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THE TREATMENT OF
ARMENIANS IN THE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
DOCUMENTS PRESENTED TO
VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODON
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
WITH A PREFACE BY
VISCOUNT BRYCE
LAID BEFORE THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
AS AN OFFICIAL PAPER AND NOW
PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
ST. PAUL’ S HOUSE, WARWICK SQUARE, LONDON
AND AT NEW YORK AND TORONTO
MCMXVI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
-------
_The titles are italicised in the case of documents which relate merely
to the condition of refugees in Egypt and Caucasia, and not to the
events in Turkey and N.W. Persia of which these refugees had been
the victims._
PAGE
Map of Districts affected Frontispiece
Correspondence between Viscount Grey of Fallodon and Viscount
Bryce xv.
Preface by Viscount Bryce xxi.
Letter from Mr. H.A.L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield
University, to Viscount Bryce xxix.
Letter from Prof. Gilbert Murray, Regius Professor of Greek in
the University of Oxford, to Viscount Bryce xxxi.
Letter from Mr. Moorfield Storey, ex-President of the American
Bar Association, to Viscount Bryce xxxii.
Letter from Four German Missionaries to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs at Berlin xxxiii.
Memorandum by the Editor of the Documents xxxv.
I.—GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS. 1
1. Despatch from Mr. Henry Wood, Correspondent of the
American “United Press” at Constantinople; published
in the American Press, 14th August, 1915 2
2. Despatch, dated 11th June, 1915, from an especially
well-informed neutral source at Constantinople;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 4
3. Extract from a letter, dated Arabkir, 25th June/8th
July, 1915, communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 5
4. Letter from an authoritative source, dated
Constantinople, 15/28th June, 1915; published in the
New York journal “Gotchnag,” 28th August, 1915 6
5. Letter from the same source, dated Constantinople,
12/25th July, 1915; published in the New York journal
“Gotchnag,” 28th August, 1915 8
6. Letter from the same source, dated Constantinople,
13/26th July, 1915, and addressed to a distinguished
Armenian resident beyond the Ottoman frontier 9
7. Letter from the same source, dated Constantinople,
2nd/15th August, 1915, and addressed to the same
Armenian resident beyond the Ottoman frontier 12
8. Extracts from a letter, dated Athens, 8th/21st July,
1915, from an Armenian formerly resident in Turkey to
a prominent Armenian in Western Europe 17
9. Letter, dated 3rd/16th August, 1915, conveyed beyond
the Ottoman frontier by an Armenian refugee from
Cilicia in the sole of her shoe 20
10. Letter from Mr. N., a foreign resident at
Constantinople, dated 27th August, 1915; communicated
by the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian
Relief 22
11. Memorandum dated 15/28th October, 1915, from a
well-informed source at Bukarest, relating to the
extermination of the Armenians in Turkey 23
12. Information regarding events in Armenia, published in
the “Sonnenaufgang” (organ of the “German League for
the Promotion of Christian Charitable Work in the
East”), October, 1915; and in the “Allgemeine
Missions-Zeitschrift,” November, 1915 25
13. Statement made by a foreign resident at Constantinople
to a Swiss gentleman at Geneva; communicated by the
latter 28
14. Cablegram, dated 4th May, 1916, transmitted through
the State Department at Washington to the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, from the
