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The Revenge of The Thunder Brigade- Witness: Lieutenant Erdogan Erkan
The Turkish Brigade entered into the Korean War in 1950, as the result of Marshall Plan and Soviet threat of invasion; after the deaths of Lenin(1924) and Atatürk (1938). App.14,936 man were send to Korea in the Allied/NATO front against North Koreans and later Chinese. The Brigade, my paternal grandfather was in called The Thunder Brigade "Yildirim Tugayi" (also the name of my oldest uncle "Yildirim") leading the first assault with the Allied forces against North Koreans. The event took place, shortly after the Chinese involvement to Korean War in 1951. I have to pause for a second and explain another story regarding the event. My second uncle, as a kid, found one day a photo of death soldiers lying on top of each other. (like Mongols did to their enemies during the Khan's Era) Immediately after seeing the photo in my uncle hands, my grandfather (it must be 1960's at that time) slapped my uncle and took the photo form his hand. Years later, he learned and told us the story, much after my grandfather (2001) passed. The reason, why the Thunder Brigade became so violent, was the result of the Chinese offensive. Sadly, our family could not remember the real place and time of the event and my grandfather(as my uncle told) refused to told them, as a respect for his comrades, that suffered from PTSD years onwards. The Chinese attacked the stationed troops at a midnight raid in 1951 in North Korean grounds, killing most of the soldiers(they didn't take any prisoners) The unexpected attack gave the soldiers even more anger and morale to stay to avenge their comrades. Although the superiors (like my grandfather, who was also at their age but a member of the Academy and a lieutenant) tried to convince them to calm down. A few day later, the soldiers planned a well arranged ambush on the Chinese encampment at dawn. There has been a rumour around Turks, that the Chinese were afraid of trench warfare, due to religious reasons. The Turks, on the other hand, mastered this technique for the 10 year(1911 to 1922) warfare experience of their fathers and commanders at the lack of technology, that forced them to use this strategy, during those dire times. The result of this attack was a massacre for the Chinese rather than an ambush, were uncontrolled Turkish soldiers, simply dismembered and decapitated running Chinese soldiers. When the sun begin to rise, the troops piled up the horrified bodies of Chinese soldiers on the hill and begin shouting and chanting to the frontline. Seeing his men in this situation, my grandfather wept for the first time, he has arrived there. The military cameraman took a photo of the "victory" and my grandfather kept it as a sign of Terror of War. He resigned from the Military,after his service is done in 1969 as Lieutenant Commander and a War Hero. Until his death, as my father and uncles told me, my veteran grandfather never brag not even said any good thing, about the Korean War; and none of his comrades nor friends complained against his thoughts against war.
This story is dedicated to My Grandfather, all the veterans and martyr of the Korean War and "Göktürk" my grandfather's adopted son(who may still live in Korea, but was never found after the War) in Korea and all victims of the Korean War.
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Tsilya Gershman Zaslavsky - Holocaust Survivor
My great grandmother, Tsilya Zaslavsky (maiden name- Gershman) was born in 1926 at Mogilev-Podolskiy, Ukraine. She created a diary of the unique and saddening period of 1941-1945. Tsilya wrote about her life as a young girl during the Holocaust and her unique experience. She suffered substantial discrimination being a Jew in Ukraine during World War ll. Tsilya had less than a 15 percent chance of surviving the tragic event.
On June 21, 1941, Tsilya, her mother (Haya Sura) father (Favish), and grandmother (Mindya) escaped from Nazi bombings in Mogilev-Podolskiy to Shargorod. During this journey, Nazis continued to bomb the villages and areas which Tsilya was walking through. After Tsilya reaches Sharhorod, her father was drafted into the Soviet Union army. Shortly after, the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police also known as Polizei took full control of Shargorod. In Shargorod, they experienced terrible suffering including being locked in a shed, belongings being stolen, and almost being killed by Nazi soldiers. After returning to Mogilev-Podolskiy, Tsilya's family found their house flooded and forced into a ghetto. For months, Tsilya and her family stayed at the Ghetto until they were sent to Pechora. Pechora is a concentration camp, also known as the “dead loop.” Tsilya and her family barely survived their journey to Pechora and were almost killed by Anti-Semitic Ukrainians. In Pechora, victims would primarily starve to death or die from sickness. Tsilya was at the camp for approximately one month. Then, Tsilya, Haya Sura, and Mindya met Motale, a Jewish boy who was also in the concentration camp. He offered to take them out of Pechora. Haya Sura opted for the boy to take Tsilya first. At night, Tsilya made her escape. She walked and hid in the forest for about 6 days. Then, she approached the edge of a mountain. Below was a village. Tsilya was tired, starving, and in horrible pain. She decided to slide off the mountain. Once she hit the ground, a woman approached her and took Tsilya inside a house where Tsilya partially recovered. After some time, Tsilya reunited with her mother who also escaped from the concentration camp. Then, Tsilya and Haya Sura again ended up in a ghetto where they withstood many hardships. They stayed there for years, until the Red army reclaimed their land. After the liberation, Tsilya worked in a Soviet military hospital until the war ended on May 8, 1945. On that day Tsilya met her future husband, Michael Zaslavsky. After the war, Tsilya's hardships were not over. USSR dictator, Joseph Stalin attempted to deport many Jews who survived the Holocaust to forced labor camps. Since Michael Zaslavsky was a captain in the Soviet Union army, he saved Tsilya from deportation. Sadly, Tsilya’s grandmother, Mindya, froze to death at the concentration camp.
Check out her page - http://www.lostcry.com/tsilyazaslavsky
LostCry.com | Dedicated To Tsilya Zaslavsky
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Trains of No Return-Witness:Turkish Attache Reşit Conk
An important footnote, neither Atatürk nor most of the Republican Party members or military, were in favour of any Axis policies. In fact tensions with Mussolini,due to his Roman phantasia, were in peak since 1911(Invasion of Libya) With Germany,it was rather 'ok', however the emigration of many German intellectuals(from jewish origin or anti-fashists including Ernst Reuter) but with strong leadership and mutual respect from 150 years of friendly relations, even a sociophat like Hitler did not want to burn the bridges.
Nevertheless,after Ataturk's death and start of the war, it did not guarantee Turkey's neutrality and until Operation Barbarossa,many believed that German invasion was imminent.Below is a link from Quora, that might be useful for a general understanding on Turkish support against Holocaust and Nazism:
https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Turkey-neutral-in-World-War-II-Less-than-20-years-after-WWI-Turkey-stayed-out-of-the-conflict-What-were-the-factors-to-maintaining-neutrality
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Tsilya Gershman Zaslavsky - Holocaust Survivor
I was searching online for information about residents of Mogilev-Podolsky being put into Pechora, since I've just learned about my relatives who died there. Thankyou for sharing your great grandmother's story. And for building this site -- it is a wonderful project, and especially heartwarming to see that a teenager thought the preservation of history important enough to do this. Thank you.
