Berlin’de Düzenlenen “Silah Olarak Kültür – Sürgündeki Aydınlar” Sempozyumu Konuşması (İng.)

The Statement of Mr. Onur ÖYMEN,
Member of Turkish Parliament, at the Seminar on “Culture as a Weapon, Academicians in Exile”
in Berlin on 19 July 2003

I would like to thank you for your kind invitation. I will share with you my views on the historic event of migration to Turkey of some German professors oppressed in their country because of their religious and ethnic background, before and during the Second World War. Since more than half a century has passed after the tragic events that have happened during the period of Nazis in Germany, I believe that it is high time to discuss openly the realities of the past.

Let’s remember some facts of the history: the anti-Semitic ideas and actions have not started with the arrival of Nazi party into power in Germany. To tell the truth, it was not only a German phenomenon. We all know the sad stories of Jewish community in Spain during the inquisition period towards the end of the 15th century. It was the Ottoman Empire that sent ships to Spanish harbors to bring this Jewish people to Turkey to protect them from oppression. Eleven years ago we celebrated in Turkey, the 500th anniversary of immigration of Sephardic Jews from Spain. Since then, they are fully integrated into Turkish society and they are part and parcel of our family. Some of them have moved from Istanbul to Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel, where they established Turkish quarters to continue to live in an environment inspired by Turkish culture, listening Turkish music and eating Turkish food. They play an active role in promoting Turkish-Israeli relations.
Sephardic Jews were followed by other Jewish immigration to Turkey during the 16th and 17th centuries. They flew from some Western countries and also from Ukraine, where Boughdan Chmielnicki massacred a large number of Jews.
The total number of Jews and people of other faiths, including muslims, escaping from oppression in different countries, immigrated to Turkey until the early years of the 20th century, reached 1.5 million. Before or during the Second World War alone, about 100.000 Jews immigrated to Turkey or to Israel through Turkey.    Approximately 2100 high level scientists immigrated to Turkey between the years of  1941-1946.   After the end of Second World War, most of these  scientists emigrated from Turkey to USA and  from this date  the route of immigrants changed from  Europe to USA.

Towards the end of the 19th century, after the occupation of Northern Africa by France, and Egypt and Cyprus by Britain, large number of refugees came to Turkey. This was also the case of Jews escaping from Russian pogroms in 1881. Jews were not the only religious groups. Besides the Jews, a number of Christians exiled to Turkey, particularly, after 1815 Vienna Congress, and 1848 revolutions. As a result of these migrations Turkey became a melting pot of different cultures and civilizations. All these people of different religion and ethnicity were allowed to establish their own communities in the Ottoman Empire, and they fully enjoyed their religious and cultural freedoms. Professor Bernard Lewis said that from this point of view, the record of Ottoman Empire is absolutely clean.

As I said in the beginning, it would be wrong to identify racism with Nazi Germany alone. We all know that in 1869, Germany decided to grant equal rights to the German citizens of Jewish origin with the rest of the German people. At that time, the Jewish community was representing only 1.35 % of the German population. But they were very active and visible in science, education and trade. For example, in 1885, 10% of all German university students, 8.6% of the writers, 25.8% of those working in the field of finance and 46% of the merchants were of Jewish origin. In Austria, the situation was not different. 1600 of the total number of 2100 lawyers were Jewish, as well as 3300 of 7000 physicians. Some German militants started an action against the Jewish community already in 1850. They claimed that the rights of the Jews should be restricted, they should not be accepted to civil service and Jewish migration to Germany should be stopped.

Similar anti-Jewish movements emerged in other European countries. For example, a leading French pedagogue, Jules Ferry, said in a statement in the French Parliament on 28 July 1885 that ‘one must clearly state that high races have some rights on lower races. To civilize the lower races is one of their jobs’ and answering to the parliamentarians criticizing these views, he said Human Rights Declaration was not written for the blacks of Central Africa.” The famous grand Dictionnaire Universal du XIXeme Siecle published by Larousse in 1866 to 1880 was humiliating the blacks saying that ‘the brain of the blacks is smaller and lighter than that of white people’. Obviously such racist opinions in other countries may not justify at all the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany after 1933.

