Last Train to Istanbul (49 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Last Train to Istanbul
is not based on the lives of real characters. It is based on the experiences related by a number of Turkish diplomats who were posted to Europe during the Second World War. They succeeded in saving many Turkish and non-Turkish Jews from Hitler’s grasp. There were also the experiences related by a young Turkish man who was a member of the French Resistance.

I cannot fully express my gratitude to the now deceased Ambassadors Namık Yolga and Necdet Kent, may they rest in peace. They devoted so much of their precious time to recalling their experiences, which enabled me to write this novel. I sincerely hope that their honorable careers may be seen as an example to all young diplomats.

Special thanks are also due to Mr. Robert Lazare Rousso and his wife for recounting both their experiences and hardships in a labor camp and their train journey. My gratitude also goes to Mrs. Luiz Behar for telling me about her experiences aboard a Star and Crescent carriage during her journey back to Istanbul.

For his general assistance in my research, I would like to acknowledge the counselor of the 500 Year Trust, Mr. Harry Ojalvo, who provided me with various rare documents. Thanks are also
due to Naim Guleryüz and my dear friends Rahmi Aktaş and Jak deLeon, who helped me greatly in contacting a number of people who provided me with documents and photographs. I’d also like to thank Ambassador Taylan İzmirli, who related valuable facts over the telephone. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Meyzi Barın, Ayda Köseoğlu, and Engin, who read the book chapter by chapter and enthusiastically encouraged me to continue.

And finally, in a novel drawing so heavily on the struggle of the Turkish diplomats to save innocent people from the Gestapo, I have to express my special thanks to Lale Akkoyunlu Bulak, whose assistance in drawing my attention to the events of the time was instrumental in the writing of this book, as well as to the unsung hero Faruk Sayar and the trains sent by the Turkish government.

Below is a list of books I have used as references for the political and social aspects of my novel, including the discussions that took place between the leading politicians during those years:

Kâmuran Gürün, and Tekin Yayınevi,
Savaşan Dünya ve Türkiye 1939–1945
.

Kâmuran Gürün,
Selim ile Celiné

Altan Öymen,
Bir Dönem Bir Çocuk

Moris Karako,
Kalderon Ailesi

Jak DeLeon,
Eski Istanbul’un Yaşayan Tadı

Gülseren Engin,
Cehennemde Bir Ada

Various booklets, documents, and newspaper clippings provided by the 500 Year Trust.

For this English edition, I would like to thank my translator, John W. Baker, who, with his unsurpassed knowledge of Turkish, has enabled my book to come alive in English. My thanks too to Tony Readwin, who skillfully helped John W. Baker edit this edition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

One of Turkey’s bestselling and most beloved authors, with more than ten million copies of her books sold, Ayşe Kulin is known for captivating stories about human endurance. In 2011,
Forbes Turkey
declared her the country’s top-earning author. In addition to penning internationally bestselling novels, she has also worked as a producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter for numerous television shows and films. A mother to four sons, she lives in Istanbul.
Last Train to Istanbul,
winner of the European Council Jewish Community Best Novel Award, has been translated into 23 languages and is the author’s second publication in English, following
Farewell
.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

John W. Baker spent his formative years living in Istanbul due to his father’s posting and was educated at the English High School for Boys there. Following in his father’s footsteps, he had a career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London until he took early retirement to live in Turkey again. He is honored to have been the first British writer to have written a play in Turkish,
Ihtiras (Passion)
which was produced in 2003 by Gencay Gurun and was voted as one of the best five new plays that year. The success of
Ihtiras
led to favorable publicity resulting in Baker being asked by Ayşe Kulin to translate two of her novels,
Last Train to Istanbul
and
Bir Gun (Face to Face).

Other translations followed, including
Theodora
by Radi Dikici, about the Byzantine Empress, and most recently,
Unfulfilled Promises
by Leyla Yildirim, a love story set during the Gallipoli War.

Baker returned to live in England in 2010 and is now happy to be back living in London again and doing the occasional translation.