Committee’s representatives in Turkey 29
II.—VILAYET OF VAN 31
15. The American Mission at Van: Narrative printed
privately in the United States by Miss Grace Higley
Knapp (1915) 32
16. Van: Letter dated Van, 7th June, 1915, from Mr. Y.K.
Rushdouni; published in the “Manchester Guardian,” 2nd
August, 1915 48
17. Van: Narrative by Mr. Y.K. Rushdouni, published
serially in the Armenian journal “Gotchnag,” of New
York 52
18. Van after the Turkish retreat: Letter from Herr
Spörri, of the German Mission at Van, published in the
German journal “Sonnenaufgang,” October, 1915 71
19. Van after the massacres: Narrative of Mr. A.S.
Safrastian, dated Van, 2nd December, 1915, and
published in the Armenian journal “Ararat,” of London,
January, 1916 72
20. Van: Interview with a refugee, Mrs. Gazarian,
published in the “Pioneer Press,” of St. Paul,
Minnesota, U.S.A. 76
III.—VILAYET OF BITLIS 79
21. The North-Eastern Vilayets: Statement communicated by
the Refugee Roupen, of Sassoun, to the Armenian
Community at Moscow; published in the Russian Press,
and subsequently reprinted in the “Gazette de
Lausanne,” 13th February, 1916 0
22. Bitlis, Moush and Sassoun: Record of an interview with
Roupen, of Sassoun, by Mr. A.S. Safrastian, dated
Tiflis, 6th November, 1915 83
23. Moush: Statement by a German eye-witness of
occurrences at Moush; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 88
24. Moush District: Narrative of a deported woman, related
by her to Mr. Vartkes, of Moush, recorded by him on
the 25th July, 1915, and published subsequently in the
Armenian journal “Van-Tosp” 92
25. Moush: Résumé of information furnished by refugees in
the Caucasus and published in the Caucasian Press,
especially in the Armenian journal “Mschak”; compiled
by Mr. G.H. Paelian, and communicated by him to the
Armenian journal “Ararat,” of London, March, 1916 94
26. Bitlis: Letter dated 14th October, 1915, from a
foreign resident at Bitlis to a German official;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 96
IV.—AZERBAIJAN AND HAKKIARI 99
27. Urmia: Statement by the Rev. William A. Shedd, D.D.,
of the American (Presbyterian) Mission Station at
Urmia; communicated by the Board of Foreign Missions
of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 100
28. First Exodus from Urmia, January, 1915: Report, dated
1st March, 1915, from the Rev. Robert M. Labaree, of
the American Mission Station at Urmia, to the Hon. F.
Willoughby Smith, U.S. Consul at Tiflis; communicated
by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. 105
29. Azerbaijan, behind the Russian front: Extracts from a
series of letters by the Rev. Robert M. Labaree;
communicated by the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 110
30. Tabriz: Letter dated Tabriz, 17th March, 1915, from
the Rev. F.N. Jessup; communicated by the Board of
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A. 113
31. Urmia during the Turco-Kurdish occupation: Diary of a
Missionary, edited by Miss Mary Schauffler Platt, and
published by the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 119
32. Urmia after its evacuation by the Turks and Kurds:
Letter dated Urmia, 20th May, 1915, from Mrs. J.P.
Cochran to friends in the United States; communicated
by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. 151
33. Urmia: Letter, dated Urmia, 25th May, 1915, from the
Rev. Y.M. Nisan to the Rev. F.N. Heazell, Organising
Secretary of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Assyrian
Mission 156
34. Urmia: Narrative of Dr. Jacob Sargis, recorded in a
despatch, dated Petrograd, 12th February, 1916, from
the correspondent at Petrograd of the American
“Associated Press” 158
35. Urmia: Extracts from the Annual Report (for the year
1915) presented by the Medical Department at Urmia to
the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. 161
36. Urmia, Salmas and Hakkiari: Statement by Mr. Paul
Shimmon, published in the Armenian journal “Ararat,”
of London, November, 1915 164
37. Hakkiari: Statement by Mr. Paul Shimmon, published in
the “Churchman” newspaper, and subsequently issued as
a pamphlet; communicated by Mrs. D.S. Margoliouth, of
Oxford 169
38. Refugees from the Hakkiari District: Series of
extracts from letters by members of the American
Mission Station at Urmia; communicated by the Board of
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A. 172
39. Refugees from Hakkiari: Letter dated 26th September/
9th October, 1915, from a relative of Mar Shimun, the
