[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     A TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR NECDET KENT OF TURKEY, HOLOCAUST HERO

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 2002

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sorrow that I rise today, 
after learning of the passing of Ambassador Necdet Kent on Friday, 
September 20, at the age of 91. Ambassador Kent was a Turkish diplomat 
who served with distinction at many posts. Between 1941 and 1944, he 
was posted as deputy consul in the Turkish Consulate-General in 
Marseilles, France. He used that position to bestow Turkish citizenship 
on--and thereby save--dozens of Turkish Jews who were resident in 
France and otherwise lacked proper identity papers to prevent their 
deportation to Nazi gas chambers. Most of those Jews had left Turkey 
years earlier with no intention of returning but technically had 
remained Turkish citizens. Necdet Kent exploited their all-but-lapsed 
Turkish citizenship to stay their execution and spare their lives.
  On one occasion, Kent boarded a train bound for Auschwitz after Nazi 
guards refused to honor his demand to allow all its passengers--some 70 
Turkish Jews--to disembark. At subsequent stops, Nazi officials tried 
to persuade Kent to leave the train, assuring him that its passengers 
were not real Turks but merely Jews. Kent made clear that he and his 
nation made no such distinction, and he steadfastly refused to 
disembark without his fellow citizens. Finally, after an hour of effort 
to dissuade Kent from his course, the Nazi guards gave up. Apparently 
cautious not to create an international incident in this instance, the 
Nazis allowed the stunned Jews to leave the train with Kent and with 
their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Kent had an uncommon love of humanity and an 
even more rare combination of moral and physical courage that saved 
many Jewish lives during the Holocaust. As a Holocaust survivor who was 
saved by the great Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, I am constantly 
mindful that I owe my life to that rare breed of humanity to which 
Necdet Kent belonged.
  Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Ambassador Kent, I know 
from reading his words and seeing him in a documentary released last 
year that he was a very modest man--excessively so, in my opinion, 
since his modesty long precluded him from winning the widespread 
accolades that he so richly deserved. Necdet Kent was so special that 
he seemed unable to recognize his own extraordinary character. I recall 
his simple reply when asked how he summoned the courage to defy the 
Gestapo and board that Nazi cattle car with the 70 Turkish Jews, 
knowing that he could have been riding to his death. ``I'm a human 
being,'' he said. ``I couldn't do anything else.'' If only that 
statement were as true as it is humble, far more diplomats would have 
had the courage to behave similarly, and countless more lives could 
have been saved. Happily, towards the end of his life, Ambassador Kent 
received far more of the tributes and praise he earned, thanks mainly 
to the aforementioned documentary, called ``Desperate Hours.''
  Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Kent leaves this world with the admiration 
and gratitude of humanitarians, and particularly Jews, everywhere. I 
avail myself of this opportunity and urge all of my colleagues to join 
me in expressing deep condolences to the Turkish nation, to Ambassador 
Kent's family, and to the wider human family to which he belonged, on 
the loss of one of its noblest representatives--a man who, as a mere 
deputy consul, truly granted ``visas for life.''

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