in Fuad Bey's house. The inmates try to establish order
among themselves and set up a committee.//
The old sinema building in Vetluga today.
1 June 1916 Friday
When I woke up I heard some things. The
Russian Commander had
seen Burhan while he was passing
by our house. Burhan was busy at
the time so he didn’t notice the
Commander. Because of this the
Commander sent the sergeant who
was with him at he time and who
is one of the noteables in Vetluga to tell us that the
Commander was
very angry but that this
time he would excuse Burhan. However, he
said that from
now on if an official salute is not given the offender
will be jailed for 20 days, in accordance
with Russian law. Since today
is a Russian holiday every place is closed. Our fellows had a very
vulgar discussion all about sodomy. Disrespectful words particularly
about the young fellows among
us and the relatively handsome ones
…how shameful! How could this talk become an officer! We
played
some poker tonight and I got annoyed. The weather was a bit better
than yesterday.
2 June 1916 Friday
When we awoke we found the weather to be
quite nice. The sun
was shining but there was a chill. An old Russian tailor came to our
house and
I gave him the gray broadcloth I bought. He took
measurements. It will be done this week.
Saffet, Burhan and I
decided to ask Osman once again to give us lessons in German at
convenient
times, because Osman knows six languages (French,
English, Italian, German, Arabic and
Turkish). Saffet will ask Osman
and we are hopeful because Osman is good-hearted.
News: the Russian are in trouble and have pulled
back to their
original positions. The Turks are being heavily
reinforced with
Germans and Austrians
heading for Selonika , where the French
and English
have retreated. This made us happy. It
was written in
a Russian newspaper that Istanbullu Hakkı
translated. I went to bed
at midnight.
3 June 1916 Saturday
The weather is nice. I went into the garden
to take advantage of both
the weather and the beauty of spring so evident here but the terror of
the mosquitoes from the nearby
swamps drove me back inside. We
saw many rafts passing on the
Vetluga River today, carrying large
loads of wood for transport to other places. The Russians
take good
advantage of their rivers. Today the senior majors group that had put
a stain on
Turkishness in Moscow and which had generated incidents
that made the Russians laugh at us, came
for a visit. But they weren’t
ashamed at all. But we showed them proper hospitality anyway.
Again
today I heard that the Russians have pulled back to their original lines.
Vetluga River bank today.
4 June 1916 Sunday
As soon as I got up in the morning there
was a loud noise. That idiot
Kâzim, wanting to act big, used some vulgar words to assert
himself
but he was shut up with the appropriate firm response. After the list
of names that was
written and signed yesterday, the Command
secretary came and gave us each an advance
of two rubles to last us
until the beginning of the month. He said that this month
salries will
be given at the start of the month (based on the Rumi calendar). The
tailor came and
did a fitting. He’s cut it well. It’s Sunday again and the
girls have come to stroll around in
the park across from us. Most of
the
fellows are watching them and when an opportunity
arises they
wave to pass the time. But I wasn’t partaking. Again I went to the
other side
and Şerif and I wrote a short story. We translated
it into French and then we had Osman
correct it.
The Russian Newspaper is Writing
5 June 1916 Monday
The weather is nice but there’s a stifling
heat, too. The mosquitoes
are busy so we can’t take off our jackets. After morning tea I
went
to see Şerif. We began to write a book in Turkish, Russian and French
for learning
Russian. I wrote a bit and in fact I kept on writing
all night at the table in my room. But I
didn’t even finish half of it. I
went to sleep late, lying down a little before sunrise. Today there
were
a lot of log transport rafts that are each made up of at least seven or
eight smaller
rafts. On each of the rafts there are more than 2,000
trees. News: the Russians have pulled back
to Azep, which they
consider their original line. The Russian newspaper is writing
?approvingly?
about this and the Turks’ attacks.
6 June 1916 Tuesday
In the morning I wrote some more in the
Russian book and after
drinking my tea I went with the book to Şerif. After sitting a while I
returned. After lunch I went to the bath with Tahir, Mehmet Ağa and
Erzurumlu Hasan. There is an
oven and a stove in a little room here.
The inside is dirty and muddy, a so-called
bath. As soon as I put some
soap on myself
I got out. After the bath I again went to the other
side
and started to talk with Kör Mehmet
about the needs of our country.
Şerif stated the aim
and the path to be followed, saying that he would
do things to raise up the fatherland and
convince the people. He said
he would
enjoy doing such things. I have complete confidence in
him
because I trust both his actions and his behavior. May God protect
good-hearted
people like him.
In the evening Osman proposed a conference so that we could set up
a
committee among ourselves and this was accepted. This committee
will intervene in and resolve all
kinds of issues in the house and settle
any incidents that may arise among us. Everyone will
submit to the
committee’s decision. Any kind of problem among us will be within
the purview of this
committee. Very nice idea. Osman was chosen as
the chief, his assistant (acting 'ustarşi' for the house) will be Captain
Hamid and the committee members are the secretary (Şakır)
Selahaddin and Kâzim.
//END of PART XXIX//
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