Patriarch; communicated by the Rev. F.N. Heazell 175
40. Refugees from Hakkiari: Letter, dated Diliman,
1st/14th April, 1916, from Surma, the sister of Mar
Shimun, to Mrs. D.S. Margoliouth, of Oxford 177
41. The Nestorians of the Bohtan District: Letter, dated
Salmas, 6th March, 1916, from the Rev. E.W. McDowell,
of the Urmia Mission Station, reporting information
brought by a young man (with whom Mr. McDowell was
previously acquainted) who had escaped the massacre;
communicated by the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 180
42. Second Exodus from Urmia: Letter dated Tabriz, 20th
August, 1915, from Mr. Hugo A. Müller (Treasurer of
the American Mission Station at Urmia); communicated
by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. 182
43. Second Exodus from Urmia: Narrative of a Nestorian
victim, the wife of the Rev. David Jacob, of Urmia,
published in the Armenian journal “Ararat,” of London,
January, 1916 184
44. Urmia District: Report on the distribution of relief,
covering the period 1st June to 31st December, 1915;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 187
45. Azerbaijan: Statement, dated Tiflis, 22nd February,
1916, by Mr. M. Philips Price, War Correspondent for
various British and American newspapers on the
Caucasian Front; communicated to Aneurin Williams,
Esq., M.P., and published in the Armenian journal
“Ararat,” of London, March, 1916 191
V.—THE REFUGEES IN THE CAUCASUS 193
46. The Flight to the Caucasus: Despatches to the Armenian
journal “Horizon,” of Tiflis, from Mr. Sampson
Aroutiounian, President of the Armenian National
Committee of Tiflis, who went in person to meet the
Refugees 194
47. The Flight to the Caucasus: Despatch from the special
correspondent of the Armenian journal “Arev,” of Bakou 197
48. _Memorandum on the condition of Armenian Refugees in
the Caucasus and Orphans at Van; compiled in the
British Foreign Office from information, dated 9th
December, 1915, which was furnished by Mr. Stevens,
British Consul at Batoum_ 199
49. _Memorandum on the condition of Armenian Refugees in
the Caucasus; compiled in the British Foreign Office
from information, dated 29th December, 1915, which was
furnished by Mr. Stevens, British Consul at Batoum_ 203
50. _Report on the activity of Armenian Refugee Relief
Organisations in the Caucasus and Turkish Armenia;
enclosed in a despatch (No. I.), dated Batoum, 3rd
January, 1916, from Mr. Consul Stevens to the British
Foreign Office_ 208
51. _Refugees in the Caucasus: Letter dated Erivan, 29th
December, 1915, from the Rev. S.G. Wilson to Dr.
Samuel T. Dutton, Secretary of the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief_ 216
52. _Repatriation of Refugees: Letter, dated Erivan (?),
March 1916, from the Rev. S.G. Wilson; communicated by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief_ 219
VI.—VILAYET OF ERZEROUM 221
53. Erzeroum: Record of an Interview between the Rev. H.J.
Buxton and the Rev. Robert Stapleton, a missionary of
the American Board, resident at Erzeroum from before
the outbreak of war until after the capture of the
city by the Russians 222
54. Erzeroum: Report, dated 25th September, 1915, drawn up
by the American Consul-General at Trebizond, after his
return from a visit to Erzeroum; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 228
55. Erzeroum: Abstract of a Report by Mr. B.H. Khounountz,
representative of the “All-Russian Urban Union”, on a
visit to Erzeroum after the Russian occupation;
published in the Armenian journal “Horizon,” of
Tiflis, 25th February, 1916 231
56. Erzeroum: Abstract of a Report by Dr. Y. Minassian,
who accompanied Mr. Khounountz to Erzeroum as
representative of the Caucasian Section of the
“All-Russian Urban Union”; published in the Armenian
journal “Mschak,” of Tiflis, 8th March, 1916 233
57. Erzeroum: Statement by Mr. A.S. Safrastian, dated
Tiflis, 15th March, 1916 236
58. Erzeroum: Statement by the Kurd Ali-Aghazadé Faro,
published in the Armenian journal “Mschak,” 19th
December, 1915 241
59. Baibourt: Narrative of an Armenian lady deported in
the third convoy; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 242
60. Baibourt: Statement, reproduced from the Armenian
journal “Horizon,” of Tiflis, in the Armenian journal
“Gotchnag,” of New York, 18th March, 1916 244
61. Baibourt, Keghi, and Erzindjan: Letter, dated
Erzeroum, 25th May/7th June, 1915; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 245
