Jewish Refugees in Turkish Press During WWII
Jewish Refugee Ships in the Turkish Press: A Comprehensive Study by Journalist Serdar Korucu
Jewish refugees escaping from the Holocaust were taken to Palestine as “illegal refugees” through the Black Sea by dozens of ships before and after the genocide, with Struma being the most well-known. Many of these ships sailed in Turkish territorial waters during their expeditions and sometimes had to take refuge in Turkish ports. However, each ship that appeared in the ports became an occasion for the rising anti-Semitism in Turkey to find a place for expression in the Turkish press.
Salvador and Mefkûre, two ships that were forced to leave the Turkish ports as soon as possible or pushed back to the Black Sea, became graves for hundreds of Jews, just like Struma. Journalist and writer Serdar Korucu has written the most comprehensive study in Turkish on Jewish refugee ships by scanning the world literature on the topic and the newspapers and magazines published in Turkey.
Korucu, who works as an editor at CNN Türk and has published several books, studied philosophy at Istanbul University and has been covering news, interviews, and special files on disadvantaged groups and hate speech in national/international media. His work on Jewish refugee ships sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of World War II history and highlights the impact of anti-Semitism in Turkey during that time.
Korucu’s previous works include The Kurdish Question Through the Eyes of Foreign Journalists, After Syria Destroyed, 50 Years Before 2015, 50 Years After 1915: 1965, From the Lens of Patriarchate Photographer Dimitrios Kalumenos, 6-7 September 1955, Guest, Passion, Change and Elegance – Istanbul in the 1950s, Alepposizler, Starboard Has Fallen: İskenderun Sanjak’ From Turkey to Hatay “Armenian Issue”, Departure of the People: Musa Dag 1939, and “Who’s Left Now in Imroz?” From Happy Island to Forbidden Zone Gökçeada.
Korucu’s study on Jewish refugee ships is an important contribution to understanding the lesser-known parts of World War II history and the experiences of refugees during that time.
