Prisoners of War

The Ottoman Empire, which fought on 8 fronts in World War I, also known as the Great War, became the 2nd country with the most casualties in proportion to its population, losing 772,000 soldiers and 2,150,000 civilians. The war led to a large population of prisoners of war, in addition to deaths, injuries, illnesses, and displacement.

As a founding purpose of the Hilal-i Ahmer Society (Red Crescent), aid activities for prisoners of war included gathering information such as the names and addresses of captured soldiers and civilians, arranging for their housing, meeting their basic needs (such as food, drink, clothing, and medical care), and facilitating their communication with their families. The Turkish Red Crescent Archive collection contains 75 prisoner record books, 127 prisoner lists, 308.645 prisoner cards, and 25.504 letters and investigation requests from the Balkan Wars and the First World War.

Presented by The Republic of Türkiye Directorate of Communications, The Centennial Inheritance: Turkish Red Crescent Prisoners of War Letters exhibition aims to share this valuable archive with the public in celebration of our Republic’s centennial.