Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.
As we learned earlier in the year (see July 10 post), Helene was part of a prisoner trade which led to her release from Ravensbrück, put on board the Swedish ship Drottningholm to Istanbul, and interned there in April 1945. In the absence of any governmental bodies taking responsibility for these penniless and traumatized souls, the American Joint Distribution Committee (the Joint) took responsibility: interviewing the prisoners, helping connect them to loved ones around the world, and facilitating transport to their ultimate destination – whether it be their country of origin, another country that would take them in, or Palestine. At this time, the Joint was trying to help Jews all over Europe, and this small group of refugees was costing them a lot of time and effort with very little results.
Today we see excerpts from two letters letter from the JDC archives. The first letter is from Arthur Fishzohn who worked on behalf of the Joint to Earl L. Packer, the interim chargé d’affaires at the American Embassy in Ankara; the second is from Packer to Celal Osman Abacıoğlu from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
September 20th, 1945
Earl L. Packer Esq/.
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim,
American Embassy, AnkaraSubject: Re “Drottningholm refugees”
Dear Mr. Packer,
…there are now a total of 49 refugees still interned. We are making strenuous efforts to obtain visas for these people to…countries where they resided previous to the war.
As you know, the financial burden for carrying these refugees at the hotel in Moda… is very high and we are trying to reduce these excessive costs. A Jewish Istanbul resident, who owns a summer house in Burgas Island has offered us this house, without charge, for the accommodation of the interned refugees.
At my request, one of the local leaders of the Jewish community applied to the Police Headquarters in Istanbul asking for the transfer of these people to Burgas Island. The police seem disposed to grant this request but advised that permission … should be obtained through the authorities in Ankara.
I would deem it a great favor if you would take this matter up at your first opportunity with the Foreign Office – or perhaps it is the Office of the Interior – and would welcome hearing from you as soon as conveniently possible.
With many thanks,
Sincerely yours,
Arthur Fishzohn
Ankara, September 25, 1945
M. Celal Osman Abacıoğlu
Director General of the Department of Consular Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AnkaraDear Mr. Abacıoğlu,
Referring to our conversation today regarding the Drottningholm refugees now living at the hotel in Moda, Istanbul, … Mr. Arthur Fishzohn has requested the Embassy to inquire whether permission may be granted to enable the refugees to move from the hotel in Moda to a summer house on the Island of Burgas, owned by an influential Istanbul Jewish resident, who has offered the house without charge for the use of the refugees referred to.
In view of the fact that as the Joint Distribution Committee is paying for the living expenses of the refugees at the hotel in Moda … I should be grateful if you might find it possible to ascertain whether the proposed change of residence of the refugees could be authorized.
Sincerely yours,
E.L. Packer
Helene listed and described the different locations she had stayed in Istanbul in the letter posted on February 2. Here is a photo taken during her time in Istanbul:
Although the war was officially over, Helene was still a prisoner. I don’t know how much my grandmother knew about the other refugees interned in Istanbul – over the months she undoubtedly saw fellow internees leave one by one, but she was not so lucky. Part of the problem is that she didn’t know her children’s addresses so letters yet again took a long time to reach their destination – when last she’d heard, Eva was in nursing school and Harry had just finished high school. In the intervening years, Eva had graduated and gotten married and Harry had joined the army.