20 Mart 2019 Çarşamba

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

//Ed. Note: Fuad Bey balks at writing love letters in French
for his fellow inmates to the local Russian girls, in light of 
the camp officials' awareness and prohibition.  Otherwise,
relationships with his friends are foremost in Fuad Bey's
mind.//

russian girls 1915 ile ilgili görsel sonucu


15 August 1916 Tuesday
The weather is very bad. Late in the afternoon there was rain and fog 
that covered everything.  Today I sent Halis to the market and he 
brought news that lining that we have been looking for for two months 
will arrive tomorrow. Later he bought sugar, cake and a comb. We 
worked on French together. I got a lot of infinitives from Osman. 
Osman: he is a good man, with a French education. He is a gentleman 
but there’s one thing lacking and that is if he wasn’t so reluctant to teach 
us what he knows he could set up a small school here based on his 
excellent knowledge of French. That way he could do an unforgettable 
favor to us young fellows here in captivity. And although such a 
proposal has been made to him he has not warmed to it and makes 
excuses not to do it…he just occupies himself with his favorite games. 
Halis and I commiserated once again today. At night we sat for quite a 
while. Later I joined in a conversation that included Salah, Saffet and 
Osman. After that, Saffet and I chatted. Still later, Zühdü, Salah and I 
spoke together. The conversation was mostly about girls and the people
 of Vetluga. I didn’t sleep until morning when the sun was rising.

Twelve Bulgarian Divisions are Waiting on the Romanian Border

16 August 1916 Wednesday
Toward sunrise I sat on the windowsill and wrote a long letter to Kazim 
and Hasan. The contents were as follows: henceforth I won’t bother
 myself with writing letters for you to the girls…because that Russian 
sergeant in the Command is keeping  track of these flirtations and I 
heard that there could be an uproar in Vetluga if this sergeant stirs the 
pot. Were such a thing to happen I would be punished for something 
I have nothing to do with and I must keep my distance from something
that is very likely to have serious consequences both for my being and 
my self-respect…

A bit after sunrise I woke Halis up and we went to the bath. After 
getting cleaned up we came back and had tea together. After tea I went 
to sleep but only for three hours. In the afternoon I went to see Şerif 
and we talked. News: Austria has pulled back from the German-Russian 
front and Austria has also withdrawn from the Italian front…possibly 
12 Bulgarian divisions comprised of 300,000 men are waiting on the 
Romanian border. The Turks have taken Hemedan and a small area to 
the west of Trabzon. There is fierce fighting on the Van, Bitlis and Muş 
fronts. 

Today we got the lining that a Tatar merchant in Vetluga obtained 
for us from Moscow. The price is 18.5 rubles, although it’s not worth
 three mecidiye (60 piasters). I ate watermelon today for the first time in 
two years. I went to bed early.

17 August 1916 Thursday
I got up early this morning. I woke Halis up and we had tea. Ethem fell 
sick today and had to lie down. The reason was said to be a remark made 
against him. The fellows went to his side to comfort him. Even though 
I have no kind feelings toward him I wanted to go to ask about his health 
but there was a consideration that prevented me from doing so. And that 
was that although previously he didn’t neglect to make fun of me, over 
the past few weeks he has shown seriousness, dignity, arrogance and pride 
(all of which are fake). So the consideration was that, given that I have 
this strong distrust of him, were I to go and say ‘how are you?’ to him 
would I be met with impoliteness and would my self-respect be wounded.
I’m right about this consideration because although I’m a good-natured 
person with a good sense of humor, I am first and foremost a man of 
dignity when it comes to self-respect. The weather is neither very bad nor 
very good. Today we didn’t have any lessons. Our time was all wasted. 
In the evening I went to see Şerif. We talked about the leather of a fur hat 
he bought. Later Kör Mehmet talked at length about his past life. We 
listened.  At night we sat for quite a while. Zühdü and I chatted. He told 
me the reasons for his mood over the previous days. I agreed with him. 

18 August 1916 Friday
This morning I didn’t get up either early or late. The weather is mostly 
clear. In the morning I spoke a bit with Selahaddin and told him that I 
was going to go to Ethem and ask about his health but regrettably a 
consideration prevented me. I understood from Erzurumlu Hasan’s face 
that he was a bit angry with me about the matter of the letters the other 
day because although his friend Kazim had now and then approached 
me in an effort to get me to reconsider, Hasan had not. Again today we 
didn’t work on French. Halis, in particular, is neglecting it. I went to see 
Şerif for a while and we chatted. Tonight six of us got together and Salah 
explained a number of things about the sociology of raising children in 
Turkey. We listened. He then went on to talk about our villages and the 
state they’re in and what is necessary to find solutions for remedying 
these unfortunate circumstances. He added quite a bit more concerning 
the development of the country and the nation. Later four of us talked 
at Zühdü’s bed.

19 August 1916 Saturday
In the morning something comical in a dream apparently made me laugh 
out loud heartily. When I woke up a little later the fellows asked me why 
I had laughed. The weather is nice today, quite clear. I went to see Şerif 
in the morning and we chatted. While I was there, Muştak (Gendarmerie
First Lieutenant), who is the brother of Captain (Gendarmerie) Şevket, 
came here upon a request from the other city where some fellows are 
(Kologriv). A bit later the two brothers came to our house and settled in. 
But there was a lot of noise as a few people changed their places. Halis 
came out from the interior room and I gave my spot to him. I moved next 
to him, settling into a bed in the same room. While this was happening 
Zühdü said something that bothered me. As the result of the negative 
effect this had on me Halis and I had a talk. He was upset, as well. I was
mad that I had said some foolish thig that had the effect of making him 
upset and I was sorry for it. Today Passed distressfully. I tried to console 
Halis and was partially successful. Today Halis got a paper from his 
fellow townsman and friend Bekir Turgut and wrote him a letter.

20 August 1916 Sunday
The weather is nice…at night, just as I was falling asleep Selahuddin and 
Kazim were talking. Salah was trying to persuade Kazim to give up the 
effort to court and woo these Russian girls. Since I fell asleep I didn’t hear 
how their chat ended.


//END of PART XXXIX//

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