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'''İsmail Necdet Kent''' (1 January 1911 – 20 September 2002) was a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] diplomat, who risked his life to save [[Jews]] during [[World War II]]. While vice-consul in [[Marseilles]], [[France]] between 1941 and 1944, he gave documents of citizenship to dozens of [[Turkish Jews]] living in [[France]] who did not have proper identity papers, to save them from deportation to the [[Nazism|Nazi]] gas chambers.
'''İsmail Necdet Kent''' (1 January 1911 – 20 September 2002) was a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] diplomat, who claimed to have risked his life to save [[Jews]] during [[World War II]]. These claims have been seriously challenged since there is no testimony or documentary evidence of these events. Kent has not been recognized by any Holocaust institution but has received as self-congratulatory honor from the Turkish government. The most direct challenge has come from [[Marc Baer]]'s book [[Sultanic Saviors and Tolerant Turks]].

==Biography==
==Biography==


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Returning to Turkey, Kent entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1937. He was first posted as [[vice consul]] to [[Athens, Greece]]. In 1941, he was appointed to the post of [[vice consul]] at [[Marseilles, France]], a post which he held until 1944. Many refugees gathered in southern France during the war, and Marseilles was a major port of embarkation.
Returning to Turkey, Kent entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1937. He was first posted as [[vice consul]] to [[Athens, Greece]]. In 1941, he was appointed to the post of [[vice consul]] at [[Marseilles, France]], a post which he held until 1944. Many refugees gathered in southern France during the war, and Marseilles was a major port of embarkation.


At some time in 1943, an assistant at the Turkish consulate told Kent that the Germans had just loaded 80 Turkish Jews living in Marseilles into cattle cars for immediate transport to probable death in Germany. Kent later recalled, "To this day, I remember the inscription on the wagon: 'This wagon may be loaded with 20 heads of cattle and 500 kilograms of grass'."<ref name=etgar>[http://www.bleublancturc.com/News/Necdet_Kent.htm Etgar Lefkovits, "Necdet Kent: Le Consul turc qui a stoppé le train de la mort!" (The consul who halted the death train)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220052524/http://www.bleublancturc.com/News/Necdet_Kent.htm |date=2006-12-20 }}, Bleublancture.net, 21 Sep 2000, accessed 3 Dec 2009</ref><ref name=dailytel/> Kent approached the [[Gestapo]] commander at the station, and demanded that the Jews be released, as they were Turkish citizens and Turkey was neutral. The official refused to do so, saying that the people were nothing but Jews.<ref name=etgar/>
Kent tells the following fictitious story. At some time in 1943, an assistant at the Turkish consulate told Kent that the Germans had just loaded 80 Turkish Jews living in Marseilles into cattle cars for immediate transport to probable death in Germany. Kent later recalled, "To this day, I remember the inscription on the wagon: 'This wagon may be loaded with 20 heads of cattle and 500 kilograms of grass'."<ref name=etgar>[http://www.bleublancturc.com/News/Necdet_Kent.htm Etgar Lefkovits, "Necdet Kent: Le Consul turc qui a stoppé le train de la mort!" (The consul who halted the death train)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220052524/http://www.bleublancturc.com/News/Necdet_Kent.htm |date=2006-12-20 }}, Bleublancture.net, 21 Sep 2000, accessed 3 Dec 2009</ref><ref name=dailytel/> Kent approached the [[Gestapo]] commander at the station, and demanded that the Jews be released, as they were Turkish citizens and Turkey was neutral. The official refused to do so, saying that the people were nothing but Jews.<ref name=etgar/>


