8 Nisan 2019 Pazartesi

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

//Ed. Note: Fuad Bey closes out September 1916 at Vetluga
with lots of news about the War, language lessons and 
another play performance.//

dobruca 1916 map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
Fuad Bey gets news about the fighting in and around Dobruca
(upper right) during the summer of 1916.



25 September 1916 Monday
This morning I awoke uncomfortably because of a slight noise and I 
couldn’t get back to sleep. The weather is overcast. News: ın the 
French parliament the subject in question is the disproportionate losses 
of the French and the inability of the allies so far to make any progress.
Nevertheless, even if progress must be made with the spilling of French
blood and the suffering of its youth, the parliament was still determined 
and a majority were in favor of the war and its continuation. The 
Romanians have lost Dobruca. The Russian newspapers have admitted
that Romania won’t be able to do anything…we had a new German 
lesson. These days there’s a blankness that suddenly slaps my mind and 
it immediately erases the things I learn in class, in particular. I quickly 
forget the things I’ve memorized. And secondly, I have a lack of 
appetite, too. I don’t know why. I spent today sewing a vest. I’m 
pleased that Halis’s discomfort has eased somewhat. We chatted again 
in the evening and I went to bed early.

26 September 1916 Tuesday
The weather is cloudy. Sometimes it’s as dark as night. Outside it’s 
fiercely cold…in mid-afternoon Halis and I want for a walk to the 
riverside but we came back early because of the cold. Again today
I knitted the vest. We weren’t able to have a German lesson. The 
reason was that Tahir and Saffet were both sick. I went to see Şerif 
after the evening meal and we chatted for quite a while, drinking
tea. Here’s the news Şerif gave me: the Allies are unable to do 
anything. The Russians are being crushed at Dobruca. A fully-
equipped Greek division has asked  German and Bulgarian soldiers
for asylum. In Turkey four more army corps are being formed with 
men from 17 to old age. Imam Yahya and Imam Idris have joined 
with the governor of Mecca and they will declare an Arab caliphate.
Darkness fell at five when I came home. After singing songs and 
playing games I changed clothes and lay down. In a dream at night 
I had gone to Istanbul although the war had not ended yet. I spoke
with my father, mother and brother. I related my adventure to my 
father. The war goes on but henceforth I’m a civilian. In particular, 
I’m curious about the Tanin newspaper and read it with rapt attention.

Turks Wearing German Uniforms in Fierce Fighting on the Riga 
Front

27 September 1916 Wednesday
The weather is cloudy, like yesterday. A small amount of rain mixed 
with snow fell. Even though I though I had gotten up early, in order 
to go to the bath, it was close to noon by the time I went. I had a good 
scrubbing. I was very grateful to Halis for rubbing my back and ridding
 me of dirt. My body is at ease. We ate lunch a bit late…news: Turks 
wearing German uniforms are engaged in fierce fighting on the Riga 
front. Russians fleeing at Dobruca have been chased and pummelled
by a Turkish cavalry division. German planes are bombing Bucharest 
and inflicting damage, with 60 dead and many wounded…the Turks 
will send a force of 400,000 to the Balkans once again…today I 
finished Halis’s vest. It looks pretty good. At night Salah related some 
stories and ideas about the new Pan-Turanism of the future. We passed 
the time. In a dream at night I fought with Ethem and scored some 
heavy blows. The funny thing is, though, I’m forever fighting with
Ethem and Salah in these dreams even though neither one of them is
 passing through my mind. I wonder if my dream is trying to warn me 
that these two are going to betray me?

28 September 1916 Thursday
I woke up rather late and when I did my body was aching. The weather
is cloudy again. The Romanians are surrounded. Supposedly the 
Greeks have gone to war against us…Şerif came in the afternoon. We
wrote some French words. We were able to have a German lesson. Most 
of the time we can’t study German because of excuses like parasites/
noise and other things. But it’s really just the fellows’ laziness, nothing 
else. Idleness, neglect, laziness…at night eight or ten people from our 
side were invited to go to the other side. We sat around for a while and 
Kör Mehmet played some comical games. We had fun and laughed for 
about two hours. We sang songs, drank tea. But in my mind I’m quite 
troubled. I can’t laugh or sing. Because I left my good friend whom I 
love like a brother alone at home. The whole time I was there I thought
how depressed he must be from lonliness and I too was depressed. 
Ah what a shame that shyness sometimes puts me in difficult situations 
like this…at night when we returned we played a game and I lost. Then 
we went to sleep.

29 September 1916 Friday
The weather is nice. The sun is trying to warm the air but there’s a light 
wind blowing from the north that makes one cold. Right away we put 
the beds outside and sunned ourselves. It’s really annoying that there 
are still some fleas on me here and there. In the afternoon boys from 
among the students at the Vetluga Boys and Girls School were marching
 around holding wooden rifles and undergoing training. Supposedly it’s 
preparation for war. They appear to be pretty good. Again another 
regrettable incident: Osman and the other married fellows were having 
a heated argument. I didn’t quite  understand the problem. Based on what 
I heard, it was about matters concerning our committee and the others. 
Osman said such harsh words to Uzun Mustafa such as no one could
bear. Mustafa couldn’t defend himself and was speechless…in any 
event, after quite a bit of screaming they promised to break relations 
with one another but to not say anything or complain to the Russian 
Commander…for this reason we didn’t have a German lesson…tonight 
all of the people in our house went to the other house. This time I had 
the role of a coffee house trainee in the play we put on. But it wasn’t
much fun. Only Hikmet played the role of a girl well. After the play, 
we had a cup of tea and went back home.

30 September 1916 Saturday
When we got up in the morning my dear friend Halis’s illness was 
completely gone. The Weather is a bit cloudy, then it clouded over 
completely. News: the English have taken back 113 French villages 
after a fierce attack on the Germans. Newly-introduced German planes
are bombing Romania and Russia. Bulgarian planes are sometimes 
joining with German ones to bombard Bucharest. In fact, one of them 
bombed the King’s palace and the Russian embassy, destroying them. 
This plane flew so low it could be identified. The citizens of Bucharest
are afraid…again we didn’t have a German lesson. For the past one or 
two weeks there’s been not interest shown in this subject. I’ve been 
feeling funny for a couple of days. I’m more interested in lying
down and resting than I am in sitting around. When I lie down I can’t 
sleep and I feel numb. We played a game but I didn’t have any luch. 
Anyway, we had fun. Tonight we sat and talked for quite a while (two
hours). Osman talked about funny stories.

//END of PART XLVI//

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