Necdet Kent
| Necdet Kent | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
İsmail Necdet Kent January 1, 1911 |
| Died | September 20, 2002 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Known for | Saving lives of Jews during World War II |
| Children | Muhtar Kent |
| Awards | Turkey's Supreme Service Medal, Israel's Righteous Among the Nations Award |
İsmail Necdet Kent (1 January 1911 – 20 September 2002) was a Turkish diplomat who risked his life to save Jews during World War II. While vice-consul in Marseilles, France between 1941 and 1944, he gave documents of citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers, to save them from deportation to the Nazi gas chambers.
Necdet Kent was born in Istanbul, Turkey and got his secondary education from Galatasaray Lycee, as did some of his colleagues in the foreign ministry. He travelled to the United States for his university studies, earning a degree in public law from New York University.
Returning to Turkey, Kent entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1937. He was first posted as vice consul to Athens, Greece. In 1941, he was appointed to the post of vice consul at Marseilles, France, a post which he held until 1944. Many refugees gathered in southern France during the war, and Marseilles was a major port of embarkation.
At some time in 1943, an assistant at the Turkish consulate told Kent that the Germans had just loaded 80 Turkish Jews living in Marseilles into cattle cars for immediate transport to probable death in Germany. Kent later recalled, "To this day, I remember the inscription on the wagon: 'This wagon may be loaded with 20 heads of cattle and 500 kilograms of grass'." Kent approached the Gestapo commander at the station, and demanded that the Jews be released, as they were Turkish citizens and Turkey was neutral. The official refused to do so, saying that the people were nothing but Jews.
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