Pogrom 1955 Istanbul

POGROM 1955 ISTANBUL A Day Not To Remember: 6-7 September, 1955

Jasmine Papadopoulos

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Dedication Page ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 3 2. Authors Note …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 4 3. What is a “Pogrom”? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 5 4. “My Grandmothers Story” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 6-7 5. Planning of Narrative ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 8 6. About the Author ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 9 7. Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 10

I dedicate this magazine to my wonderful grandmother Bige, and to my late “Papu�, Panagiotis Papadopoulos.

FOREWORD

This was an historical event witnessed by my Grandmother that made

such a personal impact on her life and views. We never knew how we will act if a friend needs us during a political crisis. It is good to know that my family was able to help out an old neighbour and friend.

WHAT IS A POGROM? A

pogrom is when a country is severely prejudiced against an ethnic minority and chooses to get rid of it.

1

and mysterious sea, but

they were all Greek

and there were so many

there was one thing that

because they were all

Greek restaurants there

was unfamiliar about the

wearing clothes from

and everyone there were

sea, I saw hundreds

Greek restaurants. I went

woke up with an

pieces of cloth on the

to my mom and asked

excitement to the day. I

streets also a lot of chairs

her what was going on.

walked to my living room

and tables floating in the

She slowly walked

and ate breakfast with my

blue and littered water. In

towards the window and

mom. I rushed up to my

my head I was

stared at the sea right

blue window with a really

wondering, “what is

next to me, i could hear

deep and bad feeling

going on? Who did this

and feel her breath

and nervously looked

to this city?” After staring

starting to get heavier

outside at the bad and

at the sea I saw a crowd

and heavier, she had

I

opened my eyes and

never seen such a mess

rainy day,you know when you are watching a movie

“war weather” yes that's

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.

what it looked like, a

John F. Kennedy

and the weather is like a

really bad day. After a while I started lowering my eyes from the sky down to the dark blue

in the Bosphorus especially in Arnavutkoy.

Such things would never happen to this side of Istanbul, I mean

running on the streets,

Arnavutkoy was a very

some of them were very

peaceful place in Istanbul

familiar to me and I knew

back in the olden days,

so nice to me. After a while our landlord Madame Stephanie, who also owned a restaurant under our building called Romanos she came up to our apartment. I was in my room shocked, after a few moments someone knocked on the front door.

I was thinking in my head

hearing that one sentence

“who could this be? Are

that Madame Stephanie

they going to kill me?

told us I had fallen apart,

What am I going to do?” I

That moment I

opened the door

understood that terrible

confused and saw,

things were happening in

Madame Stephanie

this city. I just didn’t know

crying, standing up

what to do, i felt like i was

straight like a soldier, she

already dead, i knew i

was so still and she was

would die. Still today there

shaking so much that my

are still wars and terror

mother asked Madame

attacks, which really affect

Stephanie what was

me because whenever I

wrong, and so she

watch TV and I watch the

begged us to hide her

news there is always one

and she gave us her really

thing that has to do with

old looking jewelry and

death, and this must stop.

she said : “hide me, and

And still today i tell myself

my jewellery, please I beg

“am i going to die? What

you”. At that moment,

is going on?”

PLANNING OF NARRATIVE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR J

asmine Papadopoulos is a 12 year old girl who loves to play football. Jasmine attends the

Istanbul International Community School in Istanbul, Turkey. She has three siblings called Joanna, Stefania and Panagiotis. Jasmine's family history is very interesting because she is half Turkish and half Greek and historically these two countries have been in conflict. Her story is her grandmother's personal reflection on a dark time in Istanbul’s past where crowds attacked members of the Greek minority. Jasmine continues to be an ambassador for both countries.

Bibliography

Kennedy, John F. "Pogrom Quotes." War Quotes. N.p., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

"Picture Pogrom." Pogrom. N.p., n.d. Web.

N.p., n.d. Web.

"JPG 111." Pogrom Img. N.p., 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Dec. 2012.