Turkish Embassy in Moldova presents film on horrors of Holocaust
15:40 | 17.04.2015 Category: Culture
Chisinau, 17 April /MOLDPRES/ - The Turkish Embassy in Moldova, in partnership with the Kedem Hebrew Cultural Centre, presented a documentary film titled "Turkish Passport" in Chisinau on 16 April.
The documentary presents the history of Turkish diplomats, who served in European countries during the Second World War, and managed to save a considerable number of Hebrews from concentration camps.
The event was organised in commemoration of the Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in Israel and abroad.
In his speech, Turkish Ambassador to Moldova Mehmet Selim Kartal stressed that the diplomats had not only saved the lives of Turkish Jews. They also rescued foreign Jews sentenced to death, offering them Turkish passports.
"Ether they got them out from concentration camps or got them off the train, which would have taken them to these camps, in the end, diplomats did everything possible for Jews who were Turkish citizens to be able to return to Turkey and, therefore be saved. Their actions lit the candles of hope and allowed these people to travel to Turkey, where they found the light. They put at risk their own lives to save the lives of those who were victims of the greatest brutality," said Mehmet Selim Kartal.
According to the Turkish official, in addition to the comments of eyewitnesses, the film also uses historical documents and archival footage to tell this rescue story and to shed light on the events of those times.
During the Second World War, about six million Hebrews became victims of the Holocaust.
(Reporter N. Roibu, Editor A. Raileanu)
