21 Ocak 2019 Pazartesi

TNT Matchbox Diary: A Turkish POW in Russian Prison Camp (1915-1918)/Part XIV

//Ed. Note: Writing in Sarıkamış prison camp on 26 
February, Fuad Bey mentions "Tahir of Sivas" as being 
one of his cellmates. For Tahir Baykal's remarkable 
POW story click here to read it: Tahir Baykal //

sarıkamış 1916 ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                                      Sarıkamış 1916


22 February 1916  Tuesday
Morning came. Again, this time they gave us each 10 pieces of square
sugar. They brought bread. With these I filled my stomach. At noon 
time they interrogated each of us separately. They kept asking about 
money. They asked me my name, my father’s name , my rank and 
whether or not I had any money. I answered and wrote in French
that I didn’t have any money and I signed it. After interrogation was
conducted, we had vegetable soup as usual. As an extra, they brought
a meatball and some macaroni for everyone. In the interrogation there 
were three officers.  One of these spoke fluent Turkish. Apparently, 
this low-life traitor was Artilleryman Rifat, who had defected to the
Russians, told them some secrets and now was wearing a Russian outfit.

At 5 in the evening, European style, this time  they loaded us three to a 
cart and we departed from Hasankale. A number of places in Hasankale,
including the Government  House, had burned.  Outside a village the 
Armenians we encountered were heading toward Erzurum. Some of 
them were workers, some soldiers. They continually bombarded us 
with curses.  I felt very badly. I was going to cry like a child. With 
some difficulty, at eight thirty we reached Köprüköy. After waiting a
while we entered a sheltered place. It was spacious but a mess.  


23 February 1916  Wednesday  
Morning came. First they gave us five pieces of sugar. Later they 
gave us a rice dish and corn mush, better prepared than on other days. 
We filled our stomachs well. It was eleven o’clock.  We departed 
Köprüköy. Afterwards, my eyes kept looking to the right, toward 
Karataş and Kepenek, and I was remembering the life I lived in 
those places.  Sometime after six thirty we reached Azay. This 
village was in ruins. We settled into a rather large tent here. This 
was the Russian soldiers’ tent and they were upset that we were put
into their tent and they had to go elsewhere, almost to the point of
rebellion. But the officers came and prevented this and also saved
us from an incident that could have possibly caused us harm. Our 
area was narrow. I passed the night uncomfortably, in particular 
because of the fleas.

 hasankale sarıkamış haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu

24 February 1916  Thursday
In the morning we boarded the carts without even drinking tea.  
This time they gave us each four pieces of sugar and some bread.  
We departed. After a while we passed about 200 meters to the left 
of Ardos village and later we came to Zanzak village where we 
went into a tent. Everywhere we saw up to this point was in ruins.
They  gave us tea and bread in the tent. We filled our stomachs. 
In the tent, a large portable samovar and tea cart that had been 
mounted on wheels  caught my eye.  A bit later we left here and 
passed a village on the left some distance away, whose name I didn’t
learn,  and then we reached Zimnik village. But we didn’t stop here 
and kept going. To the left of this village and up ahead is where the
ruins of Kötek village are found.Quite a long while later we came 
to Karaurgan and ten of us were put into a small room.  In another
neighborhood, 18 people were settled. On the way here we saw
quite a few fire trenches and barbed wire fences.  These had a bad
effect on me. We didn’t go into Karaurgan. There were a few 
military buildings in sight. This village is quite big and well-
organized.  There are quite a few Armenians here. At night they 
gave us tea, sugar and bread.      

25 February 1916  Friday
In the morning we drank tea with our own sugar. A bit later they
brought cabbage soup and rice mush. After we ate these we left 
Karaurgan. About half an hour later we saw Ebül-biad vıllage from
a distance of about six hundred meters. This place was mostly
Greek. Another half an hour from here we passed by Zab village, 
where mostly Moslems live. About 16 kilometers from Sarıkamış, 
at a stopping  point  in a forest,  we each drank tea and rested.   We 
left here and reached Sarıkamış at the last prayer time.  

The road from Karaurgan to Sarıkamış was rather well-paved and 
it passed through a forested area known as the Soğanlı Forests. Upon
our arrival in Sarıkamış we alighted at the command headquarters. 
They  wrote down our names according to our rank. Because I didn’t
want to get separated from Şerif I wanted to be registered as a second
lieutenant but it didn’t happen. The others were prevented too so I
was left with the reserve officers and cadets.  They separated the 
officers of higher rank from active officers and officer candidates and
took them to another place. They brought us reserves to a barracks.  We
stayed in a little room. On the way here the snowy, icy ground hurt 
my aching foot. In the room there was a bed and a bench. Otherwise,
it was absolutely empty.  We spent the night on this bed and bench and
on the window sills. Once again I awoke alone and since I hadn’t 
established an acquaintance with anyone yet, I remained silent.

Four or Five People Sleeping on a Wooden Bed

26 February 1916 Saturday
Morning came. They brought tea in a big old bucket and they gave
us some sugar too. A bit later they offered us cabbage soup. In the 
afternoon a few Russian officers  came to us and gave us each five 
rubles based on the salaries allotted to us. We obtained the evening 
meal with this money. Today I wrote my father a letter informing him
that I’m a prisoner. Some of it was in French. Our days are spent in 
the room. This is essentially a prison for officers. But I haven’t been 
able to find out about the interior of the barracks yet. We had an 
uncomfortable night because although we’re willing to use the bare
boards, there were four or five of us on the bare board bed. There 
are 9 of us here. Cemal, who was wounded by a Cossack sword, was
taken to the hospital for treatment. The other fellows are Zühdü from
Edirne, Fahri from Trabzon, Kazim from Aziziye, Hurşid from 
Amasya, Rıfkı from Adana, Mustafa from Zile, Tahir from Sivas 
and me.

27 February 1916 Sunday
We spent the day here.  At noon  a Russian officer came and told 
us we could henceforth walk around outside of the barracks. He left. 
We got today’s meal from the market again ourselves. Everything is
expensive, 3, 4 times higher than the price in Turkey. Bread is
5 kuruş per okka ((2.8 lbs.)) and tobacco is the same. Today another
bed was brought to the room but it’s insufficient. Our bodies are 
filthy and full of fleas. The fact that we can’t find underwear and in
fact not even a place to lay down makes us all very uncomfortable.

 türk esirleri nargın ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Fuad Bey was told he might be sent to Nargin, one of the
worst Russian POW camps.
                        

28 February 1916 Monday
Since it’s still winter it’s cold out and, consequently, snowy. Again 
today a Russian officer came and he knew French well so he spoke to
us completely  in French. I couldn’t understand him all that well. All
I could understand was that in a few days we would be sent to an 
island ((probably Nargin)) in the Caspian Sea near  Baku. We spent 
our money on sustenance. We paid three and a half rubles for a small 
pan of food that would cost 5, or at most 10 kuruş in Turkey.  A 
normal shaving blade costs two manat. At night we sang songs and 
poems until midnight to pass the time. But there’s still a discomfort.
I find Zühdü to be more compatible than the others here so we’ve 
become friends with each other. There’s not much place to walk 
around.

29 February 1916 Sunday
Our time passes very uncomfortably here and since our bodies are 
dirty and flea-ridden we are extremely out of sorts. Although I got 
cleaned up during the day I still wasn’t comfortable at night and I 
couldn’t sleep.  At midnight I had to wash myself again. In the 
evening the Commander called on the telephone, asking whether 
or not we could eat at the designated restaurant. We answered yes 
and told him that we were in urgent need of underwear and money.

//END of PART XIV//

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