Among the diplomats in the photo story, who saved Jews during the Holocaust, is also a representative of Turkey
The General Consul of Turkey in Burgas- Nurai Inontepe showed interest in the exhibition “Beyond Duty”, placed at the Cultural Centre “Sea Casino”. It is a photo story of 28 diplomats from 21 countries that saved hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust and announced by Yad Vashem for “Righteous of the World.”
The exhibition was created in the beginning of 2018, presented in more than 70 countries and has been translated into more than 20 languages. In Bulgaria the exhibition is prepared for display by the Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria and the State Cultural Institute at the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Burgas is the only Bulgarian town after the capital, where it is exhibited, thanks to Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation “Alef”.
The chairperson of Center Alef- Alberta Alkalay accompanied Consul Inontepe to the opening of the exhibition and introduced him to its creation as well as with the book “75 Years- the Unforgettable Faces of Salvation”, which includes four saviours of Bourgas’ Jews. The diplomat paid much attention to his countryman, Selahatin Yulkumen, Turkey’s general consul on Rhodes island, recognized as “righteous of the world” in 1989 and included in the exhibition as well. That’s why:In the 1930s, Turkey withdrew the citizenship of many Turkish Jews living abroad, and in 1938 a law came into force prohibiting persecuted Jews from entering Turkey. When in October 1942 Nazi Germany instructed neutral countries to repatriate their Jews, Turkey cancelled the citizenship of more Turkish Jews and instructed its delegates to prevent returning of Jews to the country. Very few Jews managed to return to Turkey with the help of Turkish diplomats. Approximately 2,500 Jews of Turkish origin living in different European cities have become victims of the Holocaust.
At that time, Selachatin Yulkumen was a Turkish general consul on Rhodes Island. When at the end of July 1944 the Germans began to collect the 1700 Jews on the island, Yulkommen managed to save approximately 40 of them from a deportation in Auschwitz. In fact, only 13 of them were Turkish citizens. Some were linked to Turkey through marriages or had lost citizenship due to Turkish politics. There were also those who were not at all connected with Turkey. However, Yulkommen has lied that they are all Turkish citizens and are therefore under his protection. He even managed to secure the freedom of the Italian Jew, Albert Franco, who had already been prepared for Auschwitz, on the pretext that his wife was a Turk.
