The Turk who rescued 20,000 people from Nazi death camps

After reading the books ‘The Road to the Front’ and ‘Ambassador,’ written by his grandson Emir Kıvırcık, I gained a detailed insight into the extraordinary life of Behiç ERKİN, which could make for an excellent subject for a cinematic adaptation.

Behiç ERKİN was one of the rare people who could think ahead of his time, came to the fore with his military engineering knowledge, logistics coordination capability, ability to take the initiative in difficult times, and smart moves in diplomacy.

He was one of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s closest friends since 1907 and was awarded Germany’s Iron Cross Medal of the 1st Order for his outstanding achievements in the Gallipoli victory. In fact, he was one of only two commanders in our country to receive this medal, with the other being Atatürk himself.

In the War of Independence, with the rank of Colonel, he took charge of the army’s supply routes, and thanks to his success in this area of responsibility, the Turkish army gained serious tactical superiority over the enemy on the battlefields.

He was the father of the National Security Services Organization, the first organized intelligence agency of the Young Republic.

While all Turkish railways were in the hands of foreigners, he ensured that all technical and administrative documents related to railways were translated into Turkish. He trained the first Turkish machinists and established the current Turkish State Railways.

He served as the minister of public works and the ambassador to Hungary.

While doing all these things, he always preferred to stay in the background. Although he was a great war hero, his name was not heard much by the Turkish people.

In 1939, when his services for his country were crowned with the Ambassadorship in Paris, Turkey’s silent hero was unaware that he would announce his name to the world as “the Turk who stood up against the Nazis”.

The severe global economic crisis that occurred at the beginning of the 1930s led the right-wing movements in Europe, which were growing day by day, towards fascism.

Both Atatürk, prior to his death in Turkey, and İsmet İnönü, the President of the Republic after 1938, were well aware that the rise of fascism in Europe would eventually lead to a new world war.

Therefore, at the end of the 1930s, İsmet İnönü sent his trusted colleagues, in whose abilities he was confident, on assignments to Europe.

Unsurprisingly, at the end of the 1930s, fascism took hold in Spain with Francisco Franco, in Italy with Benito Mussolini, and in Germany with Adolf Hitler.

Of them, Hitler in particular was deeply unhappy about his country’s heavy defeat in the First World War.

He made it clear that he would pursue an expansionist policy through his military and industrial moves, and wasted no time in attacking Poland in 1939, which started World War II.

Behiç Bey began his mission as Ambassador to Paris during a particularly complicated period.

During the first few months of his mission, which he carried out with limited means, Nazi Germany, which held military superiority in Europe at the time, invaded France.

The Nazi occupation made it almost impossible to work in Paris. Nevertheless, coordination with Ankara continued, even under these circumstances.

With the impact of the occupation on France, the government in Paris was overthrown and a de facto Nazi puppet government was established in Vichy.

People who can take initiative and make timely decisions are able to navigate through difficult times effectively. In situations where decisions cannot be deferred to higher authorities or when there is no room for extra deliberation, those with a leadership spirit step forward, make decisions, and take action according to their will.

Behic Bey was a man with this talent.

At that time, Turkey’s policy was to remain neutral and not take part in the war in any way. However, every decision and action taken by Behiç Bey in France, with the approval of İsmet Pasha, had the potential to significantly impact Turkey’s distant stance towards the parties involved in the war.

Knowing this, Behiç Bey was representing Turkey almost like a head of state within the borders of France.

With his political and policy experience, he took decisions on his own initiative and only informed Ankara of the results of his decisions.

With this action of his, he was relieving Ismet Pasha of a great burden.

If the decisions taken by the embassy provoked a reaction from the Nazis or the opposing force, Ismet Pasha could make a maneuver by stating that these decisions were taken by the ambassador on his own initiative, and that the government was not aware of them.

Thus, Turkey could have remained at an equal distance to the parties despite the decision made.

In 1941, there was a major event that could be given as an example of this situation, which brought the Nazis and Turkey face to face.

The Nazis built concentration camps to systematically exterminate Jews, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals, disabled people, prisoners and political refugees living in the occupied territories.

All the people with the above characteristics living in France were to be sent to these death camps by the Nazis, after confiscating all their assets and immovable property, regardless of whether they were women, children, young, sick or old.

