Kemal Atatürk in the Nazi Imagination
Greek Genocide Resource Center
Heimatland (Homeland) was a conservative German newspaper with strong leanings to the Nazi party. It was published for a brief period between 1920-1923. Beginning on September 1, 1922 it began a series of articles covering Turkey. The author of these articles was Hans Tröbst who was the only German to have served in the Kemalist army during Turkey’s “War of Independence.”
In 1919, Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles to end WW1. As a result Germany lost territory, had its armed forces reduced and had to pay reparations. In comparison, after WW1, the Ottoman Empire was occupied by the Allies and signed the Sèvres Treaty and also lost territory. The editors of the newspaper introduced the series by stating: “The fate of Turkey shows extraordinarily many similarities to our own; through Turkey we can learn how we should have done it.”
In his articles, Tröbst describes the “heroic struggle” of the Turks after their defeat in WW1 and the occupation of the Allies. He describes the manner in which Mustafa Kemal dealt with his opposition by focusing on “special courts” and how opposition was “quashed ruthlessly in the bud.” Tröbst was in awe of the Kemalists and noted that their reversal of fortunes didn’t eventuate “with speeches and majority resolutions, nor with flaming notes of protest and whimpering appeals” but rather, exclusively with the “tried and trusted blood and iron recipe.”
Trobst also spoke of “national purification.” He wrote: “Hand in hand with the establishment of a united front must be national purification. In this respect the circumstances were the same in Asia Minor as here. The bloodsuckers and parasites on the Turkish national body were Greeks and Armenians. They had to be [in bold] eradicated and rendered harmless, otherwise the whole struggle for freedom would have been put in jeopardy. “
After his first article in the series, Hitler invited Trobst to speak to him and the SA leadership about Turkey. Hitler’s secretary wrote to
Trobst, and in Hitler’s name, stated: “What you have witnessed in Turkey is what we will have to do in the future as well in order to liberate ourselves.”
Read more on the Kemalist-Nazi connection in Stefan Ihrig’s “Atatürk in the Nazi Imagination.” https://amzn.to/3quNvxi
#GreekGenocide #armeniangenocide #AssyrianGenocide