Kent and his assistant quickly got on the train, too. The German official asked him to get off, but Kent refused. At the next station, German officers boarded and apologized to Kent for not letting him off at Marseilles; they had a car waiting outside to return him to his office. Kent explained that the mistake was that 80 Turkish citizens had been loaded on the train. "As a representative of a government that rejected such treatment for religious beliefs, I could not consider leaving them there," he said. Surprised at his uncompromising stance, the Germans ultimately let everyone off the train.<ref name=dailytel>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/30/1033283437468.html "True courage of one who had to act: Necdet Kent, Turkish diplomat 1911-2002"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', London; reprinted on ''Sydney Morning Herald''.com, 1 Oct 2002, accessed on September 25, 2008</ref>
Kent and his assistant quickly got on the train, too. The German official asked him to get off, but Kent refused. At the next station, German officers boarded and apologized to Kent for not letting him off at Marseilles; they had a car waiting outside to return him to his office. Kent explained that the mistake was that 80 Turkish citizens had been loaded on the train. "As a representative of a government that rejected such treatment for religious beliefs, I could not consider leaving them there," he said. Surprised at his uncompromising stance, the Germans ultimately let everyone off the train.<ref name=dailytel>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/30/1033283437468.html "True courage of one who had to act: Necdet Kent, Turkish diplomat 1911-2002"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', London; reprinted on ''Sydney Morning Herald''.com, 1 Oct 2002, accessed on September 25, 2008</ref>
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==Legacy and honors==
==Legacy and honors==
In 2001, Kent, [[Namık Kemal Yolga]] and [[Selahattin Ülkümen]], also Turkish diplomats who had worked in Europe and saved Jews during World War II, were honoured with [[Turkey's Supreme Service Medal]], as well as the [[Righteous Among the Nations]] award from [[Israel]], for rescuing Jews during the [[Holocaust]].
In 2001, Kent, [[Namık Kemal Yolga]] and [[Selahattin Ülkümen]], also Turkish diplomats who had worked in Europe and saved Jews during World War II, were honoured with [[Turkey's Supreme Service Medal].
Only Ülkümen, who saved 42 Jews of Rhodes, has been recognized by Yad Vashem as a [[Righteous Among the Nations]] for rescuing Jews during the [[Holocaust]].


==See also==
==See also==
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<ref name="mfa2">{{cite web |url=http://varsova.be.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/MissionChiefHistory |publisher=T.C. Varşova Büyükelçiliği |title=Büyükelçilik Tarihi ve Önceki Büyükelçilerimiz |language=tr |accessdate=2018-04-04 }}</ref>
<ref name="mfa2">{{cite web |url=http://varsova.be.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/MissionChiefHistory |publisher=T.C. Varşova Büyükelçiliği |title=Büyükelçilik Tarihi ve Önceki Büyükelçilerimiz |language=tr |accessdate=2018-04-04 }}</ref>
}}
}}

==Further reading==
* Stanford J. Shaw, ''Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey's Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945'', New York: New York University Press; London, MacMillan Press, 1993
*Stanford J. Shaw, ''The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic'', New York: New York University Press


Films
Films

Revision as of 01:57, 19 May 2020

Necdet Kent
Born
İsmail Necdet Kent

(1911-01-01)January 1, 1911[1]
İstanbul, Ottoman Empire
DiedSeptember 20, 2002(2002-09-20) (aged 91)
NationalityTurkish
Alma materNew York University
OccupationDiplomat
Known forSaving lives of Jews during World War II
ChildrenMuhtar Kent
AwardsTurkey's Supreme Service Medal, Israel's Righteous Among the Nations Award

İsmail Necdet Kent (1 January 1911 – 20 September 2002) was a Turkish diplomat, who claimed to have risked his life to save Jews during World War II. These claims have been seriously challenged since there is no testimony or documentary evidence of these events. Kent has not been recognized by any Holocaust institution but has received as self-congratulatory honor from the Turkish government. The most direct challenge has come from Marc Baer's book Sultanic Saviors and Tolerant Turks.

Biography

Early life and education

Necdet Kent was born in 1911 in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire and got his secondary education from Galatasaray Lycee, as did some of his colleagues in the foreign ministry. He travelled to the United States for his university studies, earning a degree in public law from New York University.

