Is the story of Atatürk’s Berlin memory true?

You know, there is a story told about justice, titled "There are judges in Berlin!"

It is recounted that "in the 1700s, Prussian King Frederick II wanted to forcibly purchase a miller's land near Potsdam to build a palace, and the judges in Berlin prevented this by delivering a fair verdict."

The King summoned the miller, asked him, "Do you know who I am?", the matter escalated, stubbornness increased, the case went to court, and in the end, King Frederick and the miller named Graveniz had a legal battle, and the miller replied to the king saying, "There are judges in Berlin," and so on.

That is the rumor.

And the conclusion of this event in Turkey is linked to Atatürk's visit to Germany in 1917.

The truth of the matter is this;

In December 1917, the Ottoman Empire paid a return visit to German Emperor Wilhelm II, and since Sultan Mehmed V Reşad was ill, Crown Prince Vahdettin was sent in his place, and Brigadier General Mustafa Kemal also participated in this trip as a Military Attaché.

They made a series of visits in the region, including the French front in Germany, then went to Berlin, and on December 31, 1917, at 10:00 AM, they held a large press conference at the Hotel Adlon because the visit had concluded.

At this press conference, Atatürk was right next to Vahdettin. In fact, after the press conference ended, Atatürk was left alone with Vahdettin, and Atatürk even gave advice to Vahdettin on what to do regarding the poor course of the Ottoman Empire. This visit is covered extensively in Mehmet Önder's book titled "Atatürk’s Germany and Austria Trips."

That afternoon, the Ottoman delegation paid a courtesy farewell visit to the wife of German Prince Waldemar, who resided in the Potsdam palace built by the German Emperor on the banks of the Havel River, 20 km northwest of Berlin. And after having a coffee there, towards the evening, they went to visit the palace called Sanssouci, built by the aforementioned German King Frederick.

This trip took place as a delegation trip.

However, in Sunay Akın's book titled "Geyikli Park," there is a claim that after this palace, Mustafa Kemal went to the Sanssouci mill, and even went alone.

This claim is written with the following expressions: "Years later, an Ottoman delegation goes to Berlin; they stay in a hotel. Only one of them knows this story. Because he is an intellectual; he reads books. On New Year's Eve, he says to the others in the delegation, 'Potsdam is very close; let's go see that mill which is the symbol of justice.' But no one is interested. But he gets up and goes alone and looks for a long time at this mill, which is the symbol of justice in Berlin. That beautiful person is none other than Mustafa Kemal."

However, we have three sources regarding this trip.

The first is Mehmet Önder's book titled "Atatürk’s Germany and Austria Trips," and there is no information in this book that Atatürk went to the mill alone.

The second source, Enver Behnan Şapolyo's "The Life of Atatürk," Zafer Newspaper-1954, page 153, mentions this trip, but there is no information here either that Atatürk went alone.

In the third book, which describes this trip in detail, "The Last Days of the Ottoman Palace" by Chief Chamberlain Lütfi Simavi, published by Hürriyet Publications, there is also no information that Atatürk went to this mentioned mill alone. Chief Chamberlain Lütfi Bey's statement on this subject is, "They visited the Sanssouci palace."

The information that he went alone is not written.

Because of this, it is said that the phrase "Justice is the foundation of the state" originated from this event. It is stretched and stretched. But that is not true either.

Furthermore, the veracity of this King-Miller anecdote is also doubtful, and the miller has been turned into a hero here.

First of all, let us say this: Atatürk does not need such fairy-tale heroes.

He is a hero in his own right.

But Atatürk is not a man to be the subject of stories. Atatürk is real. He is a man of facts. He stopped imperialism by fighting. He turned theory into reality by founding a state. With his thoughts and words, he shed light on world peace and human history.

This aspect of Atatürk should be addressed and highlighted.

Otherwise, trying to make people love Atatürk with stories and fairy tales not based on reality is an injustice to Atatürk. For example, his Syria policy should be explained. His Middle East policy should be explained. The Balkan Pact and the Saadabad Pact should be explained. Those should be explained.

Foreign policy and domestic policy should be explained. His understanding of freedoms, the State, and Democracy should be addressed.

His economic policy and the economic analyses he made that shed light on today should be taken as an example.

Atatürk is a revolutionary. He is a man of action and a philosopher who sheds light on our age.

He is a way out for today's problems.

Do not do it, do not.

Do not reduce that great person to the fairy tales of Western imperialism.