Letter from Herr Spörri, of the German Mission at Van, published
in the German Journal, "Sonnenaufgang," October, 1915.
There lies Artamid before us, adorned by its charming gardens; but how
does the village look? The greater part of it is nothing now but a heap
of ruins. We talked there with three of our former orphan protégées,
who had had fearful experiences during the recent events. We rode
on across the mountain of Artamid. Even in time of peace one crosses
the pass with one's heart in one's mouth, because the Kurds ply their
robber trade there. Now it is all uncannily still. Our glance swept
over the magnificent valley of Haiotz-Tzor. There lay Antananz before
us, now utterly destroyed like the rest. We gave shelter, at the time,
to people from Antananz who had managed to escape. Further on in
the magnificent green landscape lay Vostan. At first sight one might
call it a paradise, but during these latter days it has also been a
hell. What rivers of blood must have flowed there; it was one of the
chief strongholds of the armed Kurds. At the foot of the mountain we
came to Angegh. There again there were many houses destroyed. We found
here a young woman who, after many years of widowhood, had married a
native of the village. Things had been going well with her; now her
husband, too, was slaughtered. One hundred and thirty people are said
to have been murdered thus. We pitched our camp here in face of the
blackened ruins. Straight in front of us stood an "amrodz," a tower
built of cakes of dung--a common enough sight in these parts. We were
told that the Kurds had burnt the corpses of the slaughtered Armenians
in it. Horrible! And yet that is at least better than if the corpses
of the slain, as has happened in other places, are allowed to lie for
an indefinite period unburied, so that they are devoured by dogs and
poison the air. There we were met by some soldiers; they were Armenian
"Volunteers" who had come from Russia and were now fighting on the
side of the Russians for the liberation of their Haiasdan. They were
coming now from the neighbourhood of Bitlis, where heavy fighting was
in progress. They had brought some sick back to the town, and proposed
to rest here awhile. After that we rode on to Ten, where people we
already knew came out to meet us from the village and informed us of
what had happened there. There, too, the scenes of our former activity,
the school and the church, lay in ruins, and many dwelling houses
as well. The man who used to put us up was also among the slain;
his widow is still quite distraught. Here about 150 are said to have
been murdered. There were so many orphans in the place, they said
to us:--should we now be inclined to take charge of any again? We
were unable to give them any definite answer. As we rode on and on
over the mountains, the splendid air did us much good and we thanked
God for it, for little by little we have come to be in sore need
of recuperation. We had a wonderful view from the mountain heights,
but everywhere in the villages one sees blackened and ruined houses.