62. Erzindjan: Statement by two Red Cross Nurses of Danish
Nationality, formerly in the service of the German
Military Mission at Erzeroum; communicated by a Swiss
gentleman of Geneva 246
63. Kamakh and Erzeroum: Statement published in the New
York journal “Gotchnag,” 4th September, 1915 255
VII.—VILAYET OF MAMOURET-UL-AZIZ 257
64. H.: Statement made by Miss D.A., a Danish lady in the
service of the German Red Cross at H., to Mr. D.B., at
Basle, and communicated by Mr. D.B. to Lord Bryce 258
65. H.: Report, dated 11th July, 1915, from a foreign
resident at H.; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 262
66. H.: Memorandum forwarded by a foreign resident at H.
(the author of the preceding report); communicated by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 265
67. H.: Narrative of an Armenian Refugee from H.;
communicated to Lord Bryce by the correspondent of the
London “Times” at Bukarest 268
68. Mamouret-ul-Aziz: Narrative of an Armenian lady
deported from C. (a place half-an-hour’s distance from
H.), describing her journey from C. to Ras-ul-Ain;
written after her escape from Turkey, and dated
Alexandria, 2nd November, 1915; published in the
Armenian journal “Gotchnag,” of New York, 8th January,
1916 271
69. H.: Statement by the Principal of the College, dated
19th July, 1915; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 278
70. H.: Statement by the Principal of the College, dated
19th July, 1915, relating to the deportation of
Armenians from villages in the neighbourhood of H.;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 281
71. H.: Letter, dated 10th November, 1915, from the
Principal of the College at H. to Mr. N. at
Constantinople; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 282
VIII.—VILAYET OF TREBIZOND, AND SANDJAK OF SHABIN KARA-HISSAR 285
72. Trebizond: Report from a foreign resident at
Trebizond; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 286
73. Trebizond: Extracts from an interview with Comm. G.
Gorrini, late Italian Consul-General at Trebizond;
published in the journal “Il Messaggero,” of Rome,
25th August, 1915 290
74. Trebizond: Narrative of the Montenegrin Kavass of the
local branch of the Ottoman Bank; published in the
Armenian journal “Arev,” of Alexandria, 2nd October,
1915 293
75. Kerasond (Kiresoun), Trebizond and Shabin Kara-Hissar:
Evidence collected by an Armenian gentleman from
eye-witnesses now in Roumania; communicated by the
correspondent of the London “Times” at Bukarest 294
76. Trebizond and Erzeroum: Despatch from the
correspondent of the London “Times” at Bukarest, dated
Bukarest, 18th May, and published on the 22nd May,
1916 299
IX.—SIVAS: THE CITY AND PARTS OF THE VILAYET 301
77. Sivas: Letter from a foreign resident at Sivas, dated
13th July, 1915; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 302
78. Sivas: Letter written from Malatia by Miss Mary L.
Graffam, Principal of the Girls’ High School at Sivas,
to a correspondent at Constantinople; reprinted from
the Boston “Missionary Herald,” December, 1915 305
79. Extracts from a letter, dated Massachusetts, 29th
August, 1915, from another foreign resident at Sivas
to Mr. G.H. Paelian 309
80. Sivas: Narrative of a naturalised Ottoman subject,
dated New York City, 10th March, 1916; communicated by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 311
