When German troops occupied Rhodes in November 1943, Selahattin Ülkümen was the Turkish consul general on the island. In July 1944 Jews had to report to the German police headquarters in Rhodes Town. Ülkümen demanded that the German commandant release all those with Turkish citizenship. Only 13 Jews held Turkish passports. Interpreting his service regulations liberally, he issued Turkish identity papers to another 25 to 30 people at risk, achieving their release. All the remaining approximately 1,800 Jews on the island were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp and murdered.
In response to this aid, the Turkish consulate in Rhodes was bombed. Ülkümen’s wife and two employees died of their injuries. Ülkümen was imprisoned in Piraeus (Greece). After the German troops’ withdrawal, he returned to Turkey. Ülkümen was not penalized for his actions and remained a diplomat. In 1989 he was the first Turkish citizen to be honored by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center as Righteous Among the Nations.
Selahattin Ülkümen with his wife Mihrinissa, undated, 1930s/40s. 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
Selahattin Ülkümen with Matilde Turiel, whom he rescued, at the presentation of an award by the Anti-Defamation League in New York, 1988. Source: Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, Righteous Among The Nations, 4128
