The Mountain Jews and the Nazi Occupation of Kabarda [Dağ Yahudileri ve Nazilerin Kabardey’i İşgali]

Year 2019, Volume: 4 Issue: 7-8, 73 - 92, 31.05.2019

Walter Richmond

Abstract

Bu
makale, Nazilerin 1942 sonbaharında Batı Kafkasya'yı işgalleri sırasında Kabardeyli
Dağ Yahudilerini öldürmemelerinin nedenlerini belirlemeye çalışıyor. Naziler,
işgalden önce Dağ Yahudilerinin varlığını biliyorlardı, ancak etnik
kompozisyonları konusunda net değildiler. Yerel Kabardey halkı bu açıklık
eksikliğinden, Dağ Yahudilerinin İran'dan çıkartıldığını ve Nazileri daha da
fazla şaşırtmak için onlara İslami gelenekleri öğrettiklerine tanıklık ettiler.
Los Angeles'taki Shoah Vakfı'nın arşivdeki birçok tanıklığa göre, bu hile birkaç
hafta işe yaradı. Sözlü ifadelere göre, Naziler Dağ Yahudilerinin etnik olarak
Yahudi olduğunu öğrendi ve onları öldürme hazırlığına başladıkları belirlendi. Ancak
Kızıl Ordu Dağ Yahudilerinin toplanmasından birkaç gün önce bölgeyi ele
geçirdi. Sınırlı sayıda sözlü tanıklık, belirli sonuçlara varmak için yeterli
değil, ancak burada sunulan kanıtları netleştirmek ve doğrulamak için daha
fazla araştırmanın yolunu açıyor.

Keywords

Kafkasya, Kabardey-Balkar, Dağ Yahudileri, Holokost, Çerkesler

The Mountain Jews and the Nazi Occupation of Kabarda [Dağ Yahudileri ve Nazilerin Kabardey’i İşgali]

Abstract

         This paper attempts to identify the reasons why the Nazis refrained from murdering the Mountain Jews of Kabardia during their occupation of the west Caucasus in fall 1942. The Nazis knew of the existence of the Mountain Jews before the invasion, but were unclear on their ethnic composition. The local Kabardian population exploited this lack of clarity by attesting that the Mountain Jews were of Iranian extraction and teaching them Islamic customs to further confuse the Nazis. Based on multiple testimonies in the archive at the Shoah Foundation in Los Angeles, the ruse worked for several weeks. According to oral testimony, the Nazis determined that the Mountain Jews were ethnically Jewish and began preparing to murder them, but the Red Army recaptured the region just days before the Mountain Jews were to be rounded up. The limited oral testimony is insufficient to make certain conclusions, but it does point the way to further research to clarify and confirm the evidence presented here.

Keywords

Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria, Mountain Jews, Holocaust, Circassian

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