“In modern times, the period from the eruption of the Second World War until the establishment of the state of Israel is the most vexing period in the history of the Jewish people. Life for unwelcome minorities became increasingly Hobbesian as fascist states chased the vision of expansionist ideologies. During the Second World War, various other governments carried out controversial policies against the Jews. This included Turkey, a country with a documented history of tolerance towards Jews. We will focus here on four such policies undertaken by the Turkish government, namely the migration of Jewish refugees through Turkey to Palestine, the conscription of minorities, the wealth tax and the policy of language reform in Turkey (p. 847)…
Recognising that no single narrative can adequately describe a historical event, we maintain that a variety of interpretations are both possible and necessary in order to explain the plight of the Jews in Turkey during the Second World War… That being the case, a framework for interpretation is still necessary, and our choice of three competing nationalism theories [the ethno-symbolist, instrumentalist and social constructivist] serves this purpose well. Through these three lenses we may not only get a better view of the actions of selected actors, but also ascertain their motives and purposes (p.859). With this insight we are then able to feel the plight of the Jews against the backdrop of the government’s pro-German stance that determined their policies (p. 860).
But it is our hope that the effort here goes beyond providing a better explanation of the historical events involving Jews in Turkey during the Second World War years. It affords, we think, greater insight into the nation-building project of the Republic of Turkey as a whole; it offers a peek behind the curtain, as it were, to reveal the actors, power structures, motives, fears and anxieties of a government wanting on the one hand to remain true to the modernising vision of Kemal Atatürk, and on the other to avoid the incumbent hazards of finishing the Second World War aligned with the losing team, as was the case after the First World War. This article demonstrates that the Turkish government was successful in the latter initiative, i.e. maintaining the power and integrity of the state while winning a place with the victors at the formation of the UN. But the government achieved this success only by severely compromising the intentions of the Republic’s founder, who imagined the new Turkish nation as a community of various ethnic groups that necessarily included both Muslims and non-Muslims. Envisioned as a place for all peoples to live with equality and justice, minorities – and especially the Jews during the Second World War – fell victim to the unequal and unjust policies of the government that favoured Muslims/Turks over others. Thus, by using multiple theories of nationalism as tools of interpretation, explaining (Erklaren) the multifaceted aspects of these historical events is simplified; this in turn affords greater understanding (Verstehen) of the motives and means of those governmental actors driving Turkey’s nation-building project during the Second World War years (p. 860).”
The full text is available here.
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