Career

Returning to Turkey, Kent entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1937. He was first posted as vice consul to Athens, Greece. In 1941, he was appointed to the post of vice consul at Marseilles, France, a post which he held until 1944. Many refugees gathered in southern France during the war, and Marseilles was a major port of embarkation.

Kent tells the following fictitious story. At some time in 1943, an assistant at the Turkish consulate told Kent that the Germans had just loaded 80 Turkish Jews living in Marseilles into cattle cars for immediate transport to probable death in Germany. Kent later recalled, "To this day, I remember the inscription on the wagon: 'This wagon may be loaded with 20 heads of cattle and 500 kilograms of grass'."[2][3] Kent approached the Gestapo commander at the station, and demanded that the Jews be released, as they were Turkish citizens and Turkey was neutral. The official refused to do so, saying that the people were nothing but Jews.[2]

Kent and his assistant quickly got on the train, too. The German official asked him to get off, but Kent refused. At the next station, German officers boarded and apologized to Kent for not letting him off at Marseilles; they had a car waiting outside to return him to his office. Kent explained that the mistake was that 80 Turkish citizens had been loaded on the train. "As a representative of a government that rejected such treatment for religious beliefs, I could not consider leaving them there," he said. Surprised at his uncompromising stance, the Germans ultimately let everyone off the train.[3]

"I would never forget," Kent later said, "those embraces around our necks and hands ... the expressions of gratitude in the eyes of the people we rescued ... the inner peace I felt when I reached my bed towards morning."[3]

Kent's heroism was not limited to this one action. In contrast to some of other foreign representatives stationed in Marseilles, Kent reached out to the Jewish community, issuing Turkish identity documents to scores of Turkish Jews living in southern France, or those who had fled there and did not hold valid Turkish passports.[3]

Kent went to Gestapo headquarters to protest against their latest action in Marseilles: the stripping of males in the street to determine whether or not they were Jews (by circumcision). The Vice Consul rebuked the German commander and informed him that circumcision did not necessarily prove an individual's Jewishness. Kent said, "When I saw the emptiness in the commander's eyes, I realize that he did not understand what I am saying. And I said that I will accept to be examined by their doctors." He told the Germans that Muslim men, as he was, were also circumcised.[3]

After World War II, Kent continued his career in the Turkish foreign service. He served as Consul General at the Turkish Consulate General in New York City. He also was at different times the Turkish ambassador to Thailand, India, Sweden,[4] and Poland.[3][5]

Necdet Kent married and had children.[3] One son is Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company from July 2008 to May 2017.

Legacy and honors

In 2001, Kent, Namık Kemal Yolga and Selahattin Ülkümen, also Turkish diplomats who had worked in Europe and saved Jews during World War II, were honoured with [[Turkey's Supreme Service Medal]. Only Ülkümen, who saved 42 Jews of Rhodes, has been recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.

See also

References

  1. ^ everyone in Turkey at that time had a year of birth but not a date of birth
  2. ^ a b Etgar Lefkovits, "Necdet Kent: Le Consul turc qui a stoppé le train de la mort!" (The consul who halted the death train) Archived 2006-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, Bleublancture.net, 21 Sep 2000, accessed 3 Dec 2009
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "True courage of one who had to act: Necdet Kent, Turkish diplomat 1911-2002", The Daily Telegraph, London; reprinted on Sydney Morning Herald.com, 1 Oct 2002, accessed on September 25, 2008
  4. ^ "Büyükelçilik Tarihi ve Önceki Büyükelçilerimiz" (in Turkish). T.C. Stokholm Büyükelçiliği. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  5. ^ "Büyükelçilik Tarihi ve Önceki Büyükelçilerimiz" (in Turkish). T.C. Varşova Büyükelçiliği. Retrieved 2018-04-04.

Films

Turkish Passport (2011) www.theturkishpassport.com

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