One of the most interesting books on the immigration of the Jews from Nazi Germany to Turkey is written by Prof. Ernst Hirsch. Hirsch says that Ermachtigungsgesetz adopted on 24 March 1933 enabled Nazi party to start first discrimination and oppression of the Jews. The Nazi’s made, on 1 April 1933, an appeal for the boycott of Jewish merchants, lawyers, doctors etc. He believes that the German people have not reacted with enough strength to the terrorization of the Jewish. Hirsh believes that the Nazi party’s boycott against Jewish firms and institutions was more shameful than the Kristall Nacht of November 1938. Soon after the Nazi boycott Professor Hirsch, who was until then serving as a judge in a Hessen Court, was forced to resign together with other judges or civil servants of Jewish origin. Professor Hirsch tried to teach in French universities. But under the political conditions prevailing at that time in France, his friends were not able to manage a teaching post in Paris. The only option available was a possibility to teach in Amsterdam University, but only as an Assistant Professor.

The same year, the Turkish government had decided to start a major university reform program and was looking for the best possible candidates to teach in Istanbul University.  Professor Schwartz from Zurich had preliminary talks with the Turkish Minister of Education about the project and he was asked to contact with leading professors from German universities to engage them for the reorganization and reform program. Turkish government was ready to accept any candidate irrespective of their ethnic or religious origins. The only criterion was the academic performance of the candidates.

Turkish government signed contracts with a number of professors including Hirsch and accepted to pay them a salary well exceeding that of professors of Turkish origin. In the first three years, they were allowed to teach in their native language using interpreters. But from the fourth year, they had to teach in Turkish. The purpose of the Turkish government was to upgrade the academic level of Istanbul University to that of Western European universities.

Some of the German professors like Hirsch received Turkish citizenship as an expression of gratitude by the Turkish government. A number of German professors had high reputation in their own countries and participated to major reform projects in Turkey besides their teaching activities. For example Alfred Isaac of Nurnberg, was a leading labor economist; Alexander Rustow, who was an economist and sociologist, tried to organize a resistance movement against Hitler before moving into Turkey in 1933. Andreas Schwartz from Freiburg made an important contribution to the adoption of western laws in Turkey in 1930s. Gustav Oelsner from Hamburg, besides teaching architecture and city planning, played an important role in Turkey’s city planning programs. Political scientist Ernst Reuter returned to Germany in 1945 to become mayor of Berlin. Paul Hindemith was instrumental in building Turkish State Conservatory in Ankara, Carl Ebert from Berlin founded Turkish State Opera; and conductor Ernst Praetorius founded President’s Philharmonic Orchestra in Ankara. I cannot cite here the contributions of all visiting professors, but I can tell you that all of them substantially contributed to the reform programs of the young Turkish Republic.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this operation was that the visiting professors found themselves in complete secure and friendly environment in Turkey. They were all sure that the Turkish government would never yield under the pressure of Nazi Germany and will protect them without any fear of revenge from Hitler.

The protection of minorities has always been a tradition in the Turkish society and this tradition continues today. Jewish, Armenian and Greek minorities accepted as such by 1923 Lausanne Treaty fully enjoyed, since then, full cultural and religious freedom in Turkey. Turkish people accepted them as part and parcel of their family. Therefore it is sometimes surprising to hear suggestions from politicians and journalists in Europe that Turkey should treat better the minorities in the country to be able to comply with Copenhagen criteria and start enlargement talks with European Union. I believe that the facts I have mentioned a moment ago suffice to give an idea about the performance of Turkey in this regard. And I believe that Turkey’s achievements in the treatment of minorities may set an example to many countries including some EU nations.

