Who is Bergen? The tragic life story of Bergen, the Woman of Sorrows
‘Bergen’ lived only 30 years. She devoted her life to her ‘undying love’ for Halis. Her only wish was to sing. Halis’ jealousy attacks did not allow this. First he took her beauty away from her by throwing benzos in her face, then his life with a single bullet. Bergen’s life was written by Yavuz Hakan Tok. Here is ‘The Woman of Sorrows’…
Sometimes people love fiercely, love to death, the bad things they go through do not take anything away from their love,” Bergen had said.
She could have had a completely different life. As soon as she finished primary school, she entered the conservatory. And she passed the exam with first place. Her real name was Belgin. She never liked school. She just wanted to sing.
She was so bored with the notes that confused her, trying to strum that huge cello every day.
Her first love was Yalçın, a taxi driver. Yalçın had taken Bergen by force. Then one day he stood in front of her and told her he was going to marry someone else. Bergen tasted the pain of love for the first time.
SHE DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL
He dropped out of school and decided to go on stage. They raised his age. Now he needed a stage name. He saw an article in the newspaper about the city of Bergen in Norway and chose this name as his stage name.
He was tough enough to say to someone who looked at him for a long time in the pavilion, “If you like it so much, buy it for your little son”. She healed her wounds by singing. No one came into her life after Yalçın.
HER LIFE CHANGED IN ADANA
The ‘coal-eyed man’ sat opposite her in the pavilion every night, watching her without taking his eyes off her for a second, sending flowers backstage every night without getting tired of it…
Bergen threw the flowers at his head. His name was Halis. The man standing in front of her now, almost crying, was going to be the nightmare of her life and of course her great love.
Halis was proud, he didn’t come to the mansion for a long time. But he kept sending flowers. “If you knew me, you would love me,” he wrote on a card. That night, for the first time, Bergen didn’t throw the flowers in the trash.
SHE RAN TO THE STAGE EVERY TIME.
Bergen bought a car on installments. Before she could pay the bills, the car caught fire. Halis tried to put out the fire. “Don’t cry,” he said, “Don’t be sad. I’ll buy you a new one…” That day she fell in love with Halis… Then she found out that he had burned the car.
He had done it to tempt her by buying her a new car. Great love overcame this too, they got married…
Bergen was beaten many times. Then she found out that Halis, who didn’t come home in between, was already married.
She couldn’t be with Halis or without him. And he loved Bergen like crazy, like mad. He didn’t want her to perform, he said he would divorce her. And he did. They got married on the condition that she quit the stage.
Bergen became the woman of the house. Bergen ran away from the stage every time. Each time she looked into Halis’ dark eyes and made up.
She ran away again and again. To Mersin, Izmir… In between, there were people who fell in love with her, but she loved no one but Halis. One day the phone rang painfully, her house in Ankara had burned down. Halis was with her again with short sentences like “Don’t worry yourself”.
He had restored the house to its former condition. But had he burned it down again? “I didn’t do it,” he said. Bergen was angry with herself about whether she trusted Halis or not.
Every time Halis said, “You will never go on stage again,” Bergen’s blood started to flow faster. She was stubborn. She could neither leave the stage nor Halis.
Finally they got married. On January 9, 1982, Bergen wrote in her diary, “I got married.” After they started living together, Halis went back to his old life. Bergen was once again the woman of the house.
One fight after another, beatings… She left Halis and fled to Izmir. She went back on stage. She ran away, Halis chased her. The boy from Adana said, “In three days all the newspapers will be talking about you.” And so it was.
HE BURNED HIS FACE WITH ACID
A man swung a bucket towards Bergen. At first she felt a heat on her face and body. It was hurting him. Inside the bucket was a cauldron. Halis was on stage again. Bergen couldn’t see him.
In her sick bed, she dreamt that she was singing with Müslüm Gürses. Much later her dream came true.
All the newspapers were writing Bergen’s sad story. Halis went to prison and Bergen went to Istanbul stages. They couldn’t see each other for a short time.
Even this did not end their love. Bergen visited Halis and brought him money. Now her fame went beyond the borders of Turkey. She went on tours abroad, and crowds gathered in the places where she performed. She was on the same stage with Bülent Ersoys and İbrahim Tatlıses.
His mind was on Halis. One day they met again. The same movie was made again. No one was ever the same. He was jealous, she was stubborn. They divorced.
One day, on the way to another city with her mother, the car behind them swerved and passed in front of them. It was Halis. They started arguing. A single gunshot was heard. The blood that filled Bergen’s mouth began to flow slowly from her chin to her neck.
Bergen passed away from this world, taking her pain with her.
