22 Mayıs 2019 Çarşamba

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

//Ed. Note: Bitter cold continues in Vetluga for Fuad Bey.
His German teacher, the Austrian private Franz, is taken
to the camp's main barracks. Fuad Bey's health is a bit
fragile these days and he fears contracting tuberculosis.
Revolution is in the air in February 1917.//

russia february 1917 ile ilgili görsel sonucu


1 February 1917 Thursday
The weather is clear and sunny but at the same time it’s bitter cold. The 
doctor came, opened up my ears and spread the medicine on. My ears 
feel a bit better. Even though Halis’s health has returned he’s more or 
less neglecting cordiality. We weren’t able to work on German too
much today. We only had a lesson at night. I really want to work on 
German in the worst way. But for some reason I can’t work the way I 
want to.
  
2 February 1917 Friday
The weather is somewhat cloudy. Bitter cold. The Vetluga clock tower 
shows minus 50. Another one shows minus 35. News: the Germans have 
taken Riga. It seems that Austrian officer prisoners are coming to 
Vetluga.  We didn’t have much of a lesson in the evening. Today I felt a 
terrible aching in my body. This just about made me ill and I had to lie 
down. I didn’t leave the bed the whole day. Sometimes I feel cold with a 
fever, sometimes I feel tired and sometimes I feel light-headed. Halis is 
constantly by my side and helps me with everything. I’m very grateful 
to Halis.

3 February 1917 Saturday
The weather is mostly sunny. But there are still some clouds in the sky. 
It’s not as cold as it was yesterday. News: (from Tercüman) the English 
say: ‘we want peace but as long as Germany’s might and military 
strength exists the small countries will always be in danger of being c
rushed. That’s why for us there can only be peace when Germany is 
defeated.’ The Russians say: ‘Istanbul must be given to us because most 
of our exports pass through the Bosphorus! Henceforth, Turkey, which 
disturbs the world’s balance, must be ejected from Europe!’ Dirty 
bastards! I was sick until evening and somewhat worse than yesterday. 
But from the time I went to bed until morning I was comfortable. We 
didn’t have a lesson. Şerif sent a paper in which he asked for a loan of 
twenty rubles for himself. Again, I’m experiencing some aggravation. 
I really feel badly that fortune is constantly knocking me hither and yon. 
Oh, captivity goes on…Dear God, give me happiness.

4 February 1917 Sunday
The weather is clear and cold, especially in the morning. If the weather 
is clear there’s a bit of a change experienced between noon and mid-
afternoon. Today the difference wasn’t more than five or six degrees. 
For example, the cold was minus 35 and at noontime it rose to -30 or -29.
Right after tea in the morning we went to the Command and again we 
each got 50 rubles.  So far I’ve gotten 590.5 rubles. Although the other 
houses got their salaries yesterday, for some reason our house and 
Malaşova were left until today. I went to see Şerif in the afternoon and 
let him the 20 rubles he wanted. We chatted a bit and had tea. We gave 
less money than last month for table d’hote. We paid our debts and 
collected our loans. We worked on our lessons at night. Major Mehmet
Bey moved into our house today. While going to the Kazarma (main 
barracks) to get his salary Zühdü’s ears froze. He’s like me now.

5 February 1917 Monday
The weather is clear, the sky shining, sunny. The cold is especially fierce 
in the morning. News: the Germans sent a note to the neutral countries 
again. In the note it is written that ships should not be sent to places 
specified by Germany, that from now on ships seen in this restricted area 
will be summarily sunk and that Germany will not accept any 
responsibility arising from this. The Americans got angry because of 
this note and cut political relations with Germany (from a Russian 
newspaper). The Turkish 57th and 75th regiments have launched fierce 
attacks on the Russians on the Riga front and are engaging in bayonet 
battles…we went to the market in the afternoon  and bought material
for shirts (and soap and socks too). We gave things to Mustafa’s wife to 
sew. I felt down a bit this evening. My existing aggravation only 
increased that much more because of the imputations and accusations 
about the good things I do in every situation where I have to do 
something.  All the blame is on me…because I’m not thinking straight. 
No, I don’t bear much blame. But because I’m not completely free in 
this unknown life that fortune has thrust upon me, every shortcoming 
stems from this. But I’ll bear any and all pain. Oh, the never-ending 
aspect of these bad times is really affecting me and I’m afraid of getting 
tuberculosis. God give me strength, resistance, health…in the dream I 
had tonight I was in the fifth class of the military high school and I was
 left back as the result of the yearly test. Although my classmates have 
completed high school, I’m still in the final grade. I’m aggravated 
because of this…

6 February 1917 Tuesday
The weather was bad, compared to what it has been. The sky is cloudy. 
The cold has eased. The wind-driven snow is not producing the terrible 
cold we had before. Halis went to the market in the afternoon and got a 
big basket and a towel. After the evening meal we gathered together in 
the big room. The majors were there, too. We we’re having a discussion 
when the Commander came. He talked about the matter of Hikmet’s 
letter. He scolded Hikmet a bit and said that the government has sent the 
family of the girl Hikmet wrote the letter to far away. Haydar Bey made 
an appeal to the Commander on behalf of all of us and the Commander 
forgave Hikmet this time. But he ordered that Franz be sent to the 
Kazarma (main barracks) right away and then the Commander left. A 
bit later Franz was taken to the Kazarma together with a Russian soldier. 
Franz, who tried his very best to teach us German is no longer with us. 
We’ll see what will happen now. At night I was quite agitated. Halis and 
I were sitting around talking when Halis took some vinegar spirits, put 
two or three grams in his palm and then drank it all of a sudden. As soon 
as he drank it he looked odd and started to have trouble breathing. Right 
away, I brought him some water and had him drink it. He lay down 
feeling feint for ten minutes. Spit and saliva flowed out of his mouth. 
Anway, quite a bit later he came to his senses. But I was really shaken 
up…I got weak in the knees and my heart was beating like crazy.
Because I was frightened at the thought that he could be dying. But God 
brought him back to health.

//END of PART LXV//

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