Description
Turkish Carpet Design Mouse Pad 11 x 8 inches
Ships from California, USA [ Free shipping ]
The Crimean Beauty
Nazgül was a young Crimean Tatar girl who learned the family tradition of carpet making. She spent most of her days working on designing and making carpets at the family workshop at their farm in Alushta by the Black Sea.
Nazgül turned 17 on May 17, 1944. She lived with her grandmother. She loved a young man who went to war along with her two brothers a few years earlier. She had not heard from them since. She feared they could be dead like many others around Crimea. She lived through the German occupation and hoped they could live in peace. She had dreams about one day marrying her sweetheart. Knitting carpets all day gave her the patience and distracted her from the agony and the horrors of the war. She would get up early, prepare the food, attend to the animals, help her grandmother with daily chores and work on the carpets on remaining time.
In the early hours of May 18, 1944 she was woken up with a strong bang on the door. She could hear other villagers outside but had no idea what was happening. As the soldiers walked in, they announced they had 15 minutes to gather their belongings for a long journey. They quickly grabbed what they could, some bread and a half sack of flour that would later save their lives. She could not get any of her carpet tools or designs. She looked at the half made carpet in the corner as she filled her bag with clothes and wondered if she would get a chance to finish it.
That same morning they left Crimea with 200 thousand other Crimean Tatars stacked into the trains like animals. Many of them, including her grandmother, died in exile. She survived, and made a living knitting carpets in Uzbekistan where they were forced to settle. Starting in 1967 Crimean Tatars were allowed to return home. Some did return, many could not. Nazgül never heard about her brothers or her sweetheart. She never made it back to Crimea.
One of those who returned to Crimea wrote the following song:
Ey Güzel Qırım (Oh Beautiful Crimea)
Aluştadan esken yeller
Yüzüme urdı.
Balalıqtan ösken yerler
Közüme tüşti.
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım,
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım,
Vatanıma asret oldım,
Ey, güzel Qırım.
Bağçalarnıñ meyvaları,
Bal ile şerbet.
Suvlarıñnı içe-içe,
Toyalmadım men.
Bala-çağa Vatanım dep,
Közyaşın töke,
Qartlarımız elin cayıp,
Dualar ete.
English Translation
Winds blow from Alushta,
Blow in my face,
Eyes filled with tears
In the land of the fathers
On native earth I did not live
I could not live my youth
I’m homesick,
Oh, beautiful Crimea!
Gardens and fruit grow here,
There’s sherbet and honey.,
Not get drunk water clean,
That flows in Crimea
In my native place I did not live,
The joy of youth I did not know,
I missed my Homeland,
Oh, beautiful Crimea!
Kids will say “homeland”
Immediately tears pour,
Old men stretch out their hands
All the prayers I send…
On native earth I did not live,
I could not live my youth
I’m homesick,
My beautiful Crimea!
In my native place I did not live,
The joy of youth I did not know,
I missed my Homeland,
My beautiful Crimea!
Same song by Arslanbek Sultanbekov:
Other artists:
A talented girl, Aliye Bekirova, from the younger generation of Crimean Tatars singing in Ukraine:
Another song by Aliye:
Vatanda sevip yaşa
English Translation
Live with Love in the Homeland
Your beautiful shores
Your legends, also tales
My Crimea, magical world
I cheer for you by heart
I…
I drink cold waters of you,
Walk around you
My mother you are
My father you are, homeland…
Hey. come on, let’s dance…
Hey, let’s share songs…
Let us hold hands
Let us live in Crimea
Live with love in the homeland!
Let us be all together
Let us live in Crimea
Live with love in the homeland!
May my sonorous voice echo forever
May it be spread all through Crimea
May my nation live bloomingly
May everyone appreciate us…
Ey…
I drink cold waters of you,
Walk around you.
My mother you are
My father you are, homeland…
Hey. come on, let’s dance…
Hey, let’s share songs…
Let us hold hands
Let us live in Crimea
Live with love in the homeland!
Let us be all together
Let us live in Crimea
Live with love in the homeland!
A… You in the homeland
Live with love!..
Ey… You in the homeland
Live with love!..
Another song by Aliye Bekirova
We dedicate this carpet to the memory of Nazgül and others who suffered the Crimean Tatar deportation of 1944.
