Wartime ambassador’s actions focus of debate
The heroism of a Muslim Turkish ambassador who saved Jewish lives in Nazi-occupied France was the subject of a sharp but friendly debate between a Jewish researcher and Turkey’s consul general in Toronto.
The encounter, which took place recently at Temple Sinai Congregation during Holocaust Education Week, pitted Arnold Reisman against Levent Bilgen.
Reisman, the author of An Ambassador and a Mensch: The Story of a Turkish Diplomat in Vichy France, claimed that Behic Erkin’s decision to rescue some 3,000 Jews of Turkish origin was personal and altruistic, but at variance with official Turkish policy.
“It’s my position, in all friendship and respect, that there was not a policy by the Turkish government to help Jews,” said Reisman, a professional engineer who survived the Holocaust in Poland and immigrated to the United States after World War II....
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The encounter, which took place recently at Temple Sinai Congregation during Holocaust Education Week, pitted Arnold Reisman against Levent Bilgen.
Reisman, the author of An Ambassador and a Mensch: The Story of a Turkish Diplomat in Vichy France, claimed that Behic Erkin’s decision to rescue some 3,000 Jews of Turkish origin was personal and altruistic, but at variance with official Turkish policy.
“It’s my position, in all friendship and respect, that there was not a policy by the Turkish government to help Jews,” said Reisman, a professional engineer who survived the Holocaust in Poland and immigrated to the United States after World War II....