Daniel Turiel lived on the island of Rhodes (Italy, now Greece). His wife Matilde from Izmir (Turkey) received Italian citizenship through her marriage, but also retained her Turkish nationality. Their sons were Italian and Turkish citizens.
In July 1944 the SS rounded up the island’s Jews in the German headquarters. One day after Daniel Turiel, his wife and children were to report there as well. 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 Jews were placed under house arrest until the German withdrawal; the remaining approximately 1,800 were deported and murdered.
The Turiels left Rhodes in January 1945, initially joining Matilde’s family in Izmir. In July 1946 they emigrated to New York. Daniel Turiel ran a store there with his brothers, who had fled during World War II.
The Turiel family rescued by Ülkümen: Matilde and Daniel with their children Elliot (born 1938) and Bernard (1934–2018), around 1943. Source: Evraiko Mousio Rodou
Headquarters of the German occupation forces on Rhodes, where the island’s Jews were held for three days until their deportation, 1944. Source: Evraiko Mousio Rodou
