With the Turks in Palestine - Road-making and Discharge

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter four of with the Turks and Palestine by Alexander Aaronson.
This liberyvox recording is in the public domain recording by
Sethu road Making and Discharge. The news of the actual
declaration of war by Turkey caused a tremendous stir in
our regiment. The prevailing feeling was one of great restlessness

(00:22):
and discontent. The Arabs made many bitter remarks against Germany.
Why didn't she help us against the Italians during the
war for Tripoli? They said, now that she is in trouble,
she is drawing us into the fight. Their opinions, however,
soon underwent a change. In the first place, they came
to realize that Turkey had taken up arms against Russia,

(00:45):
and Russia is considered first and foremost the arch enemy.
German reports of German successes also had a powerful effect
on them. They began to grow boastful, arrogant, and the
sight of plundering of Europeans, Jews and Christians convinced them
that a very desirable regime was settling in Safaith, a

(01:06):
large Jewish colony. And it was a torment for me
to have to witness the outrages that my people suffered
in the name of requestioning. The final blow came one
morning when all the Jewish and Christian soldiers of our
regiment were called out and told that henceforth they were
to serve in the tabur Amilie, or working corps. The

(01:28):
object of this action, plainly enough, was to conciliate and
flatter the Mohammedan population, and at the same time to
put the Jews and Christians, who for the most part
favored the cause of the Allies, in a position where
they would be least dangerous. We were disarmed, our uniforms
were taken away, and we became hard driven gangsters. I

(01:51):
shall never forget the humiliation of that day when we,
who after all were the best disciplined troops of the lot,
were first hearded to our work of pushing wheelbarrows and
handling spades by grinning arabs rifle on shoulder. We were
set to building the road between Safaith and Tiberius on
the Sea of Galilee, a link in the military highway

(02:13):
from Damascus to the coast, which would be used for
the moment of troops in case the railroad should be
cut off. It had no immediate strategic bearing on the
attack against Suez. However, from six in the morning till
seven at night we were hard at it, except for
one hour's rest at noon. While we had money, it
was possible to get some slight relief by bribing our taskmasters,

(02:37):
but this soon came to an end, and we had
to endure their brutality as best as we could. The
wheelbarrows we used were the property of a French company which,
before the war, was undertaking a highway to Beirut. No
grease was provided for the wheels, so that there was
a maddening squeaking and a squealing in addition to the

(02:58):
difficulty of pushing the barrows. One day I suggested to
an inspection officer that if the wheels were not greased,
the axles were borner. He agreed with me and issued
an order that the men were to provide their own
oil to lubricate the wheels. I shall not dwell on
the physical sufferings we underwent while working on this road,

(03:19):
for the reason that the conditions I have described were
prevalent over the whole country. And later, when I had
the opportunity to visit some construction camps in Samaria and Judaea,
found that in comparison, our lot had been a happy
one while we were breaking stones and trundling squeaking wheelbarrows. However,

(03:40):
the most disquieting rumors began to drift in to us
from our home villages. Plundering had been going on in
the name of requisitioning. The country was full of soldiery
whose capacity for mischief making was well known to us,
and it was torture to think of what might be
happening in our peaceful homes, where so few men had

(04:01):
been left for protection. All the barbed wire fences we
heard had been torn up and sent north for construction
of barricades. In a wild land like Palestine, where the
native has no respect for property, where fields and crops
are always at the mercy of marauders, the barbed wire
fence has been a tremendous factor for civilization. And with

(04:25):
these gone, the Arabs were once more free to sweep
across the country unhindered, stealing and destroying. The situation grew
more and more unbearable. One day, a little Christian soldier
and Nazarin disappeared from the ranks. We never saw him again,
but we learned that his sister, a very young girl,

(04:45):
had been forcibly taken by a Turkish officer of the
Nazareth garrison in Palestine. The dishonor of a girl can
be redeemed by blood alone. The young soldier had hunted
for his sister, found her in the barracks and shorter.
He then surrendered himself to the military authorities, who undoubtedly
put him to death. He had not dared to kill

(05:07):
the real criminal, the officer, for he knew that this
would not only bring death to his family, but would
call down terrible suffering on all Christians of Mazareth. When
I learned of this tragedy, I determined to get out
of the army and return to my village at all costs.
Nine Turkish officers out of ten can be bought, and

(05:28):
I had reason to know that the officer in command
of Sir Faith was not that tenth man. Now, according
to the law of the country, a man has the
right to purchase exemption from military service for a sum
equal and to two hundred dollars. My case was different,
for I was already enrolled. But everything is possible in Turkey.

(05:49):
I set to work, and in less than two weeks
I had bought half a dozen officers ranging from corporal
to captain, and had obtained consent of the higher authorities
to my departure, provided I could get a physician's certificate
declaring me unfit for service. This was arranged in short order,
although I am healthy looking, and the doctor found some
difficulty in hitting on an appropriate ailment. Finally he decided

(06:13):
that I had too much blood, whatever that might mean.
With his certificate in hand, I paid the regular price
of two hundred dollars from funds which had been sent
to me by my family, and walked out of the
barracks a free man. My happiness was mingled with sadness
at the thought of leaving the comrades with whom I
had suffered and hoped. The four boys from my village

(06:35):
were splendid. They felt that I was right in going
home to do what I could for the people. But
when they kissed me good bye in the Eastern fashion,
the tears were running down their cheeks, and they were
all strong, brave fellows. On my way back to Zicron, Jacob,
I passed through the town of Shefhamer, where I got

(06:55):
a foretaste of the conditions I was to find at home.
A Turkish soldier sauntering along the street, helped himself to
fruit from the basket of an old vender, and went
on without offering to pay a farthing. When the old
man ventured to protest, the soldier turned like a flash
and began beating him, mercilessly, knocking him down and battering

(07:16):
him until he was bruised, bleeding, and covered with the
mud of the street. There was a hubbub, a crowd form,
through which the Turkish officer forced his way. Demanding explanations,
the soldier sketched the situation in a few words, whereupon
the officer, turning to the old man, said impressively, if
a soldier of the Sultan should choose to heap filth
on your head, it is for you to kiss his

(07:38):
hand in gratitude. End of Chapter four, recording by Sethu