27 Mart 2019 Çarşamba

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

//Ed. Note: TNT returns now to Fuad Bey's story of 
captivity in Vetluga - quite a contrast to the fate of Turkish
POWs elsewhere, as shown by the recent TNT mini-series
on other prisoners and camps in Russia. 

As August 1916 ends, Fuad Bey and his companions 
stage a play, discuss Turkey's future and pass the time 
with language lessons.// 


prisoners stage a play ile ilgili görsel sonucu


26 August 1916 Saturday
The weather is good, the sky is crystal clear. In the morning Saffet came 
to me and said that there will be a little play tonight and he asked me to
participate. I accepted his proposal with great pleasure. In the afternoon
we went to the garden for a rehersal. Today Halis and I went for a walk
for the first time and we sat on the grass by the river for a long time. 

The play started at 9 o’clock, after the evening meal. Salah was an aged 
general, Saffet was the general’s capricious daughter Melahat, Zühdü 
was the general’s son-in-law, Hikmet was the general’s wife, I was the 
nanny Gülfem and Halis was the doorman Munis. My role was quite 
odd. When I looked in the mirror I laughed like crazy. Anyway, the play 
went off well, almost professional.  After the play we chatted a bit…
then we went to bed. Although my relationship with Halis went through 
some changes over the last couple of days it’s now back to normal. 
Those who cannot bear the friendship between me and Halis are 
looking at us in such a way that if they could they would drown us in 
a spoonful of water. I confront these stares with a cynical smile. Keep 
on with your jealousy and meanness, see what it gets you!...today in 
the morning the Commander came with a Russian prisoner inspection
committee. They inspected us and left.

27 August 1916 Sunday
The weather is bad. It rained lightly in the late afternoon ad then 
heavily until after midnight. In the morning a few people from the 
majors group came and Şerif came from the other side. We chatted. 
Kör Mehmet came in the afternoon, as well. At night we had a long 
discussion about the country and then we found ourselves in a state of 
laughter. The reason for this was a long letter Hikmet wrote. We really 
laughed hard, my stomach and chest hurt. Then I caught a cough and it
was difficult  to get to sleep. That’s how today passed. Anyway, I don’t 
remember having experienced such a merry day in all of my life! 

Certainly every day – despite this very exceptional one compared
to the others – are filled with distress and torment. Dear God, what is 
my sin that I should have to face such pain every day. Feel sorry for a 
hopeless fellow like me, give poor me who bounces from calamity to 
calamity and from misery to misery and who doesn’t see a pleasant 
face, reasons to live happily. Make me laugh. The Turks have again
taken Muş from the Russians.

28 August 1916 Monday
I got up very early. The weather is bad, rainy. In the afternoon those 
of us who are interested in learning languages got together and 
decided to work on French and German. I requested both languages. 
More people requested German than the others. Süleyman will be 
our teacher. Just before the evening meal Süleyman gave us our first 
German lesson. Then after dinner those of us taking German tried to 
write a bit. Halis worked very diligently on German, along with me,
Zühdü, Hikmet, Tahir, Saffet, Temel and Fahri. At night in the other 
room Saffet, Salah, Zühdü and I discussed a number of things about
Turkey. In particular, one of these was about youth. After peace is 
concluded a society comprised of  young people will be established 
in Turkey, with a small amount of capital. In the first stage a school ,
will be set up in a neighborhood near a lightly populated village. 
Village children will be educated here. The village children will not
be able to see or get permission to visit their parents until they finish 
their schooling, up to age 16 or 17. After their primary education the 
school will teach them agriculture. When they finish these children 
will be settled in new villages established on empty land and they will 
be given plots for themselves. The children will pay an annual amount 
to settle the debt for this land. These schools will rapidly multiply. 
With this understanding, made with courage and fortitude, coming to 
a successful fruition, in just 30 years a great change will be seen in
Turkey. Four people are now involved in this good-will project and 
Halis, Burhan and Fahri are participating, as well. We agreed to each 
contributed one ruble per month for this.

29 August 1916 Tuesday
The weather is bad, rainy. Every day the sky is cloudy. Again today 
passed in an ordinary way. In surrounding where there is nothing 
worthwhile to do the empty days of captivity pass with boredom. 
In fact, with the effect of this our undeveloped moral underpinning 
acquires a very bad form. Today in the morning and evening 
Süleyman gave us half hour lessons in both German and French. 
In the afternoon I went to see Şerif. We talked about the conditions 
of the poor and the consequences war. We didn’t play games at 
night. Osman related to us information about a patriotic organization 
in Egypt and the good it has done for the country. He told us about 
societies and related information, research and studies, and he 
explained as much as possible what kinds of things must be done in 
Turkey in the future. I listened attentively and learned things I didn’t
know.

We Talked with Salah About the Revolutions to Come in Turkey

30 August 1916 Wednesday
The weather is bad. It rained quite a lot. Süleyman went to the market 
this morning so lessons were postponed. Prior to the evening meal we
 had a German lesson. We were going to have one in French after 
dinner but it didn’t happen. Henceforth, we decided to have the French 
lesson from one to two in the afternoon and the German one from five 
to six in the evening. Halis is working hard on German and I am too. 
I’m glad about this. At night Osman told us that the Earth’s southern 
pole is farther away than the north and that’s why it has a shape like a 
top. He gave  us some other information about the Earth. Also at night, 
Salah and I talked about the revolutions that will come about in Turkey. 
I said that since I currently don’t have a profession, when I return to 
Turkey I will take up engineering and then go to Europe right away. 
But In asked him what I need to do since I don’t have the means to be 
able to go to Europe. He told me as much as he knew and promised to 
help me get a job for 8 or 10 liras per month in a promising 
commercial field, since I don’t have a profession now.

31 August 1916 Thursday
The weather is bad again but it didn’t rain. After lunch we had a French 
lesson. Then Halis went to the market with the other fellows. I went to 
see Şerif. We talked about the war. I wrote a few words down from Uzun 
Hakkı’s notebook for myself. When I returned we had a German lesson.
We’re gradually making progress. At night I saw my father in a dream. 
It seems that he was at a banquet with his friends. There were some 
people at the banquet that I love and some that I hate with all my heart. 
Then I spoke with my father. He told me he loved me and gave me some
money. It seems that in the dream I’m living my civilian life in Istanbul 
before I went off to war. God please give life to my mother, father, 
brother and all Turks…

//END of PART XLI//

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