Remembrance
We keep the story of the rescue on Rhodes and of the destroyed Sephardic communities present, in memorial hours on January 27, in exhibitions and in contributions to congregation newsletters and school materials.
Turkish-Jewish friendship association · founded in 2004 in Cologne
We are an association of Jewish people and people of Turkish heritage in Germany. Our work draws on a relationship much older than the Federal Republic: on Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire, on a consulate on Rhodes in the summer of 1944, and on neighborhoods that exist today in Cologne, Berlin and Hanover.
The Turkish consul general issued passports that nobody was really entitled to and thereby pulled around forty people out of a transport to Auschwitz. His wife Mihrinissa did not survive the consequences.
The chief rabbi of the Ottoman capital wrote to the persecuted communities of Central Europe and invited them to come to an empire where Jews were allowed to build synagogues and trade.
About Us
The Ülkümen-Sarfati Society was founded in Cologne in 2004 by German Jews and Germans of Turkish heritage. The occasion was both mundane and important: two large minorities had lived in the same neighborhoods for decades, sent their children to the same schools and still hardly talked to each other. What each knew about the other came from the newspapers, and it was rarely flattering. We wanted to turn that into something practical, not Sunday speeches. Since November 2023 we have been a member association of the Turkish Community in Germany, which makes our work easier to connect with in many places. Anyone who sees us at an event soon notices that this is not two institutions negotiating but people who know each other.
Our starting point is historical, but our mission is in the present. The Turkish-Jewish relationship has chapters that hardly anyone knows: Sephardic communities in Salonica, Izmir and Istanbul, Ladino as an everyday language for centuries, rabbis who advised Ottoman sultans. There are dark chapters too, and we do not skip them, such as the 1942 wealth tax known as Varlık Vergisi or the Istanbul pogrom of 1955. The two belong together, and we tell both. Remembrance that keeps only the pleasant parts will not survive serious questioning. That is exactly why we work with sources, eyewitness accounts and historians instead of moods.
Day to day, that means we organize discussion evenings, accompany school classes, invite people to memorial hours and answer a great many requests from teachers, journalists and congregations. We are volunteers and so not always fast, but we do answer. If you would like to work with us, write to us. If you would rather read first, start with our two namesakes. After that, the rest of our work makes more sense on its own.
Fields of Work
We keep the story of the rescue on Rhodes and of the destroyed Sephardic communities present, in memorial hours on January 27, in exhibitions and in contributions to congregation newsletters and school materials.
We bring Jewish congregations, mosque communities, Alevi associations and city initiatives to one table. Not as a symbolic act, but in small circles where disagreement can also be tolerated.
We work with schools, youth centers and teachers on a subject many shy away from: antisemitism in immigrant communities and racism against Muslims, factually and without general suspicion.
Topics on This Site
The diplomat who acted against instructions on Rhodes in 1944, lost his wife and his position for it, and was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1989.
Read the biography → Namesake IIA letter from Edirne that called Jews from the Holy Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire, and the centuries that followed from it.
Read the story → Historical placeHow a Jewish community more than 2,000 years old vanished within a few weeks, with a timeline, figures and the traces that remain in the old town today.
Read the chronicle → Our practiceEvent formats, school visits, publications and the mistakes we have made ourselves in twenty years of dialogue work.
See our work →Further Reading
Now and then someone asks us what the point of this association is. The answer comes more easily when you look at what happens if nobody keeps the connection alive. Jewish congregations in Germany have faced growing threats for years, and part of the worry is directed at communities with a Muslim background. At the same time, people with Turkish names meet rejection on the housing market, in job applications and in comment sections. Both groups sit in the same city and mostly read headlines about each other. Without places where people meet, it stays that way, and mistrust grows faster than trust.
Our experience after twenty years is rather unspectacular: it works when people do something together, and it works poorly when they only talk about each other. A panel of four officials changes little. A school class that visits a synagogue in the morning and a mosque in the afternoon, and then spends two hours discussing what it saw, changes more. We have learned that the good conversations rarely happen where the cameras are. They happen while setting up chairs, over the meal afterward, on the ride home. That is why we prefer to build our formats small and repeatable rather than big and one-off.
The second point concerns history. When people discuss antisemitism in Germany, they usually talk about German perpetrators, and rightly so. What gets lost is the experience of people whose families come from Anatolia, the Balkans or the Aegean. For them, the Shoah is something that happened to others. This is exactly where the story of Selahattin Ülkümen helps. It shows a Turkish teenager that someone with his name and his language appears in this history, and on the side of those who acted. That is no consolation prize but an approach that opens doors where lecturing only produces resistance.
