The 1927 murder in Turkey of a 20 year-old[1] Jewish woman named Elza Niego (Turkish: Elza Niyego, Hebrew: אלזה נייגו) by a Turkish official sparked an anti-government demonstration at her funeral that authorities regarded as criminal.[2][3][4] The Turkish government alleged that the slogans used in the manifestations were against Turkishness. Following the demonstration, either nine or ten Jewish protestors were detained. They were released after thirty days.[5]
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Murder
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Elza Niego (20) was a typist of the National Insurance Company of Turkey.[6] During a holiday at Heybeli island, a Muslim Turkish official, Osman Ratıp Bey, fell in love with her.[6] Osman Bey, who was 30 years older than Elza, would follow Elza around the island.[6] In despair, Elza Niego cut short her vacation and went home. Niego eventually became engaged to a Jewish co-worker. Osman Bey, who was enraged by the engagement, pursued Elza Niego and stabbed her to death with a knife.[6]
Osman Bey was so in love with Elza that he reportedly cut ties with his wives (one in America, one in England, and another in Istanbul), as well as his children and grandchildren. He stalked Elza for years. After a complaint to the police by Elza, Osman was arrested and imprisoned for months. After Osman Bey is released from prison, he regularly asks for Niego's mother's hand in their marriage. After being declined every time, coupled with Elza's engagement, Osman projects his anger after he stumbles upon Elza in Bankalar Caddesi, Istanbul, pulling out his knife and immediately rushing towards her, slitting her nose and throat. Elza Niego was immediately killed (on 17 August, 1927), and her sister, Rejin, was heavily injured.[7]
Aftermath
During the funeral, a demonstration was held in opposition to the Turkish government.[6] This sparked an anti-Semitic reaction in the Turkish press.[8] Nine protestors were immediately arrested under the charge of "insulting the Turkish Republic", but were acquitted from charges in their first trial.[6] Soon thereafter, a second trial against the aforementioned nine Jews, including a Russian witness to the murder, was initiated. The defendants were arrested, and four of them were sentenced for the offense of "insulting Turkishness".[9]
Osman Ratıp Bey, on the other hand, was quickly arrested and charged with murder. His plea of insanity was accepted in court in 1928, and he was indefinitely placed in the newly-opened Bakırköy mental hospital. On 22 February, 1935, he escaped the hospital, but was apprehended after a 24-hour search by police. He was murdered by another patient in the hospital in 1938.[10]