Turkish Passport Page #2

we were not obliged to wear the yellow star.

This was a huge favor to us

thanks to the Turkish government

who intervened for us to the German authorities.

The fact that my father Fikret zdoanc

had quite good relations with the German General

von Choltitz worked in the Turkish "Jews" favor

All Jews were ordered to wear a yellow star

on their coats saying Jew.

This was compulsory.

My father argued forcefully with General von ChoItitz

to change this order.

They finally reached a compromise:

Turkish Jews would wear the yellow star on the inside

of their coats rather than the outside and

would no longer he banned from

restaurants and public places.

During the occupation we were relatively protected

and we didn't have to wear the yellow star because

my parents kept their Turkish nationality

One day, the Gestapo rang

our doorbell and asked for our papers.

He showed his documents. They saw the Turkish stamp

and said "Fine, fine," and they left.

We lived on the fifth floor when the Gestapo came

to arrest my father they never walked up the stairs

because the concierge always told them that

"Mr. Mizrahi is a Turk and

works for the Turkish Embassy."

This wasn't true.

The Turkish consulate told us

that they were protecting us

but said they could not always bu sure

what the Germans would do.

They told us don't go to parties

and he careful what you do.

The atmosphere was heavy.

We couldn't unimagine what was going

on inside concentration camps.

It was unimaginable.

Later they started detaining Jews.

I was coming out of the metro on the Champs Elysees

on 12th December 1941.

We didn't know it then but it was the start

of the first major round up of the Jews.

The police were ordered to arrest 1000 Jews that day.

They had lists and were seeking Jews in their homes.

But they didn't fill their quota

by raiding homes.

Around four or five that afternoon

they started rounding up Jews in the streets.

On the 11th of December 1941 , a German colonel

was killed on the bank of the Seine

The Germans instantly declared a curfew

starting at 6 pm.

The following day I met a friend

in a restaurant at the place de la Republique.

We arrived and sat down.

Suddenly we heard a noise.

Vehicles and motorcycles stopped

in front of the restaurant.

SS Came in and

demanded to see everyone's documents.

We pulled out our identity papers.

My identity card had "Jew" written in big red letters

I showed them my identity card and

took out my Turkish Consulate document.

He said in French:

"You may he Turkish, but you are Jewish".

They arrested me.

My friend was a Catholic and

I asked him to go and

tell my mother I had been arrested.

My mother went immediately to the Consulate

They told her not to worry and

they will do what ever they Could to solve this problem.

Coming out of the metro

German military police asked for my papers.

When he saw "Jew" written on them

and he told me to follow them.

I don't know how much later but we arrived

at the Compiegne station in the dead of night.

We got off the train.

We were surrounded by soldiers holding guns.

I think we marched in rows of five.

We didn't know where we were going.

We just marched.

It was winter December 1941 and very cold.

I was only wearing a coat.

The raids were a nightmare.

I think the big raid in the 11th district was in 1943.

The raids and arrests continued non stop, every day.

It was the atmosphere of that time.

There were warnings but the arrests never stopped.

There were bigger raids but this one made

the occupation all too clear.

I had many relatives in the quarter and

there were several dramatic scenes.

My cousin got married and her husband

was deported the day after the wedding.

The war atmosphere was very heavy, very difficult.

The German occupation, the raids...

Many people were sent to Auschwitz

but at the time I didn't know it was a death camp.

We thought it was a labour camp in Germany.

The fear came later.

We had no idea what would happen to us.

They transferred us to Drancy.

Drancy was a horror.

It was very hard life. Barracks with no heat.

We lived there six months with very little food.

It was very hard.

Later The Germans, of course I mean Nazis

imposed these shortages on everyone in Paris.

My sister was free and every week

she went to the Turkish Consulate

on Blvd. Haussmann to ask officials what they could do.

The Turkish Government wanted to protect

and save Turkish citizens.

A humanitarian act...

If you were Jewish you went to concentration camps.

What a pity!

Some among us died of cold or hunger.

people were ill, they were old, some had diabetes.

They couldn't withstand the cold.

The daily head count in the freezing cold

lasted three to four hours.

But I was 20 years old and I could bear this treatment.

We stayed there about fifteen days

with awful shortages.

Later the situation was the same for

the deported as for those who stayed.

There was nothing to eat.

We lived, if you can call that living

with nothing to do.

While at Drancy we were under pressure every day.

The daily headcount at Drancy was done in the garden

several times a day because

they were afraid that we might escape or be saved.

It was very difficult to stand for hours in the cold.

Everyday brought news someone had been sent to

Auschwitz to other camps or had died.

Wars occur but

when only one race is attacked, it is really horrific.

It is inhuman to kill someone for their religion

I think people later felt ashamed

they had allowed this to take place.

to be hungry is one thing.

But to feel you are dying of hunger is something hard

to understand for people who haven't experienced it.

We were ill from hunger.

It was very hard to live in fear

We were unhappy. Very unhappy.

It wasn't an ordinary camp.

It a a special camp. A selection camp.

The Germans didn't want to make

the mistake of killing everyone at once.

They could kill me.

Or sending me to Auschwitz.

It was a place of selection.

people were chosen, taken aside.

as who would not he killed were taken.

and a maximum 2,500 returned alive.

The Turkish Consulate came to get us out

about fifteen days after we arrived.

I was released after two and a half months

because I was a recognized Turk.

Later I learned my mother had gone to the Consulate.

After three months

in prison at Drancy they released my brother

just one week before being deported to Auschwitz.

He had lost half his body weight and

weak from hunger.

On February 6, 1941, a German soldier called me

after the morning count while I was in the cell.

He told me to follow him and bring my spoon

blanket and number made out of iron.

My number was 3233.

I entered an office with an high ranking officer

sitting there with a long list.

He said:
"Lazare Rousso"

I said:
"Yes." He said: "Sign here."

He stamped it and handed the paper to me

He said "You are free"

"Do you have any money, he asked.

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