Thank you for your attention.
The Statement of Mr. Onur ÖYMEN,
Member of Turkish Parliament, at the Seminar on “Culture as a Weapon, Academicians in Exile”
in Berlin on 19 July 2003

I would like to thank you for your kind invitation. I will share with you my views on the historic event of migration to Turkey of some German professors oppressed in their country because of their religious and ethnic background, before and during the Second World War. Since more than half a century has passed after the tragic events that have happened during the period of Nazis in Germany, I believe that it is high time to discuss openly the realities of the past.

Let’s remember some facts of the history: the anti-Semitic ideas and actions have not started with the arrival of Nazi party into power in Germany. To tell the truth, it was not only a German phenomenon. We all know the sad stories of Jewish community in Spain during the inquisition period towards the end of the 15th century. It was the Ottoman Empire that sent ships to Spanish harbors to bring this Jewish people to Turkey to protect them from oppression. Eleven years ago we celebrated in Turkey, the 500th anniversary of immigration of Sephardic Jews from Spain. Since then, they are fully integrated into Turkish society and they are part and parcel of our family. Some of them have moved from Istanbul to Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel, where they established Turkish quarters to continue to live in an environment inspired by Turkish culture, listening Turkish music and eating Turkish food. They play an active role in promoting Turkish-Israeli relations.
Sephardic Jews were followed by other Jewish immigration to Turkey during the 16th and 17th centuries. They flew from some Western countries and also from Ukraine, where Boughdan Chmielnicki massacred a large number of Jews.
The total number of Jews and people of other faiths, including muslims, escaping from oppression in different countries, immigrated to Turkey until the early years of the 20th century, reached 1.5 million. Before or during the Second World War alone, about 100.000 Jews immigrated to Turkey or to Israel through Turkey.    Approximately 2100 high level scientists immigrated to Turkey between the years of  1941-1946.   After the end of Second World War, most of these  scientists emigrated from Turkey to USA and  from this date  the route of immigrants changed from  Europe to USA.

Towards the end of the 19th century, after the occupation of Northern Africa by France, and Egypt and Cyprus by Britain, large number of refugees came to Turkey. This was also the case of Jews escaping from Russian pogroms in 1881. Jews were not the only religious groups. Besides the Jews, a number of Christians exiled to Turkey, particularly, after 1815 Vienna Congress, and 1848 revolutions. As a result of these migrations Turkey became a melting pot of different cultures and civilizations. All these people of different religion and ethnicity were allowed to establish their own communities in the Ottoman Empire, and they fully enjoyed their religious and cultural freedoms. Professor Bernard Lewis said that from this point of view, the record of Ottoman Empire is absolutely clean.

As I said in the beginning, it would be wrong to identify racism with Nazi Germany alone. We all know that in 1869, Germany decided to grant equal rights to the German citizens of Jewish origin with the rest of the German people. At that time, the Jewish community was representing only 1.35 % of the German population. But they were very active and visible in science, education and trade. For example, in 1885, 10% of all German university students, 8.6% of the writers, 25.8% of those working in the field of finance and 46% of the merchants were of Jewish origin. In Austria, the situation was not different. 1600 of the total number of 2100 lawyers were Jewish, as well as 3300 of 7000 physicians. Some German militants started an action against the Jewish community already in 1850. They claimed that the rights of the Jews should be restricted, they should not be accepted to civil service and Jewish migration to Germany should be stopped.

Similar anti-Jewish movements emerged in other European countries. For example, a leading French pedagogue, Jules Ferry, said in a statement in the French Parliament on 28 July 1885 that ‘one must clearly state that high races have some rights on lower races. To civilize the lower races is one of their jobs’ and answering to the parliamentarians criticizing these views, he said Human Rights Declaration was not written for the blacks of Central Africa.” The famous grand Dictionnaire Universal du XIXeme Siecle published by Larousse in 1866 to 1880 was humiliating the blacks saying that ‘the brain of the blacks is smaller and lighter than that of white people’. Obviously such racist opinions in other countries may not justify at all the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany after 1933.

