Turkey 'Celebrating' the sinking of the Struma. (JPost).
The excesses of chutzpah never cease to amaze. A galling example was provided by Turkey’s purportedly big-hearted recent memorial for the 768 Jewish refugees (including 103 babies and children) who drowned off its coast on February 24, 1942, when WWII raged.
Turkey’s official line nowadays is that the Struma was only anchored in its waters “for a few days.” In fact, it was a 75-day (from December 12 to February 24) spectacle of apathy and inhumanity in which the Turkish role was most prominent.
Ankara adamantly refused to let anyone off the crippled vessel except for the handful who had British entry visas to Eretz Yisrael. Turkey’s premier argued that “Turkey cannot be expected to serve as a refuge or surrogate homeland for people unwanted anywhere else.”
The Turkish government, nonetheless, pitilessly ordered the condemned Struma tugged out to the Black Sea. Hundreds of truncheon-wielding Turkish policemen were dispatched to the ship on February 23. They viciously clubbed passengers below deck. Despite resistance from the refugees, the anchor was cut, the Struma was dragged out and was left paralyzed, to drift without supplies or a drop of fuel.
On February 24, an explosion ripped it apart. A Soviet submarine, Shchuka-213, patrolled northeast of the Bosporus. Stalking Axis craft, it torpedoed the wobbly Struma, which sank in minutes. It is estimated that as many as 500 were killed outright by the blast. The rest flapped feebly in the waves, till they expired of wounds, fatigue and hypothermia
The Jerusalem Post scorns the first ever Turkish commemoration of the sinking of the Struma, and wonders what is behind this “pageant of ostensible solidarity.”
The editor suspects that “rather than voicing genuine remorse, Turkey’s memorial was a cynical ploy designed to disguise other sentiments,” and concludes: “For Israelis, more than anything, the Struma powerfully illustrates what happens when Jews rely on others’ goodwill.” Hmmmm.......Bibi should never had apologized to this 'person'. Read the full story here.
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