Istanbul
able to work in the tobacco business, as they had begun doing in Salon-
ika in the late nineteenth century and then in western and central Eu-
rope prior to World War I, in Istanbul until the 1960 s.^51 Akif Fuat, Hasan
Akif ’s grandson, continued the business in Thessaloníki until 1941 or 1942 ,
buying and selling the tobacco in Drama and Kavala. When he finally
left Thessaloníki for Istanbul, he established the Akev Tobacco company
in Tophane, Istanbul. It lasted for two decades. Thus for close to eighty
years, Hasan Akif ’s family owned its own business, without partners, in
the words of the descendant, “running the company entirely with close
and not-so-close relatives.”
Along with tobacco, textiles were also a signature Dönme concern in
the new Turkish Republic. A Karakaş descendant told me that her fam-
ily had boasted of quite wealthy textile merchants in Salonika.^52 The
family also had a tobacco business in Bulgaria. Their wealth stemmed
from the fact that her grandfather had been sent by the government to
Germany to study textile engineering. When he returned, he was able to
open factories in Salonika. As part of the population exchange, the fam-
ily, including the interviewee’s father born in 1917 , were sent to Kayseri
in central Anatolia. The family quickly relocated to Istanbul, where her
grandfather was able to open several textile factories.^53
Such success does not mean that all Dönme were able to prosper ec-
onomically, fully assimilate, and pass as Muslims or Turks. The lack of
Dönme integration was proved by the 1942 implementation of the wealth
tax. Recreating a meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister in Septem-
ber 1944 will help us to understand the atmosphere at that time:
§ The middle-aged Turkish man glances through eyes framed by thick
eyebrows and heavy bags at the headline of the American newspaper on
the desk: TURKISH TAX KILLS FOREIGN BUSINESS. Capital Levy
Up to 232 Per Cent Is Required to Be Paid in Cash Within a Month.
RATES SECRETLY LAID. Inequities Are Attributed to Local Boards
From Which There Is No Appeal.^54 He takes a drag on his cigarette,
and then a sip of tea. He thumbs through three articles of his own that
have just appeared in the Turkish press, which although critical of the
extraordinary tax, appear to him to be far more objective.^55 The articles
make the point that “the sole distinction that can exist between one
citizen and another resides in whether or not a citizen fulfills his patriotic
duties.” One needs to “save the honorable man from being considered
dishonorable or worse.” He thinks it is tragic that “those who love and