The same holds in the other direction. Many members of Jewish congregations in Germany come from the former Soviet Union and have little contact with Ottoman Sephardic history. When they hear that a rabbi from Edirne invited the persecuted from German cities in the fifteenth century, things fall into a new order. It does not turn into kitsch, and we do not claim that everything was harmonious. What emerges is a larger frame in which today's conflicts can be discussed differently.
That leaves the uncomfortable question of what happens if this work is not done. Then others take over the interpretation, usually the loudest ones. Then every Middle East conflict immediately becomes a conflict between neighbors in Duisburg or Berlin. Then the phone numbers are missing at the decisive moment, when a synagogue is defaced or a mosque is attacked. Such connections are not built in a crisis, they have to exist beforehand. That is why we carry on, even in years when the mood is difficult and invitations become rarer. You can find more about our formats under Dialogue and Education, and the historical background under Rhodes 1944.
The sites below deal with subjects beyond our own work and are listed here as further destinations for curious readers.
yorkshire industrial heritage
Yorkshire grew rich on wool, coal and steel, and the legacy of that era is written across its valleys and market towns. Preserved mills and old railway lines let visitors picture the long working days of the past.
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net art
Net art treats the internet as both the tool and the gallery for creative work. Projects can be a single odd web page or a larger piece that mixes sound, image and interaction.
portland radio
The airwaves around Portland carry a varied mix, from talk programs to alternative rock and public broadcasting. Dedicated listeners follow the history of the local dial as closely as the shows themselves.
summer learning loss
Many students forget part of what they learned when school is out for the summer months. Reading, practice and light tutoring can keep skills fresh until classes start again.
welsh rugby history
Welsh rugby is deeply tied to community life, from mining villages to the big matches in Cardiff. The game carries stories of famous players, fierce rivalries and singing crowds.
automated theorem proving
Automated theorem proving is a branch of computer science in which programs construct logical proofs on their own. Its methods are applied to mathematics, software correctness and the design of microchips.
catholic writers
Catholic writing covers novels, poetry, essays and spiritual guides, all shaped by a shared tradition. Readers often turn to these books for questions of conscience, history and daily life.
australian indie music
Independent music in Australia has grown through pub gigs, community stations and small record labels. Bands from different cities have developed sounds that are recognizably their own.
fractal art
Fractal artworks begin with equations whose patterns keep repeating as you look closer. Software turns those numbers into glowing, intricate images that artists refine through color and composition.
maine outdoor adventures
Maine is known for its rugged shoreline, thick forests and countless lakes and rivers. Visitors come for canoe trips, trail walks, camping and fresh seafood.
thai buddhist temples
Temples in Thailand are places of worship, learning and community gatherings, often with gilded roofs and richly painted halls. Monks live on the grounds, and local residents join them for ceremonies and festivals.
arabic music guide
Arabic music includes classical forms, folk traditions and modern pop from many countries across the region. Instruments such as the oud, the qanun and the darbuka shape much of its characteristic sound.
british music hall history
British music hall was a popular form of entertainment in Victorian and Edwardian times, mixing songs, comedy and acrobatics. Many of its theaters have vanished, but surviving posters and recordings keep the tradition in view.
formula 3 racing asia
Formula 3 racing offers young drivers an early chance to prove themselves in powerful single-seat cars. Series in Asia bring together competitors from several countries and a growing fan base.
asian cinema guide
Cinema from Asia is far from uniform, with film industries in Japan, South Korea, China, India and elsewhere each following their own paths. A good overview helps viewers find directors and genres worth exploring.
shoujo manga
Manga for girls, known as shoujo, has a devoted readership in Italy, where it arrived through translated series and fan communities. The genre stands out for emotional storytelling and expressive artwork.
breton culture
Brittany has its own language, music and customs, which set it apart from the rest of France. Books and collections about the region record its folk tales, history and Celtic ties.
western australia art
Creative life in Western Australia runs from lively city exhibitions to remote studios far from the coast. Art there often draws on the vast landscape and on the long traditions of its first peoples.
dalits in nepal
Dalits in Nepal are communities historically placed at the bottom of the caste system, and they have faced exclusion from work, land and public life. Advocates and researchers document their struggle for equal rights and fair treatment.