81. Sivas: The Adventures of Murad; narrated by “S.H.S.”
in the journal “The New Armenia,” of New York, 1st
March, 1916 317
82. Sivas: Record of an Interview given by the Refugee
Murad to Mr. A.S. Safrastian at Tiflis 320
X.—SANDJAK OF KAISARIA 327
83. Kaisaria: Statement by a traveller from Kaisaria,
published in the Armenian journal “Balkanian Mamoul,”
of Roustchouk 328
84. Everek: Statement published in the Armenian journal
“Gotchnag,” of New York, 28th August, 1915 329
85. K.: Letter from a foreign resident at K., dated 16th
November, 1915; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 330
XI.—THE TOWN OF X. 331
86. X.: Narrative of the Principal of the College at X.;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 332
87. X.: Address delivered in America, 13th December, 1915,
by a professor from the College at X.; communicated by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 336
88. X.: Statement by Miss AA., a foreign traveller in
Turkey; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 349
89. Narrative of Miss AA., a foreign traveller in Asiatic
Turkey, describing a journey from X. to Z., 10th
August to 6th September, 1915; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 356
90. X.: Report from Mr. AL., a foreign resident at L., in
Asiatic Turkey, dated 26th August, 1915; communicated
by the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian
Relief 364
91. X. (?): Narrative of a foreign resident of German
nationality; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 367
92. X.: Letter, dated New York City, 30th December, 1915,
from Professor QQ., of the College at X., to an
Armenian Professor resident beyond the Ottoman
frontier 369
93. X.: Narrative of a journey from X. to Constantinople,
by Professor QQ., of the College at X.; communicated
by the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian
Relief 373
94. X.: Narrative of Miss CC., communicated by her to a
Swiss gentleman at Geneva during her passage through
Switzerland in December, 1915 378
XII.—THE CITY OF ANGORA 381
95. Angora: Statement by a traveller, not of Armenian
nationality, who passed through Angora in August, 1915 382
96. Angora: Extract from the narrative (Doc. 88 of Miss
AA., a foreign traveller in Asiatic Turkey;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 385
97. Angora: Extract from a letter dated 16th September,
1915; appended to the Memorandum (Doc. 11, dated
15/28th October, 1915, from a well-informed source at
Bukarest 388
XIII.—THRACE, CONSTANTINOPLE, BROUSSA AND ISMID 389
98. The Metropolitan Districts: Information published in
the Armenian journal “Gotchnag,” of New York 390
99. Constantinople: Letter, dated Constantinople, 13/26th
October, 1915, from an Armenian inhabitant; published
in the Armenian journal “Balkanian Mamoul,” of
Roustchouk 392
100. Adrianople: Despatch from the correspondent of the
London “Times” at Bukarest, dated 18th December and
published on the 21st December, 1915 394
101. Broussa: Report by a foreign visitor to the city,
dated 24th September, 1915; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 395
102. Adapazar: Statement, dated 24th September, 1915, by a
foreign resident in Turkey; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 398
103. Adapazar: Fuller statement by the author of the
preceding document; published in the journal “The New
Armenia,” of New York, 15th May, 1916 400
XIV.—THE ANATOLIAN RAILWAY 407
104. The Anatolian Railway: Narrative of a journey, during
the deportation of the Armenians, by a physician of
foreign nationality, who had been resident in Turkey
for ten years; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 409
105. Eski Shehr: Letter from an Armenian victim, published
in the Armenian journal “Horizon,” of Tiflis, 30th
October/12th November, 1915 414
106. Afiun Kara Hissar: Letter dated Afiun Kara Hissar,
10th/23rd September, 1915; published in the Armenian
journal “Horizon,” of Tiflis, 30th October/12th
November, 1915 416
107. Afiun Kara Hissar: Résumé of a letter, dated Afiun
Kara Hissar, 2nd/15th October, 1915; appended to the
Memorandum (Doc. 11, dated 15/28th October, 1915, from
a well-informed source at Bukarest 417
108. Afiun Kara Hissar: Letter, dated Massachusetts, 22nd
November, 1915, from an American traveller;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 418
