Namik Kemal Yolga - Turkish Schindler

Namik Kemal Yolga, known as the Turkish Schindler, died on 21.12.01.

During the WWII, Yolga was the Vice-Consul at the Turkish Embassy in Paris, France. His efforts to save the lives of Turkish Jews from the Nazi concentration camps earned him the title of "Turkish Schindler".

Namik Kemal Yolga was posted to Turkish Embassy in Paris in 1940 as the Vice-Consul, his first diplomatic post in a foreign country. Two months later Germans invaded France and started their hunt for the Jews and sent them to a concentration camp in Drancy near Paris. Young Yolga was brave enough to save the Turkish Jews one by one from the German authorities, drive them in his car and hide them in safe places. Yolga's determination resulted to save all the Turkish Jews except one who was later transferred to a concentration camp in Germany. In his autobiography, Yolga described his efforts as:

"Everytime we learnt that a Turkish Jew was captured and sent to Drancy, the Turkish Embassy sent an ultimatum to the German Embassy in Paris and demanded his/her release, specifically pointing out that the Turkish Constitution does not discriminate its people for their race or religion, therefore Turkish Jews are Turkish nationals and Germans have no right to arrest them as Turkey was a neutral country during the war. Then I used to go to Drancy to pick him/her up with my car and put them in a safe house. As far as I know, only one Turkish Jew from Bordeaux was sent to a camp in Germany as the Turkish Embassy was not aware of his arrest at the time."

Namik Kemal Yolga served as an Ambassador in Rome, Paris, Caracas, Tehran and Moscow and as General Secretary in the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Yolga was honoured by the "500. Yil Vakfi" (Quincentennial Foundation) in 1998.

Translators Note:
1992 marks the five hundredth anniversary of the most gracious welcome of Sephardim to Turkish lands. Turkish Jews felt it was both fitting and proper to launch an extensive celebration in Turkey, in the United States and in Europe. The Quincentennial Foundation was established in 1989 by a group of 113 Turkish citizens, Jews and Moslems alike. Founded and headquartered in Istanbul the Quincentennial Foundation organised a three-year (1990 - 1992) cultural and academic program both within Turkey and abroad mainly in the U.S. Canada and Mexico on the American continent; France, United Kingdom and Italy in Europe.

Inset: Namik Kemal Yolga
Main photo: Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem with Yolga family during a ceremony for Namik Kemal Yolga in the Turkish Parliament.