Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter ten of With the Turks in Palestine. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Anne Boulay. With the Turks in Palestine by
Alexander Aaronson, Chapter ten a rash adventure. It was all
(00:27):
very well to decide to leave the country. To get
safely away was a different matter. There were two ways out.
One of these, the land route by Constantinople, could not
be considered. The other way was to board one of
the American cruisers, which, by order of Ambassador Morgenthal was
empowered to assist citizens of neutral countries to leave the
(00:47):
Ottoman Empire. These cruisers had already done wonderful rescue work
for the Russian Jews in Palestine, who, when war was declared,
were to have been sent to the Mesopotamian town of Urfa,
there to suffer massacre and outrage like the Armenians. This
was prevented by mister Morgenthou's strenuous representations, with the results
(01:09):
that these Russian Jews were gathered together in a great
dragnet and herded to Jaffa amidst suffering unspeakable. There they
were met by the American cruisers which were to transport
them to Egypt. Up to the very moment when they
set foot on the friendly warships, they were robbed and
horribly abused by the Jaffa boatmen. The eternal curse of
(01:30):
the wandering Jew. Driven from Russia, they come to seek
shelter in Turkey. Turkey then cast them from her under
pretexts that they are loyal to Russia. Truly, the Jew
lifts his eyes to the mountains, asking the ancient and
still unanswered question, whence shall come my help? The Turkish
government later repented of its leniency in allowing these Russian
(01:52):
Jews to escape, and gave orders that only Neutrals should
leave the country, and then only under certain conditions. I
was not a neutral. My first papers of American citizenship
were valueless to further my escape. I had heard, however,
that the United States cruiser Tennessee was to call at Jaffa,
and I determined to get aboard her by hook or
(02:15):
by crook. One evening, as soon as darkness had fallen,
I bade a sorrowful farewell to my people, and set
off for Jaffa, traveling only by night and taking out
of the way paths to avoid the pickets. For Now
that the locusts campaign was over, my boyeux ruled Tan
was useless. At dawn two days later, I slipped into
(02:36):
Jaffa by way of the sand dunes and went to
the house of a friend whom I could trust to
help me in every possible way, and begged him to
find me a passport for a neutral He set off
in search, and I waited all day at his house,
consumed with impatience and anxiety. At last, toward evening, my
friend returned, But the news he brought was not cheering.
(02:58):
He had found a passport, indeed, but his report of
the rigors of the inspection at the wharf was such
as to make it clear that the chances of my
getting through on a false passport were exceedingly slim. Since
I was well known in Jaffa. If I were caught
in such an undertaking, it might mean death for me
and punishment for the friends who had helped me. Evidently,
(03:20):
this plan was not feasible. All that night I racked
my brain for a solution. Finally I decided to stake
everything on what appeared to be my only chance. The
Tennessee was due on the next day, but one early
in the morning I gave my friend the name of
a boatman who was under obligations to me and sworn
to be my friend for life or death. Even under
(03:42):
the circumstances, I hesitated to trust the Mohammedan, but it
seemed the only thing to do. I had no choice left.
My friend brought the boatman and I put my plan
before him, appealing to his daring and his sense of honor.
I wanted him to take me at midnight in his
fishing boat from an isolated part of the coast and
wait for the appearance of the Tennessee. Then, on her arrival,
(04:06):
amid the scramble of boats full of refugees, I was
to jump aboard, while he would return with the other boats.
The poor fellow tried to remonstrate, pointing out the dangers
in what he called, rightly enough doubtless the folly of
the plan. I stuck to it, however, making it clear
that his part would be well paid for, And at
(04:26):
last he consented, and we arranged a meeting place behind
the sand dunes by the shore I put a few
personal belongings into a little suit case and had my
friend give it to one of the refugees who was
to sail on the Tennessee. If I succeeded, I was
to recover it when we reached Egypt. The only thing
I took with me was the paper which declared my
(04:47):
intention of becoming an American citizen, the first paper from
this document I was determined not to part. I shall
not tell how I kept it on me, as the
means I used may still be used by others in
concealing such papers, and a disclosure of the secret might
bring disaster to them. Suffice it to say that I
had the paper with me, and that no search would
(05:09):
have brought it to light. Arrived next morning at the
appointed place, I gave the signal agreed upon the whine
of a jackal, and after repeating it again and again,
I heard a very low and muffled answer. My boatman
was there. I had some fear that he might have
betrayed me, and that I should presently see a soldier
or policeman leap out of the little boat. But my
(05:32):
fears proved groundless. The man was faithful. We rowed out quietly.
