Today we see a letter from the JDC Archives from Arthur Fishzohn who was working for the American Joint Distribution Committee in Istanbul to Charles Passman at the Joint in Jerusalem. In earlier posts of April 16 and 20, we learned about the lives of the Turkish prisoners who arrived on the Drottningholm. Helene described her experience in the posts February 2 and March 4.

25th April, 1945

Dear Mr. Passman:

     Re. Drottningholm

After sending my letter to Mr. Packer dated 20th April, 1945, I was in telephonic communication with him. Mr. Packer felt that inasmuch the passengers had been permitted to land and were being housed in hotels, that it would not be advisable for the Embassy to exert further pressure on the authorities at this time….

It is difficult to hazard a guess how long it will be before Ankara reaches decisions on these Drottningholm cases. Although all of the group of passengers were interrogated by the authorities here, during the time they were on the tender, word came through from Ankara that such interrogations had not been prepared in proper form. Accordingly, on Friday and Saturday of last week, police officials again interrogated all of the people at the hotels and the answers to formal questionnaires were typed out by them. I was told yesterday by Mr. Brod that the police had advised him that the questionnaire forms, as presently filled out, were due to go to Ankara today to the Minister of the Interior at Ankara. Obviously, nothing can be expected by way of decision until these questionnaires have been studied.

I have visited the several hotels on two occasions in the past week and I have spoken with many of the internees. They are all quite content with the food they are receiving as well as with the lodging accommodations. In Moda, we are housing in two small hotels most of this group, about 90 persons. (Moda is about twenty minutes ferry ride from Istanbul.) The hotels in which they are accommodated are boarding houses and, of course, the internees are especially comfortable because they are not confined to their dwelling quarters only, as they have the use of the gardens in each case. They are not permitted to leave the garden premises, but relatives and friends are permitted to visit the internees. ….

All of the internees seem to be quite content, but, of course, are quite eager about having Police surveillance removed.

.…In the meantime, the matter of accommodating at the Bene Berith or Grand Rabbinate, or some other institution, the other repatriates who we hope will be released by the authorities, is still being considered by the Repatriate Committee. If this can be worked out, the amounts of the grants to such people as will be accommodated in this fashion, will be materially reduced. 

Sincerely Yours,
Arthur Fishzohn

Cc: Mr. Harold Trobe, Lisbon

One of the things that strikes me about the Joint documents and my grandmother’s letters from Istanbul is the role of bureaucracy and penny pinching that made the lives of these prisoners almost as difficult as when they were in the camps. They had no control over their lives, they were moved from place to place to save money for the Joint, they were not allowed to leave their lodgings and were under police surveillance like criminals. This must have been disconcerting and confusing, to say the least. We read of the migrants and refugees today and their experience is so similar. Just because you land in a “safe” country, life is not suddenly easier, and may never be.

In what felt almost like “normal” times, last week my husband and I met a friend at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University and saw an exhibit called “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art.” Unsurprisingly, everything in the exhibit resonated with my grandmother’s story. This mirror reflects (pun intended) the feelings that were passed on to me from my grandmother’s and mother’s experiences.