Selahattin pines for Cemile and gets into a
bit of trouble in Tokat for gambling. The diary
ends with his impending departure for Istanbul.
Also, TNT speculates on who the real Selahattin
may have been.
The river flowing through Tokat is the
Yeşilırmak, not the Kızılırmak, as TNT
erroneously noted a couple of times in
this saga. Mea culpa.//
Old Tokat.
September
Saturday, 1 September 1934
Today Yaşar took his test. I wonder if the lessons I’ve
given him will help him to pass it.
Sunday, 2 September 1934
Yaşar was very nervous yesterday afternoon and again up
till noon today. Finally, he found out that he passed the
test. Tomorrow he’ll go to Çermik (in western Diyarbakır
province).
Monday, 3 September 1934
The weather has been exceedingly hot for the past 3 days.
Yet, usually in September, it rains and the temperature falls.
We must be in the grip of a heat wave.
Tuesday, 4 September 1934
My mother came to Tokat. She’ll stay in the city tonight.
We went to the park with Solmaz.
Wednesday, 5 September 1934
In my dream I was together with her. I had an adventure
that seemed so real. For four days, she’s been on
my mind. I found out there will be an entertainment this
evening so I stayed in Tokat. The play was pretty good
and I had an enjoyable evening. Today for the first time
in ten days, I went to the lodge and chatted with my friends
about this and that.
Thursday, 6 September 1934
It was very busy in the office today. We made about 15 lira.
Friday, 7 September 1934
After spending time at the orchard until mid-afternoon, my
mother washed me with hot water.
Sunday, 9 September 1934
I spent part of the day at the office and part of it at the
Yüksek Coffee House playing backgammon. While I was
sitting in the coffee house I got stung in the side of my
eyelid by a bee and it began to swell up.
Monday, 10 September 1934
My right eye is completely swelled. I decided not to go
to Tokat and was bored the whole day until evening.
Tuesday, 11 September 1934
The weather began to turn cold.
Wednesday, 12 September 1934
It rained quite a bit in the evening. As I was leaving the
office after eating, it seemed like I saw her. I got very
excited, until I realized that it was just a relative who looks
like her. In the evening, the cold weather made us start to
sleep inside again.
Thursday, 13 September 1934
Work was slow at the office and I’m bored. Around noon
I went to see Cemal.
Friday, 14 September 1934
I cracked a lot of almonds at the orchard. Around noon I
bathed. The weather seemed to warm up a bit.
Friday, 21 September 1934
This week was pretty boring. The Fall weather has come.
On Tuesday I got a letter from Tevfik and the same day
Yaşar came from Çermik. On Thursday we sent a letter
to the dormatory for my train ticket. Rıza Bey, the
Accounting Director at the Ministry of Health, came to tour
Tokat. After two days he left. Enver and some others
came after getting their baccalaureates. The others who
have to do make-ups went to Sivas. This year 15 students
in the senior class didn’t graduate. And most of these
are fellows I went to school with for four years. I’m
still thinking about her day and night. But there’s nothing
I can do. On Sunday we went to see the hall, where I
heard that those who were left back in the Teachers
High School will have to continue. In other words, they’ll
have to spend another year in high school. At least they’ll
be able to graduate next year. The time is approaching.
I’ll go to Istanbul in 10 or 20 days. Probably there,
among my friends, I won’t feel so bad. Today I’m making
a decision: I’m going to try to forget her and lead a dull
life for the next five months.
Monday, 24 September 1934
Yaşar and I made a decision. Today we’ll play games with
Cahid. At noon, after lunch, we went to the garden, where
we had fun with beans for two and a half hours. Later, I
came to the office.
Tuesday, 25 September 1934
While walking in the city, Severi called to me and said
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Why are you doing
such shameful things?”
I said: “What did I do?”
He said: “You’re gambling and Tutus said that you were
brought to the police station.”
Uncle Mustafa will tell my father about me. At first, I didn’t
understand but my heart began to race. If my father hears
about this he won’t believe that we’re just having fun with
the ‘kıble’. In any case, Tutus was able to calm his father
down. I wonder if I can make sure that he doesn’t say
anything to my father. But thinking that my father will
find out, I was very nervous the whole day. From now I’ll
try not to do any gambling.
Bridge over the Yeşilırmak River in Tokat, 1930s.
Wednesday, 26 September 1934
Again today I was very nervous because of yesterday’s
incident. After Halil lost money, he sold a suit at the market
for 4.5 liras and started gambling again. In the end, he
went home with 160 kuruş. His father found out that he was
taken to the police station. On Tuesday while I was
sitting in the office in the morning, Halil’s father passed by
and looked in with a stern face. It’s a good thing I was in
the office at the time. Otherwise, he would have told my
father some misinformation and I would have been
between a rock and a hard place.
Thursday, 27 September 1934
In the afternoon Yaşar and I played with horsebeans. In the
evening I stayed in Tokat for the theater. As I was about
to go to the cinema, Yaşar told me that İsmail has been
left back. This made me think. The poor fellow will have
to go back for the same courses for a second year. At the
cinema we gave İsmail a lot of advice. When he
explained the matter, I found out that Cevad had been the
culprit. He must have a heart of stone. Every year a lot
of students’ education is hampered by the likes of him.
The film was “Pençe Köşk’ün Üserası”. Very bad. Later,
the acrobat was the same fellow I had seen in Istanbul.
The tricks with the dogs were quite good. Kâmil Bey made
us laugh, too. We left at 11:20.
Friday, 28 September 1934
When I got up in the morning I rode my bike to the
orchard and washed with hot water. I can’t forget her. I
don’t know what I’ll do.
Saturday, 29 September 1934
Yaşar went to Sivas. In the morning I learned from Salih
that school will open on Monday. At the office, my father
said the same thing, so I’ll be leaving in a hurry tomorrow.
Ha! Kemal and I chatted a lot until evening. I got a letter
from Şemsi.
END
//Ed.Note: Although it is not known for certain
who the diary’s writer is, it may very well have been
the late Dr. Selahattin Yücel, based on this biography
found on the internet.//
Assistant Professor Dr. Selahattin Yücel (1912-1975)
Selahattin Yücel was born in Tokat in 1912 and went to
elementary school at the Tokat Republic Elementary School,
attended the Tokat Middle School and Sivas Republic
High School. Between 1933 and 1938 he learned physics
and chemistry on a government scholarship at Lyon
University in France. After returning to Turkey,
Selahattin Yücel taught at various middle and high
schools, as well as serving in the military twice.
In 1945, he again went to France and first attended
Sorbonne University in Paris. He then worked at the
Radium Institute for a while. In 1949 he returned to
Turkey and was appointed as an assistant for the
General Physics cours in the Science Faculty of
Istanbul University in August, 1950. In 1954,
Selahattin Yücel earned his doctorate in science with
a thesis about electrical circuits, focusing on
“Condensators and Selenoids”. In 1958 he was made
an assistant professor at the university and in July
1961 he was appointed to the assistant professor cadre
in the same university seat.
After beginning duty in the General Physics Seat,
Selahattin Yücel made contributions to the
development of the electrical and optical laboratories,
helping students with their laboratory work there.
He had certain classes implemented and translated the
works of Ordinarius Professor Dr. Marcel Fouché from
French into Turkish. Selahattin Yücel’s work focused
primarily on electricity and he was best known for the
Geometrik Optics class he gave in the 1960s. He passed
away in 1975. (biography provided by
Prof. Dr. Ali Girgin).
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