Losing a Homeland, 1923–1924 pensation.^74 The couple migrated to Turkey a decade later. Those who did
migrate in 1924 included Dönme leaders’ wives, children, and grandchil-
dren, who would start a new life in the new homeland under radically
different conditions from those in which these men had established their
diasporic networks.
Dönme not only filled in the standardized forms estimating the value
of their immovable and movable goods in Salonika and located proxies
to liquidate their assets before they left, but added whatever documenta-
tion they thought would also substantiate their economic value. They
filled out the forms in Ottoman and added documents in Greek, such
as Greek floor plans of their homes, and added lengthy complaints in
both languages concerning Greek appropriations of their property and
taxation since 1912 for which they wanted to be compensated. Often the
forms were not long enough. Some added numerous additional pages
listing their extensive movable and immovable goods, such as the five
Karakaş merchants of the Dilber family, including Mehmet Şevket, Meh-
met Nazif, and Suleiman Sıtkı, who added six extra pages to include their
nine properties and nine stores, hans, and factories, which were worth
nearly 50 , 000 gold lira.^75
The psychological state of the migrants comes through in the bureau-
cratic forms. The date on the documents illustrates how long it took the
Dönme to wrap up their businesses and lives and decide how to pro-
ceed. They applied together to the Mixed Commission in Salonika as
extended families, appearing on the same day to submit their claims and
fully expecting to be compensated in Turkey. One wonders if they would
have taken such care and effort filling in the forms if they had known
how little, if anything, they would receive in exchange. Possibly knowing
migrant claims of over 50 , 000 gold lira in wealth would disqualify them
from compensation, few approached that amount; the largest was a claim
of 48 , 000 gold lira. The archive in Ankara has no documentation of what
the Salonikans received when they arrived, only list after list of what they
lost. Perhaps they received nothing.^76
After the Dönme arrived in Turkey, their ethno-religious identity
sparked a furious debate over whether they belonged in the new na-
tion-state. How was their religious and racial identity perceived by oth-
ers? Was Rıza Nur’s vicious distrust of Dönme a representative view?
Were Dönme rejected as Jews and foreigners or accepted as Muslims
and Turks? How did the Dönme attempt to come to terms with the