Turkish Passport Page #4

After many visits to the Turkish Consulate

on the Blvd. Haussmann

we left with our Turkish documents

one morning in March 1944 from the Gare de l'Est.

It was very somber and

I rememher well the steam of the locomotive

there were few people in the station

but German soldiers everywhere.

We got on a normal passenger train with compartments

but there was only one rail car for us.

My father put me on the train and kissed my mother

and me goodbye.

I remember the humid kiss

and his mustache on my face.

He got off the train and

it was the last time I ever saw him.

I arrived at the station.

The train was a Mitropa, a luxury German train

with one Turkish rail car attached that had

a crescent and noon sign on the side.

We boarded at the Gare de l'Est.

I remember it very well.

But were our suitcases with us or go separately

This, I can't remember..

The train looked like a normal train with wagons. .

We were about 40 to 60 people on this train car

We stayed in France until Fehruary 1944

because that's when

the train for Istanbul was arranged

by Turkish government.

The journey took ten days.

The reason was that very 300-500 km.

the train had to link to another locomotive and

they weren't available.

The wagons were left at the depot

for two or three days

until a locomotive arrived.

We children were incredibly bored.

It was very cold and I was very scared.

Our train, which had several wagons

crossed the Balkans

was stopped at Sofia station, which was in flames.

We were stuck there.

I remember that I felt very cold in the train.

It was Fehruary as we crossed the Balkans.

There was ice on the windows

we couldn't see outside.

When the alarm sounded, we would he stopped.

There were several Children my age.

Sometimes we had fun.

I was seven and half years old.

So, for me it isn't a sad memory

for most of us it was an adventure.

I remember being escorted to the station

We boarded the train and sat for six days.

Some of us would get up so others could sleep.

We stopped at train stations to buy food and water.

I was very worried during this entire journey.

The atmosphere was tense.

At every train station there were German soldiers

who gave us conflicting orders to stop the train

or go into a depot.

We waited hours not knowing what might happen.

We feared the train could be diverted

to a concentration camp.

Nothing was impossible.

One day in in Hungary the train stopped.

We got off and took a few steps.

Next to me was a young woman carrying a baby.

All of a sudden train started moving.

But what if I had been left in Hungary

During war time a baby in my arms?

The Consulate official was with us

he counted and checked us.

Since we were on the passenger list there was

no problem but he kept track of us.

One parent told a German officer that

were a group of Turkish Jews.

Soon after, we heard orders in German

yelling Out! Out! and

we ended up standing in

a snowy field all night under guard

We were all very frightened.

Mr. Gahaille, our guide who jokingly

called our Fuhrer

finally explained to them in German and

we were able to continue our journey.

Every night at each stop the Germans came

with dogs and asked for our leader.

My father clicked his heels, gave a military salute and

introduced himself in German.

He showed the list of Jews.

My mother said:

"Say goodbye to your father.

It may he the last time you see him."

It happened every night.

As we were Jews returning to Turkey

this confused the Germans authorities.

Some of them wanted us to go back.

It was worrying

but it was settled and we were able to continue.

The trip was very uncomfortable.

We did not have heating

because we were in a military train

without water.

The toilets were overflowing and

we did not know how to service them.

We stopped frequently

so we could get off the train and

collect snow in metal cans for water.

people would talk and help each other.

Many people sat in the corridor.

We were stopped, maybe it was in Sofia.

It was a Balkan country, but I don't know which one.

We saw flames in the distance.

Many people were on the tracks

we saw German soldiers.

The person who was our guide

talked to German officials about

what we were doing and if we were Jewish.

Confusion arose I guess because

no one wore the yellow star.

But we all had written authorizations

and Turkish passports.

After waiting a night and a day

our train got moving again.

We waited two or three days

in the wagon and were bored.

I think there were two other children and me.

Once we were very bored and

one of us saw the alarm handle.

If we pulled the handle, what could happen?

The wagon uncoupled.

We were all asking each other who wanted to pull it

"Fine. I will do it." I said.

Nothing happened as the wagons weren't connected.

But the next day when we connected to another train

with electricity, the alarm rang.

The soldiers panicked.

Armed soldiers, a German station, a Jewish wagon

and alarm sounds in the Jewish wagon.

I think it was at Munich.

When young Albert Carel

pulled the alarm,

the sound hurt our ears and

enraged all the passengers of the train.

The Germans stormed into the wagon

to find what had happened.

Everyone got very scared in the train.

This journey normally takes three or four days

but for us it lasted ten days

because we were stopped at Stuttgart for

two or three days by bombing.

Around Sofia we were bombed.

It was very scary.

The roof of the train car was hit hy explosions.

All of my parents goods where in the baggage car

at the end of the train

which was completely destroyed.

Everybody was very frightened.

They had advised not to

bring heavy luggage into our compartment because

at the Bulgarian border the tracks

had been blown up and

we would have to walk at least 4 or 5 kilometers.

when we arrived in Sofia

the tracks had cut by the bombing.

We were stopped and couldn't go any further

While our train traveled in Bulgaria

local women wearing headscarves

would bring us bread and things to eat.

I was eight years old and I loved singing.

At family gatherings

my father felt nostalgic about the Bosphorus.

He tearfully sang Turkish songs.

One song stuck in my mind and I sang it on the train.

My mother went crazy.

In Turkish, she said: "How can you sing?"

But I still sang this little song.

It was a song I'd heard repeatedly.

I sang it because I loved singing very much.

"On top of my tent a drop splashed."

"Allah hasn't taken my soul."

It was something that I will always remember

the agony and horror of the cold and fog.

Everything was gray and foggy.

Something I will never forget.

It was a present that fell from the sky.

It was wonderful.

We found ourselves in Turkey completely free and

it was a joy to be there.

We arrived in this wonderful city of Istanbul and

it was an amazing discovery, a moment of liberation.

Turkish diplomacy saved my life.

If the Turkish Consulate had not made an agreement

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes