Arif Sadri, My Grandfather

I never met Arif Sadri. Some may spell his name Garif or Ğarif. His body is in the ground in the hills above Kobe Japan. On his headstone it reads that he was born in Kazan, along the Volga, the Capitol city of Tatarstan. I only know Arif Absi through photographs and a few stories. 

youthful Arif Sadri with unknown

1937

Arif clowning around with a friend with rickshaw

Arif on a Harley Davidson

Arif Sadri is stood here, front and center. He was a strong man and did wrestling and boxing. He was born in Kazan and was the second husband of my Grandmother, Halime. He was my father's father and also father of Fuat Sadri. Arif had two step-children from Halime's first marriage; Rahila (died in Uyghurstan) and Hayrullah (died in Turkey).

Arif in boxing gear when he was a bit younger

Arif Sadri with my Grandmother Halime. Halime was born in Chita, Siberia. 

Arif Sadri, Hayrullah, Halime Ebe, Rahila  - Kobe 

Rahila, Halime, Arif , Hayrullah

Arif, Hayrullah, Halime - Kobe Japan

Arif, Hayrullah in Kobe Japan

Happy Parents with their young children. 

Arif, Fazil, Halime, Fuat

Arif, Fuat

Fazil, Arif

Arif with the workers of the Russian owned chocolate factory where he worked.

 Arif at work in the chocolate factory

His specialty was Mixed Martial arts. Arif was a boxer. His opponent did Karate. 

Arif Sadri

The tragic death of Arif Sadri  - Halime Sadri, Fuat, Fazil 

Arif Sadri lying in state. 

Tatars typically follow Islamic tradition and bury the deceased right away, I believe within 24 hours. 

 at the funeral

Arif's body was carried in the most fantastic Asian hearse. 

Prayers outside the mosque - Kobe

Tatar Communites of East Asia - Exhibit at Tatar Bina - California

ABOVE: top left - Tokyo Mosque - built 1938

bottom left - Tatars of Pusan - Korea

top right - Tokyo Tatars 1929

bottom right - Harbin School - 1924

ABOVE: Kobe Japan Tatar Community 1953

Upon receiving Turkish Citizenship

Photo taken in the yard of the Tatar School / next to Mosque

After the war.

Tatar ladies of Kobe Japan

left - Tatars in front of Tatar school - Hailar China

center- Tatars of Kobe Japan

right - Tatars in front of  Tokyo Japan Tatar school -1929

Halime in Japan

Halime Sadri (Ebe) is in black. We don't know who the cat is nor the other individuals. Tatars that lived in Japan were influenced by Japanese culture. They put soy sauce on their peremech, piroshki and into their chicken broth. They enjoyed photography as enthusiastically as their Japanese neighbors and absorbed their affinity for cuteness. Animals appear in many photographs from the Tatar Japanese experience.  In those animal photos often someone is holding a puppy or expressing a certain Japanese tenderness.  They dressed well.

Halime - Zuhre

Halime - Chita
Zuhre - Penza

Here are our two Grandmothers.
How nice to see them together.
I remember they call each other 'kudagi'

Halime Ebe

My other Grandmother, Zuhre usually steps forward into the spotlight, with her oratory and singing and teaching and all. This Grandmother above, Halime Ebe, born in Chita - Siberia, was more famed for her sweetness in heart and in kitchen. During her life, she ran a boarding house in Tokyo, lived in Kobe, Japan and eventually retired to Sunny California.

We like this picture and it reminds us of a friend saying "Why did that JERK have to forever ruin a very cool style of moustache?"

Among Halime Ebe's archives are many more military photos. Turkey, as a member of NATO, sent troops to the Korean War under the supervision of the United States. She has many photos of her son Hayrullah's experience as a career tank commander in the Turkish military; many photos of soldiers standing next to piles of cannons and stuff that tank people would get all juiced up about.

Arif Sadri

I never met either Grandfather. This is my father's father, Arif Sadri pulling a rickshaw in Japan.
He's not actually employed pulling rickshaw. He's playing with a friend.
He was born in Kazan, Tatarstan and passed away in Kobe, Japan.
He is buried outside of Kobe.

His wife was my Grandmother, Halime Ebe