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Bahri Baba Cemetery (Former), Izmir, Turkey
Located in a central public square in Izmir, Turkey, is a quaint corner of layers of history collected, displayed, and buried. The Bahri Baba Cemetery was the area's oldest in operation, serving the Jewish community throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Repurposed in 1922 into a park, several tombs of socially significant figures were moved to Gürçeşme cemetery, among them Rabbi Hayyim Palache.1
Description
Current activity at the former cemetery's location
In 2013, while constructing an underground tunnel, workers were surprised to find remains 20 feet below the ground, not previously relocated at the installment of the park.2 The discoveries were moved to Atlindag Jewish Cemetery. Surrounding the park are museums of Anthropology and Ethnography displaying Turkish and Greek artifacts and history. A century and a half ago, the Jewish community numbered to forty thousand in 1868, while today 2,400
represent the current community.
Ottoman Period
Politics in the area has historically been tumultuous among the Jewish community and between the greater Turkish control. This highlights the prominence and richness of the community itself. In the middle of the 19th century, the Pallache (Palache, Palachi) family guided the Jewish community for decades, and three generations held Rabbinical power. The family name has roots in the Iberian Peninsula and became a prominent force within the community. In 1837, Hayyim Pallache was appointed head of the rabbinical court in Izmir, and later dayyan (jurist) and marbiṣ torah or instructor of the Torah in 1857 by Sultan Abdülmecit I, whose period of reign inspired nationalist sentiments within Turkey.3 Becoming embroiled in controversies of conservatism within the community, his death in 1868 and the appointment of his son, Abraham ben Hayyim Pallache, as chief rabbi further split the community. Desires to deviate from the Pallache lineage stimulated opposing groups who advocated for change. Abraham’s assurance of becoming rabbi was solidified with the backing of a petition signed by fifteen thousand of Smyrna’s (Izmir’s) Jewish population.4 The Beit Ilel (Hillel) Synagogue was founded by the family in 1840, though exists in disrepair today, awaiting the action of promises by the Municipality of Izmir for restorations to become a museum.5
Late Ottoman, Early Republican Period
This sort of dishevelment and upheaval of Jews in Izmir began its third year of activity, and Greek occupation of Izmir following WWI had escalated into the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).6 As territorial violence escalated, Zionist activity flourished, especially among residents seeking stability and the poor who lost many belongings during the war. Turkish efforts to recapture the city, then known as Smyrna, led to its decimation through the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922. This catastrophe shifted the demographic of the city to a Muslim majority, forcibly removed Levantine, Greek, and Armenian minorities, and completely destroyed the quarters of the latter two. The event resulted in 250,000 refugees being pressured to line the coast of Turkey for two weeks, awaiting the greater disorienting chaos of the fire to subside.7 This event became the subject of Ernest Hemingway’s short story “On the Quai at Smyrna,” published in 1930.
Izmir, Turkey
© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap
Sources
Notes
[1] Cengiz Sisman, “Izmir,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman
[2] Matthew Stewart, “It Was All a Pleasant Business: The Historical Context of On the Quai at Smyrna,” in The Hemingway Review (Volume 23, Number 1, Fall, 2003), p. 58-71
[3]D. Gershon Lewental, “Pallache Family (Turkish Branch)”, in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman.
[4] Lewental, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World.
[5] Izmir Jewish Heritage, “Beit Hillel Synagogue,” published 2013, http://www.izmirjewishheritage.com/synagogues-of-izmir#beit-hillel-synagogue
[6] Sisman, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World.
[7] Sisman, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World.
Bibliography
Izmir Jewish Heritage, “Beit Hillel Synagogue,” (2013). Accessed July 11, 2018.
Lewental, D. Gershon, “Pallache Family (Turkish Branch)”, in: Encyclopedia of the Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman, (2010). Accessed July 9, 2018.
Sisman, Cengiz, “Izmir,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman, (2010). Accessed July 9, 2018.
Stewart, Matthew, “It Was All a Pleasant Business: The Historical Context of On the Quai at Smyrna,” in The Hemingway Review (Volume 23, Number 1, Fall 2003), p. 58-71. Accessed July 9, 2018.
Coordinates from winter 2017 trip.
See also: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2593212 and http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2013/05/01/remains-of-ancient-jewish-cemetery-uncovered-in-izmir/%E2%80%9D
Write-up prepared by Michelle Abraamian, July 2018. Edited by Ramsey Perez August 8, 2021