18 Mart 2019 Pazartesi

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

//Ed. Note: Fuad Bey's friendship with Halis deepens and
Halis even rescues him from drowning in a dream.  
Meanwhile, the camp commander gets wind of the Turks
flirting with local Russian girls and forbids it.//

vetluga russia ile ilgili görsel sonucu
        Colorized photo of a church in Vetluga, 1909.


9 August 1916 Wednesday
The weather is not very good. Today passed more with idle chat rather 
than work. I went to see Şerif in the afternoon and we talked. Upon my 
return a sarcastic remark made by the boorish İsmail bothered me. 
These days my time passes rather pleasantly. Lately I haven’t been 
subjected to such painful thoughts. I’m always happy thinking about a
 promising future and it’s welcoming hands. If I were to think too much 
my imagination would wallow in lonliness. But I’m not letting myself 
get caught up in irritation in the face of absurdity and crudeness nor in 
getting angered by them. Really, there are some very strange things that 
these prisoners have created in this place. Everyone’s level, perception, 
life, morals and nature are different. There are stark differences in 
the way people think. May God give Turks who live for the future a 
feeling, an idea, a desire and a soul.

10 August 1916 Thursday
The weather is bad. There was some drizzle in the late afternoon. Today 
we changed the grass in our beds. In the afternoon Halis went to the 
market. Since there’s no sugar available he brought two cakes with a 
sufficient amount of lemon sugar for tea - one for me and one for himself.  
I was very much impressed by this. Halis is always sincere toward me and 
acts just like a brother. He never forgets me. For my part, I expect to hold 
a permanent sincerity and a never-ending friendship toward him. 
Sometimes I make him mad when I make joking remarks but he does the
same thing to me…I spent a long time in deep thought about nature in my 
old spot (the one next to Zühdü). A little after sunset I felt a bit depressed.

Fierce Attacks Have Begun Around Kermanşah, Bitlis and Muş

11 August 1916 Friday
Although I went to bed late last night I got up early this morning. The 
distress brought on in my being by my long deep contemplation yesterday
 continued for quite a while. Even though I wanted to crush it right away 
I was  unsuccessful. The weather is bad again. Halis and I were busy
until noon working in French and writing letters in French for the other  
fellows. I received a note after lunch. I went to see Şerif to get some news. 
Just at that time there was a downpour that lasted briefly. Then the sky 
cleared. News: the Turks gave the English a beating seven miles east
of Port Said. Fierce attacks have begun at Kermanşah, Bitlis and Muş. 
The Russians are in retreat there while there are Turkish armies at 
Rusçuk and Sofia.  Romania has had some insignificant skirmishes on 
the Bulgarian border…after  I learned this news I worked on French 
for a bit and then returned. Halis and I worked on French for a while. 
Today I reversed Halis’s epaulet but I was disappointed when he wasn’t
happy with it. At night I listened with pleasure to Osman’s remarks 
about philosophy. Then I went to bed.

12 August 1916 Saturday
I got up late. The weather is bad, it rained lightly a couple of times. 
Halis and I worked on French for a while in the morning. I had him 
make small sentences. He’s rather capable. But all at once he’ll become 
distracted because he starts thinking he’s not capable and he loses the 
things he’s already learned. May God save especially we Turks from 
such distress. The German prisoner tailor who has been making Halis’s 
jacket for the past four days brought it today. But the fellow’s ham-
handedness made a mess of the jacket. I sewed on the epaulets. Again 
today I wrote letters in French for the lovesick fellows. I also wrote 
letters today to my father and to the presidency of the Red Crescent in 
which I requested that my father be informed of my health status. At 
night we had a lot of fun.

13 August 1916 Sunday

This morning I got up neither early nor late. After Halis and I greeted 
each other he told me about a dream he had. The dream: we came to 
the bank of a river and right away I dove into the water in order to get 
to the other side. I was walking quickly through the water until I 
stopped at the place where the current was the strongest and I began 
to be swept away. Although my body was completely in the water I 
was still visible. Halis quickly came to my rescue but even though he
grabbed me and threw me out of the water it was no use because it 
seemed that I had drowned. Then he struggled to get the water that 
filled my mouth and my stomach out and he succeeded. After this I 
came back to life. I suspected that Halis added this last remark about
 me coming back to life in all sincerity so that I wouldn’t be upset but 
I don’t believe in such dreams anyway. I’m sure that Halis’s sincerity 
and love for me is not hypocritical and that it is serious and real because
he was so upset about my situation in the final portion of the dream that
he cried out ‘Oh my God! Is he dead?’, causing the fellows who were 
sleeping in the room to be disturbed. Given that Kazim, Halis and I 
were on the river bank and only he came to my rescue it’s clear that 
I’m very lucky to have such a loyal and faithful friend who is more like 
a dear brother. I too love him with all my heart and soul and I have a 
great feeling of loyalty toward him. Even though I don’t believe in 
dreams I interpreted this to be devoid of any ulterior motive. Because 
of Halis’s extraordinary sincerity some hard-hearted person may want 
to break us up, disturb our friendship and crush our oneness of thought 
but I hope not because no one can destroy this sincerity…the  weather 
has brightened quite a bit. I went to see Şerif in the afternoon. Today 
Artillery Second Lieutenant Hikmet move to our house from 
Adalefinski house (he was my classmate.) I went to bed late.

russian girls 1915 ile ilgili görsel sonucu

14 August 1916 Monday
The weather is almost always bad. It rained once or twice. Halis’s 
distress, which has gone on since yesterday had a terrible effect on me 
toward evening. But I tried hard to console him. I helped him resist it 
and was able to make him better. Before noon everyone was in the park
across from our house. Apparently, an exhibition has been opened in 
the city today for war contributions.  This seems to be the reason. 
Supposedly prisoners can go too, with the Commander’s approval. 
This evening the annoying sergeant came from the Command. He
passed on the Commander’s message that we prisoners have been 
seen calling to and talking with the Russian girls and that this activity 
is unsuitable. The Commander has ordered that this behavior  must 
stop. In truth I condemn the young fellows who have created this 
situation. They’re thinking that they can get acquainted with the 
daughters of our mortal enemy even though they’re in this lowly 
station of captivity and they’re hoping to have a happy union with
them. There was even talk of marrying the tall one . It was nearly
morning when I went to bed. Today I borrowed five rubles.

//END of PART XXXVIII//

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