This leg is Moscow-Yaroslavl. More class warfare
between the Turkish officers made for some regrettable
incidents.//
17 May 1916 Wednesday
We halted for quite a while in the morning
at the Korap station. There
was nothing here. We moved
ahead quite a ways and in mid-afternoon
we reached Ryazan station. We
stayed for a long time. It’s quite big and
beautiful. My
friends went outside. There are about 400 Laz here
involved in trade and we spoke with them.
They’re probably civilian
prisoners. They also told us that Erzurum has been taken and that the
Austrians have seized Besarabia. The Russians are in trouble. This
place is ?mafur?. Toward evening we crossed two rivers, one 300
meters wide and the other somewhat smaller. These
are probably
branches of the Volga. The rail line is double track. Along the roads
many girls
and young women are working. The terrain is broad with
no sign of any mountains. There
are some slight rises, low ridges.
Meadows all around. During the night we passed many
stations.
18 May 1916 Thursday
When I woke up the train was moving ahead
but stopping for long
stays at the stations we came to. Toward noon our train stopped a
bit beyond Uhreşiskaya station, one of the perimeter stations about
six or seven
kilometers from Moscow. There are quite a few roads
here and the place we stopped at was broad
and remote except for a
hospital and an eating place some ways ahead of us on the left. We
waited here quite a while and got the feeling that we would be
moved from Moscow to
another place (despite having heard that
we would stay in Moscow) and this is what happened.
Today there was a very deplorable incident.
The majors among us
alerted the Russians for no
good reason that there were many officer
candidates and junior officers. They separated 15, who
then grumbled
at the majors. In fact a captain tried to rape a rather handsome junior
officer
named Halil Ibrahim. When he complained they had him
removed, saying he was an officer
candidate. This matter was made
known to the Russian officers who then viewed us with
amazement.
I got very angry and we were
very embarrassed because we had been
shamed. This whole
problem was caused by Major Murad, Mehmet
and Çerkez Mehmet. How shameful to torment one
another under the,
eyes of the enemy!...regrettable! …as if the officer candidates were
robbing the treasury!...scandal!... after
these officer candidates were
removed the rest of the officers were
separated into three groups.
Unfortunately, I fell into the biggest group, the one with the majors.
A
the cafeteria they wrote down our names and we filled
out the cards they gave us with our names
and particulars. These will
be sent to Turkey, apparently. In the evening we went to the railcars
in
groups but our railcars had changed. I was able to get a second-
class place for myself but I left to
break up an argument between
Şerif and Zühdü. So again I went back to the fourth-class
railcar for
soldiers. I was a bit sick today We ate at the cafeteria for 17 kopeks
but it was
nondescript and common. Most of the fellows who were
identified as officer candidates were in
fact junior officers. As the
result of today’s scandal the Russians promised to treat the officer
candidates as officers. (The train moved late in the night).
We didn’t see Moscow.
19 May 1916 Friday
When we got up in the morning our train was
near one of the stations
on the outskirts of Moscow. During the night and toward morning it
made
quite a few maneuvers. After daybreak the train continued to
move forward for certain. I
felt a little worse today I have no appetite
and a high fever. I was very cold during the night and
at the same time
the activities of the fleas made me quite uncomfortable. I’m asking
God for
health.
In the morning when we departed a Russian sergeant guarding us
gave us each six
rubles as a four-day allowance. Because I didn’t feel
well I couldn’t
look outside. I just lay down and
slept. When I got
cold I woke up. There are no mountains here and the rises are
insignificant. Almost all around there are flatlands and meadows.
Both the ridges and the rises are only
slightly inclined. Our direction
is mostly east and north. Today the terrain is full of trees and
groves,
more correctly it’s a mid-size forest. A little after Aleksandirov
station evening fell. The
forest we saw continued on until morning.
Hereabouts the nights don’t last longer than six
hours. The redness
of sunset continues until dawn. I couldn’t sleep tonight because I
was afraid I’d get
cold. I watched the fellows playing games. In the
morning we were at Ruşu and Aruslavki station.
Prior to coming
here, about 15 kilometers back on our right there was a river. The
railroad is
double track.
A Bridge at the Volga River
20 May 1916 Saturday
After we waited for a long time at the Ruşu
and Aruslavki station we
finally moved. A bit later I got really cold. When I woke up my chest
hurt badly and I noticed that I had a bad cough. When I coughed my
lungs practically came up to
my mouth and there was phlegm. I felt
badly that I had not looked after my health. One must be
alert to health
on a 20-day long rail trip. The reason for my ill health was that I hadn’t
eaten
hot food. Due to the lack of necessities I wasn’t able to protect
myself from the cold I experienced
after Rostov. Near mid-afternoon
we came to Yaroslavl station and remained for four or
five hours. This
place appears to be very big and orderly. We saw a number of military
barracks where
many soldiers were being trained. There’s a tramway
but they wouldn’t let us tour around. After four or five hours
we left
here and a bit later we went over a large bridge that crosses the Volga
River. There were lots of fishermen along the river bank. The river here
is about 500 meters wide and
at the station we came to after crossing
the Volga River the officer candidate group was
separated. The terrain
is flat but there are trees and forests all around. There are thousands of
wood
piles at the stations we came to. Again at night I couldn’t
sleep. I played a bit during the night. The
nights are quite short.
//END of PART XXVI//
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