Our boat a little nutshell on the tossing waves, but
I was relieved. The elements did not frighten me. On
the contrary, I felt secure and refreshed in the midst
of the sea. When morning began to dawn, scores of
little boats came out of the harbor and circled about,
(05:53):
waiting for the cruiser. This was our chance. I crouched
in the bottom of our boat, and to all appearances
my boatman was engaged merely in fishing. After I had
lain there over an hour, with my heart beating like
a drum, and with small hopes for the success of
my undertaking, I heard at last the whistle of the
approaching cruiser, followed by a babble of mad shouting and
(06:15):
cursing among the boatmen. In the confusion, I felt it
safe to sit up. No one paid the slightest attention
to me. All were engaged in a wild race to
reach and mount the Tennessee's ladder. I scrambled up with
the rest, and when on the deck an officer demanded
my passport, I put on a bold front and asked
him to tell Captain Decker that mister Aaronson wished to
(06:38):
see him. Ten minutes later, I stood in the captain's cabin.
There I unfolded my story and wound up by asking
him if, under the circumstances, my first papers might not
entitle me to protection. As I spoke, I could see
the struggle that was going on within him. When he answered,
it was to explain with the utmost kindness that if
(06:59):
he took me aboard his ship it would be to
forfeit his word of honor to the Turkish government, his
pledge to take only citizens of neutral countries, that he
could not consider me an American on the strength of
my first papers, and that any such evasion might lead
to serious complications for him and for his government. Well,
there was nothing for me to do but to withdraw
(07:21):
and to go back to Joffa to face trial for
an attempt to escape. When I reached the deck again,
I found it swarming with refugees, many of whom knew me,
and came up to congratulate me on getting away. I
could only shake my head, and, with death in my heart,
descend the Tennessee's ladder. It did not matter now what
boat I took. Any boatman was eager enough to take
(07:43):
me for a few cents. As I sat in the boat,
every stroke of the oars bringing me nearer to the
shore and to what I felt was inevitable captivity. A
great bitterness swelled in my heart. I was tired, utterly
tired of all the dangers and trials I had been
going through for the last months. From depression, I sank
into despair, and out of despair came strange to say,
(08:05):
a great serenity, the serenity of despair. On the quay,
I ran into Hassan Bay, the commandant of the police,
who was superintending the embarkation of refugees. I knew him,
and he knew me. Half an hour later I was
in police headquarters under examination by Hassan Bay. I was
desperate and answered him recklessly. A sea sick man is
(08:28):
indifferent to shipwreck. This was the substance of our conversation.
How did you get aboard the ship in a boat
with some refugees? A woman hid me under her skirts.
So you were trying to escape? Were you? If I
had been, I shouldn't have come back. Then? What did
you do on the cruiser? I went to talk to
the captain, who is a friend of mine. My life
(08:50):
is in danger. Fusy Bay is after me, and I
wanted my friends in America to know how justice is
done in Palestine. Who are your friends in America? Men
who could break you in a minute? Do you know
to whom you are speaking? Yes, Hassan Bey, I am
sick of persecution. I wish you would hang me with
(09:10):
your own hands as you hang the young Christian. My
friends would have your life for mine. I wonder now
how I dare to speak to him in this manner,
but the bluff carried. Hassan Bey looked at me curiously
for a moment, then smiled and offered me a cigarette,
assuring me that he believed me a loyal citizen and
(09:31):
declaring he felt deeply hurt that I had not come
to him for permission to visit the cruiser. We parted
with a profusion of Eastern compliments, and that evening I
started back to zurkon Jacob end of chapter ten
Chapter ten of With the Turks in Palestine. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Anne Boulay. With the Turks in Palestine by
Alexander Aaronson, Chapter ten a rash adventure. It was all
(00:27):
very well to decide to leave the country. To get
safely away was a different matter. There were two ways out.
