On Thursday, a Palestinian family’s incredible devotion to the memory of an Ottoman soldier came to a meaningful end. The family returned a bag of money entrusted to their grandfather by an Ottoman soldier, intact, to Turkey after a century. The act of kindness was welcomed at a ceremony held at Nablus Governorate.
An Ottoman soldier during World War I, who was transferred to another front wrapped all of his money in a piece of cloth and entrusted it to the Palestinian Alul family’s forefathers before moving on to his new assignment.
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According to reports, the family took care of the keepsake for 106 years before handing it over to Turkey’s consul general.
The story dates back to 1915, when the soldier gave his money to their ancestor Sir Rushdie, a well-known shopkeeper in Nablus, saying, “I will take it back if I can return,” Ragip Hilmi el-Alul, a family member, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Identity of the soldier was unknown to the family, never returned, and the grandchildren of the shopkeeper continued protecting his keepsake, expecting that the soldier or one of his relatives would come to claim it. Indeed, the family did not even count the money thinking that it would breach the soldier’s trust until AA reported on the keepsake in 2018, which contained 147 Ottoman liras, the report noted.
