Twenty-five thousand letters, meticulously preserved in The Turkish Red Crescent Archive, recount the tale of dreams, ambitions, and challenging endeavours that emerged under the shadows of war and captivity.
The Centennial Inheritance: Turkish Red Crescent Prisoners of War Letters exhibition brings to light POWS letters, which have been dormant for a century.
You can visit the exhibition for free at the Istanbul Galataport Paket Postanesi.
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What does the exhibition feature?
Letters of POWs
A selection of 25,000 prisoner letters carefully preserved in the Red Cross archives since World War I sheds light on the darkness of life in captivity.
POW Cards and Notebooks
In addition to the cards containing information such as the prisoners' names, ranks, dates and places of capture, and prisoner camps, the prisoner registers, which contain more detailed records, reveal the cold hands of war bureaucracy.
Historical documents
Receipts for money, shipping documents, stamps, envelopes, and other communication documents show how central communication was within the limited rights and freedoms that prisoners had.
Photographs and videos
Photos and videos compiled from World War I archives reveal the devastation and suffering of the war in all its starkness.
Installation art
Analog and digital installations serve as a tribute to the lives shattered by the experience of captivity.
Mourning room
This space, opened to mourn the captivity of our ancestors, also exhibits personal belongings, clothes, and objects from the period.
