Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Atatürk's Vision

by Arnold Reisman

This book chronicles the story of a group of individuals caught at a crossroads and targeted in the cross fires of history. In 1933 events in their native Germanic lands presented them with a "Hobson's choice"-leave if you can or die! Their lives were saved because Turkey was discarding the society and culture inherited from the Ottomans' derelict and shattered empire while recognizing and addressing the need to modernize its society, culture, way of living, and system of higher education. Using a collection of third-party archival documents, cotemporaneous family and collegial correspondence, memoirs, oral histories, photos, and other surviving evidence Arnold Reisman documents the fears, the courage, the heartaches, and the determination of these brilliant people as well as their contributions to shifting established paradigms in several fields of knowledge. He also speculates about Turkey's inabilities to fully capitalize on these emigres' legacy. The book is intended for lay readers interested in history of the 20th Century, history of science, history of Turkey, the Holocaust, and in a case study of post-Islamic national development. "This book adds to our knowledge of an important aspect of the Holocaust, and of the behavior of Nation States in the modern world of woe and grief." - Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. He is the author of The A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. "This book should be on the 'must-read' list of books about World War II and the years preceding it." - Dr. Israel Hanukoglu, Former Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel. Currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, College of Judea and Samaria, Ariel, Israel. "This book involves five major science, history, politics, economics, and the arts. It is the earliest comprehensive essay in the English language, on the German émigrés who, while taking refuge in Turkey after 1933, contributed to the modernization of its higher education, and to the implementation of research activities and social reforms." - Prof. Dr. Feza Günergun, Chair for History of Science, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University, Beyazit-Istanbul, Turkey.

Genres: History

604 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Barbara (Bobby) Title · Rating 5 out of 5]

In and around 1933 a strange confluence of events was taking place. The western world was watching the changes in Germany as Hitler came to power. And with that power came a Reestablishment of the Civil Service Law, which rules were designed to enable speedy dismissal of professors with Jewish lineage and others considered politically suspect from all positions in German universities and institutes. Those professors included the great minds of philosophy, mathematics, science, psychology, physics, economics, medicine, music, architecture, languages and others. These professions were filled mostly with German Jews, many Nobel Prize winners. And in 1933 they found themselves without a job.

At the same time, Kemal Ataturk had come to power in Turkey. A visionary, he wanted to modernize Turkey's education system that at the time was mainly working with military and bureaucratic systems; He knew that big changes would have to be made in the educational system, and he set out to start at the top: dismantle the one major university in Istanbul in that city and select individuals with the highest of academic credentials in disciplines and professions most needed in Turkey. The Turkish professors weren't going to like it, but Ataturk knew it had to be done.

The catalyst for this confluence of events was in the hands of Hungarian born Frankfurt pathologist Dr. Philipp Schwarz, who was one of the first professors to be fired from his job in Germany. Through a connection – his father-in-law who was a friend of a man who had been called to Turkey by Ataturk to set up a plan for finding and hiring top professionals to staff what would be the new University – Dr. Schwartz set up "The Emergency Assistance Organization for German Scientists." A comprehensive contract was drawn up that covered all kinds of contingencies – and Turkey extended invitations to those men and woman who best fit the bill. Altogether, approximately 300 academicians and 50 technicians and supporting staff went to Turkey. Including family members, this meant more than 1000 persons.

Most of you who know me know that I am very interested in both Judaism and things Turkish, having lived in Istanbul for two years and having married into a Jewish family. I always have an ear (and an eye) open for new stories and new information. Had it not been for a short interview with the author I watched on BookTV several months ago (filmed sometime before his death in 2011) I would never have known of either this book or this story. The book was published in 2006, so it's been around a while, but I certainly never heard of it. It is not another holocaust book. The author has not only told the story and documented every word of it, but he also has included memoirs and reflections by some of those very scientists and their families. You will laugh when you read the pitfalls of learning to speak Turkish, and the author includes a very funny story of Ataturk, Shah Reza Pahlavi and one of the dentist emigres over the quality of false teeth he could make.

Don't pick up this book thinking it is going to be fast read. It probably is not going to appeal to people who don't have a strong interest in the historical events in that part of the world at that time. But it is a powerful book, and it shouldn't be kept hidden any more.

[Baris Balcioglu · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://baris72.blogspot.com.tr/2009/0...

[Kelimelerinzihni · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ Nazizmden Kaçanlar ve Atatürk’ün vizyonu” kitabı gidecek yeri olmayan bilim insanlarına kimsenin kapılarını açmadığı bir zamanda hiç beklemedikleri bir ülkenin çağrısına verdikleri cevap ile yaşadıklarını anlatıyor. II. Dünya savaşı sırasında da bu kriz anlarından biri yaşanıyordu. Bütün Avrupa’yı ele geçirmeye çalışan Hitler, üstün ırk olduğuna inandığı Alman ırkını da “arileştirmeye” çalışıyordu. Bunun için de Almanya'daki Yahudileri yok ediyordu. O zaman Almanya’da bir çok Yahudi insan veya eşi Yahudi olan Alman vardı. Hitlerin zulmünden kaçmak isteyen bu kişiler Avrupa’nın diğer ülkelerinden bekledikleri ilgiyi göremedi. Hitler’in zulmünden çekinen Avrupa ülkeleri, bu insanlara kapılarını açmadılar. O sıralarda Türkiye Cumhuriyeti yeni kurulmuş ekonomi, tarım, eğitim, tıp gibi bir çok alanını inşa etmeye hevesi olan fakat parası ve bilgisi bunu tek başına yapmaya yeterli olmayan bir ülkeydi. Atatürk, bu zulümden kaçan insanları ülkesine kabul ederek hem onları zulümden kurtarmayı hem de ülkesinin modernleşme sürecinin hızlanmasını amaçlamıştır.

Nazizm zulmünden kaçan toplam 300 akademisyen ve 50 teknisyen ile destek elemanı Türkiye’ye gelmiştir. Tıp insanları gelenler arasında en fazla yeri kaplamakla birlikte bu insanların içinde mimarlık, hukuk, ekonomi ve tarım gibi diğer alanlarda da bir çok değerli bilim insanı bulunmaktaydı. Bu insanlar gelirken aileleriyle birlikte müthiş bir bilgi birikimi getirdiler. Atatürk her bilim insanına üniversitede çalışma alanına uygun bir kürsü tahsis ettikten sonra çalışmaları için gerekli olan araç ve gereçleri de o zamanın kısıtlı imkanlarıyla sağlamak için elinden geleni yaptı. Bu bilim insanlarından beklenen tek şey ise geleceğin Türk bilim insanlarını yetiştirmekti. Reisman, Atatürk’ün bu vizyonunu şöyle yorumluyor; “ Bugünden geriye bakıldığında, Türkiye'nin 20. yüzyılın en karanlık yılları boyunca bunca entelektüel sermayeyi davet etme, kurtarma ve gelecek kuşaklar için geliştirip korumaya yönelik sarih planıyla boy ölçüleşebilecek yüreklilikte siyasalara sahip olan başka hiç bir ulus çıkmadı.”

kitap ile ilgili yazımın tamamı için;

https://kelimelerinzihni.wordpress.co...