When the systematic concentration camps were first announced, not much attention was paid to it. But later, when the number of concentration camps increased in every region, it became more controversial all over the country.

People were silent despite seeing the atrocities committed out of fear of the Nazis.

Especially the Jews left no door unturned in France for help.

One of these doors was the Turkish Embassy. Behiç Bey saw the persecution and did not want to watch it like everyone else.

Behiç Bey wrote to Ankara in order to do something about the issue. However, although he waited for a while, he did not receive a response from Ankara with a solution proposal.

He could no longer ignore people’s calls for help and found an ingenious solution.

The Republic of Turkey was de facto not a party to the war. Citizens of a country that was not a party to the war could not be targeted by the countries participating in the war.

In short, giving the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey to the people who would be sent to the death camps would prevent them from being taken to the camps.

He immediately put his idea into practice. So much so that after a while there were huge crowds of people waiting in front of the embassy to get Turkish citizenship.

Working day and night, the embassy gave citizenship to every person who took refuge at its door.

In time, the crowds in front of the building attracted the attention of the Nazis. The building was now under close surveillance by Nazi officers. The building could be raided at any moment and the embassy staff could be arrested.

At this point, in order to prevent the citizenship documents and information in the embassy building from falling into the hands of the Nazis, all embassy officials (including Behiç Bey) kept watch at certain hours at the boiler under the embassy, ready to burn the documents.

It was precisely at this moment that a major move came from the Nazis to break the non-aggression pact with Turkey.

Senior Nazi (SS) generals stationed in France loaded about 20,000 Jews, most of whom had been granted Turkish citizenship, onto trains to be sent to death camps.

Behiç ERKİN, who received the news about the issue, made a counter move and sent two senior embassy officials to the station where the train would depart.

The Nazis were in no mood to listen to the two officials. So much so that the two officials had to board the train to the death camps.

When the trains carrying 20,000 victims and two Turkish embassy officials departed for the death camps, Behiç Bey launched an official raid on the headquarters of the Nazi generals.

Ignoring his previous injuries from the battles, he stood up in front of the generals and made the following speech in a fierce tone:

“Stop the trains! You cannot apply these laws to Turkish Jews. Because there is no discrimination of religion, language, or race in my country. It is against our laws to impose certain obligations on a section of my citizens!” and defied the commanders.

At the first stage, the commanders clearly stated that they did not like this attitude of Behiç Bey. They also added that this behavior could lead to serious diplomatic problems between the two countries.

At this moment, Behiç Bey’s hand went to his pocket of his jacket.

What he took out was the 1st Degree Iron Cross medal, which was given by the German Emperor at the time and was only awarded to a few people who demonstrated extraordinary bravery and service to Germany.

This gesture made the Nazi generals jump up from their seats with surprise.

Although they had succeeded in occupying France, it was perhaps the first time they had seen such a valuable medal up close. Realizing that the person they were facing would not be taken lightly, they tried to calm Behiç Bey down, sit him down, and offer him something, but their efforts were in vain.

Behiç Bey continued to stand with the psychological superiority he had achieved against the generals and continued his words: “You will immediately send back my two embassy officials and my citizens on the trains. I will stay here and wait for them until they are safely returned.

The generals were frantically on the telephone, and the train that was about to reach the death camp was urgently turned back. Behic Bey left the headquarters hours later, confident that the train and the two embassy officials were safe and sound. Additionally, during the same period, the homes and workplaces of these people were labeled “This house/workplace belongs to a Turk” and “This business belongs to a Turk”.

Even though some citizens were sent to the concentration camp at different times, they were rescued from the camp by Turkish embassy officials with superhuman efforts.

As the war escalated, Behiç Bey realized that the safety of these people could no longer be ensured in France. Consequently, he sent 20,000 Turkish citizens of Jewish origin to Turkey with trains called “Ambassador’s wagons” on which our flag with the moon and stars was displayed. Today, some of the citizens whom Behiç ERKİN sent to Turkey and their children are still living in Turkey.

While 6,000,000 people lost their lives in Nazi camps, 20,000 people were saved from death thanks to a man who did not lose his courage and humanity.

Adil Can KAVCAR, 20.05.2022, İzmir-Turkey