One of the most interesting books on the immigration of the Jews from Nazi Germany to Turkey is written by Prof. Ernst Hirsch. Hirsch says that Ermachtigungsgesetz adopted on 24 March 1933 enabled Nazi party to start first discrimination and oppression of the Jews. The Nazi’s made, on 1 April 1933, an appeal for the boycott of Jewish merchants, lawyers, doctors etc. He believes that the German people have not reacted with enough strength to the terrorization of the Jewish. Hirsh believes that the Nazi party’s boycott against Jewish firms and institutions was more shameful than the Kristall Nacht of November 1938. Soon after the Nazi boycott Professor Hirsch, who was until then serving as a judge in a Hessen Court, was forced to resign together with other judges or civil servants of Jewish origin. Professor Hirsch tried to teach in French universities. But under the political conditions prevailing at that time in France, his friends were not able to manage a teaching post in Paris. The only option available was a possibility to teach in Amsterdam University, but only as an Assistant Professor.

The same year, the Turkish government had decided to start a major university reform program and was looking for the best possible candidates to teach in Istanbul University.  Professor Schwartz from Zurich had preliminary talks with the Turkish Minister of Education about the project and he was asked to contact with leading professors from German universities to engage them for the reorganization and reform program. Turkish government was ready to accept any candidate irrespective of their ethnic or religious origins. The only criterion was the academic performance of the candidates.

Turkish government signed contracts with a number of professors including Hirsch and accepted to pay them a salary well exceeding that of professors of Turkish origin. In the first three years, they were allowed to teach in their native language using interpreters. But from the fourth year, they had to teach in Turkish. The purpose of the Turkish government was to upgrade the academic level of Istanbul University to that of Western European universities.

Some of the German professors like Hirsch received Turkish citizenship as an expression of gratitude by the Turkish government. A number of German professors had high reputation in their own countries and participated to major reform projects in Turkey besides their teaching activities. For example Alfred Isaac of Nurnberg, was a leading labor economist; Alexander Rustow, who was an economist and sociologist, tried to organize a resistance movement against Hitler before moving into Turkey in 1933. Andreas Schwartz from Freiburg made an important contribution to the adoption of western laws in Turkey in 1930s. Gustav Oelsner from Hamburg, besides teaching architecture and city planning, played an important role in Turkey’s city planning programs. Political scientist Ernst Reuter returned to Germany in 1945 to become mayor of Berlin. Paul Hindemith was instrumental in building Turkish State Conservatory in Ankara, Carl Ebert from Berlin founded Turkish State Opera; and conductor Ernst Praetorius founded President’s Philharmonic Orchestra in Ankara. I cannot cite here the contributions of all visiting professors, but I can tell you that all of them substantially contributed to the reform programs of the young Turkish Republic.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this operation was that the visiting professors found themselves in complete secure and friendly environment in Turkey. They were all sure that the Turkish government would never yield under the pressure of Nazi Germany and will protect them without any fear of revenge from Hitler.

The protection of minorities has always been a tradition in the Turkish society and this tradition continues today. Jewish, Armenian and Greek minorities accepted as such by 1923 Lausanne Treaty fully enjoyed, since then, full cultural and religious freedom in Turkey. Turkish people accepted them as part and parcel of their family. Therefore it is sometimes surprising to hear suggestions from politicians and journalists in Europe that Turkey should treat better the minorities in the country to be able to comply with Copenhagen criteria and start enlargement talks with European Union. I believe that the facts I have mentioned a moment ago suffice to give an idea about the performance of Turkey in this regard. And I believe that Turkey’s achievements in the treatment of minorities may set an example to many countries including some EU nations.

Thank you for your attention.