1934 Thrace pogroms

1934 Thrace pogroms
Location Trakya, Turkey
Date June-July 1934
Target Property of the Jewish population of the city.
Deaths 1 Turkish gendarmerie private killed[1]

1934 Thrace pogroms (Turkish: Trakya Olayları) refers to a series of violent attacks against Jewish citizens of Turkey in June and July 1934 in the Thrace region of Turkey. According to Corry Guttstadt, a "crucial factor" behind the events was the 1934 Turkish Resettlement Law passed by the Turkish Assembly on 14 June 1934.[2]

History

The pogroms occurred in Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli, and Çanakkale, and were motivated by anti-Semitism.[3] Some have argued the acts were initiated by the articles produced by the Pan-Turkic leader Cevat Rıfat Atilhan in Millî inkılâp [4] (National Revolution) magazine and Nihal Atsız[4][5] in Orhun magazine.

The government of Mustafa Kemal failed to stop the pogrom but was strongly against the violence.[6]

It was followed by vandalizing of Jewish houses and shops. The tensions started on 5 June 1934 and spread to few other villages in Eastern Thrace region and to some small cities in Western Aegean region. At the height of violent events, it was rumoured that a rabbi was stripped naked and was dragged through the streets shamefully while his daughter was raped. Over 15,000 Jews had to flee from the region.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust, Corry Guttstadt, p.69
  2. ↑ Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust, Corry Guttstadt, p.65
  3. ↑ Özkırımlı, Umut, & Sofos, Spyros A., Tormented by History, (Columbia University Press, 2008), p. 168.
  4. 1 2 Rifat Bali, 1934 Trakya Olayları, 2008
  5. ↑ Nihal Atsız profile (in Turkish)
  6. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/10/world/age-of-terror-undermining-turkish-jews.html

Further reading

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