WWI soldier’s letter reaches family after 107 years

SAMSUN

A letter written by a World War I prisoner of war has reached his descendants in the Black Sea province of Samsun 107 years after it was written.

The letter was first presented to the family during the “Hundred-Year Legacy: Red Crescent Prsoner Letters” exhibition on Nov. 7, 2023, where letters from captured soldiers were displayed, including that of Mehmet oğlu Şakir.

Due to the harsh wartime conditions, many letters were undelivered, leaving families in the dark for decades.

Through extensive research, the letter was identified and translated from Ottoman Turkish by Turkish language and literature teacher Niyazi Altun. It was then given to Şakir’s grandson, Osman Çakır, who expressed deep surprise and emotion, stating that the family always knew of Şakir’s capture but had no information about his fate.

In the letter, Şakir writes to the Hilal-i Ahmer Society (now the Turkish Red Crescent), explaining that he lost contact with his family after spending two years in Russian captivity and pleads for them to be informed.

Researchers found that the letter had been misread in records, causing a century-long delay in reaching the family.

Altun described the handover as a significant historical moment, marking the long-awaited resolution of a family’s century-old uncertainty.