Bernard (Boaz) Turiel was of Jewish origin and lived on the island of Rhodes (Italy, now Greece). His father Daniel had Italian citizenship. His mother Matilde was from Turkey, and held Turkish and Italian citizenship, like Bernard and his brother Elliot.
In July 1944 the SS rounded up the island’s Jews. One day after Daniel Turiel, Matilde Turiel was to report to the German headquarters with Elliot and Bernard. The Turkish diplomat Selahattin Ülkümen, who worked to help Turkish Jews, warned Matilde not to go, and to wait until he had freed Daniel Turiel, which he managed. Ülkümen issued identity papers for the entire Turiel family, which saved them from deportation. The Turiels and around 40 other rescued Jews were placed under house arrest until the German withdrawal.
In 1946 the family emigrated to the United States, where Bernard’s father joined his brothers’ trading business. Bernard graduated with a law degree in 1959. He worked for an American trade authority until 1966 and later became an attorney in a private practice in the north of New Jersey.