One of these, the land route by Constantinople, could not
be considered. The other way was to board one of
the American cruisers, which, by order of Ambassador Morgenthal was
empowered to assist citizens of neutral countries to leave the
(00:47):
Ottoman Empire. These cruisers had already done wonderful rescue work
for the Russian Jews in Palestine, who, when war was declared,
were to have been sent to the Mesopotamian town of Urfa,
there to suffer massacre and outrage like the Armenians. This
was prevented by mister Morgenthou's strenuous representations, with the results
(01:09):
that these Russian Jews were gathered together in a great
dragnet and herded to Jaffa amidst suffering unspeakable. There they
were met by the American cruisers which were to transport
them to Egypt. Up to the very moment when they
set foot on the friendly warships, they were robbed and
horribly abused by the Jaffa boatmen. The eternal curse of
(01:30):
the wandering Jew. Driven from Russia, they come to seek
shelter in Turkey. Turkey then cast them from her under
pretexts that they are loyal to Russia. Truly, the Jew
lifts his eyes to the mountains, asking the ancient and
still unanswered question, whence shall come my help? The Turkish
government later repented of its leniency in allowing these Russian
(01:52):
Jews to escape, and gave orders that only Neutrals should
leave the country, and then only under certain conditions. I
was not a neutral. My first papers of American citizenship
were valueless to further my escape. I had heard, however,
that the United States cruiser Tennessee was to call at Jaffa,
and I determined to get aboard her by hook or
(02:15):
by crook. One evening, as soon as darkness had fallen,
I bade a sorrowful farewell to my people, and set
off for Jaffa, traveling only by night and taking out
of the way paths to avoid the pickets. For Now
that the locusts campaign was over, my boyeux ruled Tan
was useless. At dawn two days later, I slipped into
(02:36):
Jaffa by way of the sand dunes and went to
the house of a friend whom I could trust to
help me in every possible way, and begged him to
find me a passport for a neutral He set off
in search, and I waited all day at his house,
consumed with impatience and anxiety. At last, toward evening, my
friend returned, But the news he brought was not cheering.
(02:58):
He had found a passport, indeed, but his report of
the rigors of the inspection at the wharf was such
as to make it clear that the chances of my
getting through on a false passport were exceedingly slim. Since
I was well known in Jaffa. If I were caught
in such an undertaking, it might mean death for me
and punishment for the friends who had helped me. Evidently,
(03:20):
this plan was not feasible. All that night I racked
my brain for a solution. Finally I decided to stake
everything on what appeared to be my only chance. The
Tennessee was due on the next day, but one early
in the morning I gave my friend the name of
a boatman who was under obligations to me and sworn
to be my friend for life or death. Even under
(03:42):
the circumstances, I hesitated to trust the Mohammedan, but it
seemed the only thing to do. I had no choice left.
My friend brought the boatman and I put my plan
before him, appealing to his daring and his sense of honor.
I wanted him to take me at midnight in his
fishing boat from an isolated part of the coast and
wait for the appearance of the Tennessee. Then, on her arrival,
(04:06):
amid the scramble of boats full of refugees, I was
to jump aboard, while he would return with the other boats.
The poor fellow tried to remonstrate, pointing out the dangers
in what he called, rightly enough doubtless the folly of
the plan. I stuck to it, however, making it clear
that his part would be well paid for, And at
(04:26):
last he consented, and we arranged a meeting place behind
the sand dunes by the shore I put a few
personal belongings into a little suit case and had my
friend give it to one of the refugees who was
to sail on the Tennessee. If I succeeded, I was
to recover it when we reached Egypt. The only thing
I took with me was the paper which declared my
(04:47):
intention of becoming an American citizen, the first paper from
this document I was determined not to part. I shall
not tell how I kept it on me, as the
means I used may still be used by others in
concealing such papers, and a disclosure of the secret might
bring disaster to them. Suffice it to say that I
had the paper with me, and that no search would
(05:09):
have brought it to light. Arrived next morning at the
appointed place, I gave the signal agreed upon the whine
of a jackal, and after repeating it again and again,
I heard a very low and muffled answer. My boatman
was there. I had some fear that he might have
betrayed me, and that I should presently see a soldier
or policeman leap out of the little boat. But my
(05:32):
fears proved groundless. The man was faithful. We rowed out quietly.
