied territory to safety in Turkey. Despite opposition from both the Nazis and the British, morever, the Turkish government instructed its diplomats in Eastern Europe to provide all possible assistance to Jews being persecuted during the Holocaust, allowed the Jewish Agency and other rescue groups to operate openly from offices in Istanbul, enabling them to send money and supplies to Eastern Europe, and permitted almost 100,000 East European Jews to transit through Turkey on their way to Palestine. This book is based on research in Turkish diplomatic archives in Ankara and Paris as well as in American, Israeli, French and German archives. |
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Editor for Book Reviews:
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