Russian-held Sarıkamış.//
Turkish POWs
1 March 1916 Monday
Since all of our appeals to the Commander
with regard to everything
we need as the result of our captivity go
unheard, we received no
response.
Today’s noon meal came from the restaurant. Quite
strange.
There was a big pot of cabbage soup in which there were very large
pieces
of meat and meatballs, as well. We got angry about this and
said this wasn’t
appropriate for officers. In the afternoon we told the
officer who knows French that
we wouldn’t eat from such a restaurant
anymore because the food they had given us
was an insult. We added
that we need money
again. He promised to tell the Commander and
left. In the evening
something fried, made of cow’s meat, came from
the
restaurant. This wasn’t too bad and we had no choice but to eat it.
At night I learned
a few Russian words from a Russian ?borazan?
sergeant named Kobavi Aksenti. At first we
tried to talk using signs.
My goal was to learn Russian.
2 March 1916 Tuesday
We have to make do with the restaurant
because no money is coming
from the Command. The food has improved somewhat and is
better
prepared. Given that the Command doesn’t pay any attention to what
we say it seems
that henceforth we will eat from the restaurant.
But we perceive tha the restaurant has been
advised to improve the
meals. Once again we went to bed late. I shared a bed with
Fahri but I
was uncomfortable because he had quite a few fleas on him. I put up
with
this for three hours then I dozed off on a window sill. The night
passed very badly. Today I
wrote a letter to my brother Ekrem.
Finally, Bath Time
3 March 1916 Wednesday
Toward mid-day a Russian officer came and
said that we would go
to the bath. After Some objections were made we decided to go.
The
Russians gave us each an underwear and a shirt. The underwear was
old and the
shirt new. We have no choice but to accept them because
we’re indigent. Just at the
time we were going to the bath, a fellow
named Mustafa did something that makes a
person angry – although
all the rest of us went outside in order to go to the bath,
he wouldn’t.
He kept us waiting. My friend Zühdü became quite aggravated at
this
and spoke harshly. So on our way to the bath Hurşid and Zühdü
exchanged words
because of this. Right away I spoke up for Zühdü.
I got very angry. With great
difficulty we reached the bath and waited
a bit. Since there were no towels I entered
the bath in my underwear.
The bath is a military bath and the room rather large,
with rows in the
middle. On one side there were hot and cold water faucets, nicely
done. Quite a few pails and buckets, as well. We just about did our
laundry at the bath.
We washed everything we had. I left my old
underwear and jacket there. I went
to the city to get the evening
meal under guard. The Russians and especially the
Armenians
were staring at us.
4 March 1916 Thursday
Once again the aggravations of captivity.
At mid-day the wrote our
names. Supposedly, they will give us a salary. At night we
pass the
time doing trivial things like telling stories. Aksenti came again at
night and we chatted.
The Russian toilets are odd. When someone
lives in Turkey it’s not possible to get a
complete and accurate picture
of foreign customs and morals. One has to see these things.
Now
we’ll see and understand Russian things. Russian toilets don’t have
water, they’re
out in the open, a chair with a hole in the middle.
They clean themselves with paper.
These toilets are for common
use but now and then there are private ones, too. In our
barracks
there’s a toilet exclusively for officers that is only covered around
its
perimeter. We are using this and it’s comfortable for us.
I Need to Find a Friend
5 March 1916 Sunday
I’m really suffering from lonliness and
since I can’t find anyone to
share my thoughts with, the aggravation mounts. I have to find a friend.
There are eight of us here. Two of these are bigots and one is a
secretary in the provincial justice office. Because of the manners and
all sorts of other shortcomings I cannot choose any of them. The other
four are graduates of the Teachers University and of course I find them
preferable to the others. I’ve decided to choose a friend from one of
them and Zühdü from Edirne is more sociable, better and smarter so I
find him to be suitable. I see him as a good and permanent friend.
When he was little he went to a military school. We know each other's
friends from schools. I’m sharing my thoughts and talking with him a
lot because he’s a good-hearted person. The restaurant proprietor is
serving good food lately. Today one or two Russian officers who are
prisoners and who are in the room next to us, came to visit us.
//END of PART XV//
share my thoughts with, the aggravation mounts. I have to find a friend.
There are eight of us here. Two of these are bigots and one is a
secretary in the provincial justice office. Because of the manners and
all sorts of other shortcomings I cannot choose any of them. The other
four are graduates of the Teachers University and of course I find them
preferable to the others. I’ve decided to choose a friend from one of
them and Zühdü from Edirne is more sociable, better and smarter so I
find him to be suitable. I see him as a good and permanent friend.
When he was little he went to a military school. We know each other's
friends from schools. I’m sharing my thoughts and talking with him a
lot because he’s a good-hearted person. The restaurant proprietor is
serving good food lately. Today one or two Russian officers who are
prisoners and who are in the room next to us, came to visit us.
//END of PART XV//
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