Our boat a little nutshell on the tossing waves, but
I was relieved. The elements did not frighten me. On
the contrary, I felt secure and refreshed in the midst
of the sea. When morning began to dawn, scores of
little boats came out of the harbor and circled about,
(05:53):
waiting for the cruiser. This was our chance. I crouched
in the bottom of our boat, and to all appearances
my boatman was engaged merely in fishing. After I had
lain there over an hour, with my heart beating like
a drum, and with small hopes for the success of
my undertaking, I heard at last the whistle of the
approaching cruiser, followed by a babble of mad shouting and
(06:15):
cursing among the boatmen. In the confusion, I felt it
safe to sit up. No one paid the slightest attention
to me. All were engaged in a wild race to
reach and mount the Tennessee's ladder. I scrambled up with
the rest, and when on the deck an officer demanded
my passport, I put on a bold front and asked
him to tell Captain Decker that mister Aaronson wished to
(06:38):
see him. Ten minutes later, I stood in the captain's cabin.
There I unfolded my story and wound up by asking
him if, under the circumstances, my first papers might not
entitle me to protection. As I spoke, I could see
the struggle that was going on within him. When he answered,
it was to explain with the utmost kindness that if
(06:59):
he took me aboard his ship it would be to
forfeit his word of honor to the Turkish government, his
pledge to take only citizens of neutral countries, that he
could not consider me an American on the strength of
my first papers, and that any such evasion might lead
to serious complications for him and for his government. Well,
there was nothing for me to do but to withdraw
(07:21):
and to go back to Joffa to face trial for
an attempt to escape. When I reached the deck again,
I found it swarming with refugees, many of whom knew me,
and came up to congratulate me on getting away. I
could only shake my head, and, with death in my heart,
descend the Tennessee's ladder. It did not matter now what
boat I took. Any boatman was eager enough to take
(07:43):
me for a few cents. As I sat in the boat,
every stroke of the oars bringing me nearer to the
shore and to what I felt was inevitable captivity. A
great bitterness swelled in my heart. I was tired, utterly
tired of all the dangers and trials I had been
going through for the last months. From depression, I sank
into despair, and out of despair came strange to say,
(08:05):
a great serenity, the serenity of despair. On the quay,
I ran into Hassan Bay, the commandant of the police,
who was superintending the embarkation of refugees. I knew him,
and he knew me. Half an hour later I was
in police headquarters under examination by Hassan Bay. I was
desperate and answered him recklessly. A sea sick man is
(08:28):
indifferent to shipwreck. This was the substance of our conversation.
How did you get aboard the ship in a boat
with some refugees? A woman hid me under her skirts.
So you were trying to escape? Were you? If I
had been, I shouldn't have come back. Then? What did
you do on the cruiser? I went to talk to
the captain, who is a friend of mine. My life
(08:50):
is in danger. Fusy Bay is after me, and I
wanted my friends in America to know how justice is
done in Palestine. Who are your friends in America? Men
who could break you in a minute? Do you know
to whom you are speaking? Yes, Hassan Bey, I am
sick of persecution. I wish you would hang me with
(09:10):
your own hands as you hang the young Christian. My
friends would have your life for mine. I wonder now
how I dare to speak to him in this manner,
but the bluff carried. Hassan Bey looked at me curiously
for a moment, then smiled and offered me a cigarette,
assuring me that he believed me a loyal citizen and
(09:31):
declaring he felt deeply hurt that I had not come
to him for permission to visit the cruiser. We parted
with a profusion of Eastern compliments, and that evening I
started back to zurkon Jacob end of chapter ten
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.