Desperate Hours

Beyond Duty: Honoring Turkish Diplomats Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust

Special Film Screening: “Desperate Hours”

Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 5:30pm

This event is FREE but due to limited seating, Reservations are Required: Please RSVP to this event HERE.

Turkish diplomats – Righteous Among the Nations, will be honored: Selahattin Ulkumen who was the Turkish Consul General in Rhodes, Greece; Necdet Kent who was Vice-Consul in Marseilles, France; Namik Kemal Yolga, who was the Vice-Consul at the Turkish Embassy in Paris, France; and Behic Erkin who was Turkey’s Ambassador to Paris, France.

This program is presented in connection with Beyond Duty: Diplomats Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, on view at the Museum through March 25, 2018. In October 1942, Nazi Germany instructed neutral countries to repatriate their Jewish citizens, Turkey outwardly instructed its delegations to restrict repatriation of Turkish Jews. Instead, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs undertook an operation that saved over 20,000 Jews during the Holocaust by handing them Turkish passports and citizenship.

This special evening of Maryland humanity and diversity is supported by the:

Maryland Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives; Maryland Office of the Secretary of State; Maryland Sister State Turkish Committee and Israel Committee; The Embassies of Israel and Turkey, Washington DC; Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC); Turkish Coalition of America (TCA); Turkish American Community Center and Mosque – Diyanet Center of America (TACC-DCA); and Ms. Sarit Brosh and Mr. Gunay Evinch, Commissioners, Maryland Governor’s Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs.

About Desperate Hours (2001):

The story about Turkish diplomats who, during World War II in France and Greece, upheld the decency of human values showing incredible bravery at the risk of their lives and their family safety.

Desperate Hours is based on authoritative scholarship by American, Israeli, Turkish, and Italian historians as well as interviews with Holocaust survivors, former diplomats and clergy in Israel, Italy, Turkey, Austria and the United States.

Shenandoah Films produced Desperate Hours in association with The Berenbaum Group and Mainstreet. Desperate Hours is directed and produced by Victoria Barrett. Awards: • DC Independent Film Festival – Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary -Audience Award for Best Documentary • Honors Geneva Diplomatic Screening • Honor of Rome Diplomatic Screening • Honor of United States Library of Congress Screening • Creative Excellence Award, International Film and Video Festival • International Excellence in the Arts Award, Bnai Brith Canada.