Uncle Kemal Baruch was born in 1918, in Bursa, Turkey, to Sara and Itzhak Baruch. His original name was Shmuel.

He had two brothers (Eliya and Moiz) and two sisters (Ester and Ojeni).

In 1934, the family of Uncle Kemal adopted a new surname: Berkun (a word in Turkish).

New family name in Turkish: In 1934, Turkey issued the "Surnames Law". According to this law, all families had to get a family name in the Turkish language. Consequently, Jewish families too had to accept new family names, in Turkish. The new surname family of Uncle Kemal received was BERKUN.

He married Aunt Fanny Aglamaz, in 1943, in Ankara. They had two sons, Isak and Erol.

Kemal and Fanny Berkun wedding

Uncle Kemal and Aunt Fanny immigrated to Eretz-Israel (Mandatory Palestine, under British administration) around 1944, with plans to settle, but returned to Ankara after a year or two.

Uncle Kemal passed away on June 13, 2003, in Istanbul.

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