Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust

This book analyses the minority politics of the Turkish republic and the country's ambivalent policies regarding Jewish refugees and Turkish Jews living abroad.

Corry Guttstadt (Author)

9780521769914, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 May 2013

374 pages, 30 b/w illus. 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.65 kg

'Guttstadt's shocking study will change the way we think about the role of Turkey in the Sephardic Holocaust … Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust will become a standard text in Holocaust studies.' Marc David Baer, AJS Review

Based on research in about fifty archives worldwide, Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust analyzes the minority politics of the Turkish republic and the country's ambivalent policies regarding Jewish refugees and Turkish Jews living abroad. Although Turkey stayed neutral during World War II, the country's policies proved crucial not only for the 75,000 Jews who lived in Turkey, but also to the 25,000 Turkish Jews living throughout Europe and the tens of thousands of Jews who desperately sought refuge in Turkey or transit to refuge elsewhere. Contrary to the official Turkish self-portrayal, this comprehensive study by Corry Guttstadt shows that Turkey was far from welcoming toward Jews during the Holocaust era.

Preface
Introduction: historical background
Part I. Turkey during the National Socialist Era (1933–45): 1. Turkey's foreign policy
2. Nationalistic and repressive domestic policy - the regime of the Milli ?ef
3. The Jews in Turkey, 1933–45
4. Turkey - a country for exiles?
5. Turkey as a transit country on the way to Palestine
Part II. Turkish Jews and the Holocaust: 6. The bureaucracy of genocide and the role of the foreign office
7. The fate of Turkish Jews in Germany and Austria
8. France
9. Belgium and the Netherlands
10. Italy
11. Southeastern Europe and the Aegean Islands
12. The exchange of Turkish Jews from concentration camps
13. Summary: rescue denied
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Second World War [HBWQ], The Holocaust [HBTZ1], European history [HBJD]