109. Q.: Report from Dr. D., dated Q., 8th September, 1915;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 421
110. Q.: Report from Dr. E., dated Q., 3rd September, 1915;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 426
111. Q.: Letter from Dr. E., dated 27th October, 1915;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 431
112. Q.: Letter, dated Q., 25th November, 1915, from Dr. E.
to Mr. N. at Constantinople; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 433
113. Konia: Résumé of a letter, dated Konia, 2nd/15th
October, 1915; appended to the Memorandum (Doc. 11),
dated 15th/28th October, 1915, from a well-informed
source at Bukarest 437
114. Baghdad Railway: Diary of a foreign resident in the
town of B., on a section of the line; edited by
William Walter Rockwell, Esq., Ph.D., and published by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief
(1916) 438
115. AE., a town on the Railway: Series of Reports from a
foreign resident at AE., communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 450
116. The Taurus and Amanus passes: Extracts from a Letter,
dated Aleppo, 5th November, 1915, from Dr. L., a
foreign resident in Turkey, to Mr. N. at
Constantinople; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 454
117. The Amanus passes: Statements by two Swiss residents
in Turkey; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 455
118. Smyrna—Aleppo—Damascus—Aleppo—Smyrna: Itinerary of a
foreign traveller in Asiatic Turkey; communicated by
the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 459
XV.—CILICIA (VILAYET OF ADANA AND SANDJAK OF MARASH) 465
119. Cilicia: Address (with enclosure), dated 3rd July,
1915, from the Armenian Colony in Egypt to His
Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir J.G. Maxwell,
Commander-in-Chief of His Britannic Majesty’s Forces
in Egypt 468
120. Cilicia: Letter, dated 20th June, 1915, from Dr. L., a
foreign resident in Turkey; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 472
121. BM.: Letter from a foreign eye-witness, dated 6th
July, 1915, on board a steamship; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 474
122. Zeitoun: Antecedents of the deportation, recorded by
the Rev. Stephen Trowbridge, Secretary of the Cairo
Committee of the American Red Cross, from an oral
statement by the Rev. Dikran Andreasian, Pastor of the
Armenian Protestant Church at Zeitoun 479
123. Exiles from Zeitoun: Diary of a foreign resident in
the town of B. on the Cilician plain; communicated by
a Swiss gentleman of Geneva 482
124. Exiles from Zeitoun: Further statement by the author
of the preceding document; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 487
125. Exiles from Zeitoun: Letter, dated Konia, 17th July,
1915, from a foreign resident at Konia to Mr. N. at
Constantinople; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 490
126. AF.: Statement, dated 16th December, 1915, by a
foreign resident at AF.; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 492
127. AF.: Record of individual cases, drawn up by the
author of the preceding statement, and dated 17th
December, 1915 500
128. Adana: Statement, dated 3rd December, 1915, by a
foreign resident at Adana; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 502
129. Adana: Statement, dated 9th May, 1916, by Miss Y., a
foreign resident at Adana, recording her experiences
there from September, 1914, to September, 1915 505
XVI.—JIBAL MOUSA 511
130. Jibal Mousa: The defence of the mountain and the
rescue of its defenders by the French Fleet; narrative
of an eye-witness, the Rev. Dikran Andreasian, Pastor
of the Armenian Protestant Church at Zeitoun 512
131. Jibal Mousa: Report, dated Egypt, 28th September,
1915, on the Armenian Refugees rescued and transported
to Port Said by the cruisers of the French Fleet;
drawn up by Mgr. Thorgom, Bishop of the Gregorian
Community in Egypt 521
132. _Jibal Mousa: Another report on the Refugees at Port
Said, drawn up by Mr. Tovmas K. Muggerdichian,
formerly Dragoman of the British Consulate at
Diyarbekir_ 525
XVII.—THE TOWNS OF OURFA AND AC. 527
133. Ourfa: Letter, dated Ourfa, 14th June, 1915, from Mr.
K.; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 528
134. Ourfa: Extract from a letter by Mr. Tovmas K.
Muggerdichian; published in the Armenian journal
“Gotchnag,” of New York, 1st April, 1916 530
135. Ourfa: Interview with Mrs. J. Vance Young, an
eye-witness of the events at Ourfa; published in the
“Egyptian Gazette,” 28th September/11th October, and
reproduced in the Armenian journal “Houssaper,” of
Cairo, 30th September/13th October, 1915 531
136. Ourfa: Postscript to a memorandum (Doc. 141 by a
foreign witness from Aleppo; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 532
137. AC.: Statement by Miss A., a foreign resident at AC.,
written subsequently to her departure from Turkey in
September, 1915; communicated by the Rev. I.N. Camp,
of Cairo 533
138. AC.: Letters from an Armenian inhabitant, describing
the deportation of Armenians from Cilicia;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 544
XVIII.—VILAYET OF ALEPPO 545
139. Aleppo: Series of Reports from a foreign resident at
Aleppo; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 547
140. Aleppo: Memorandum, dated Aleppo, 18th June/1st July,
1915; communicated by the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief 551
141. Aleppo: Memorandum by a foreign witness from Aleppo;
communicated by the American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief 552
142. Aleppo: Message, dated 17th February, 1916, from
Fraülein O.; published in the German journal
“Sonnenaufgang,” April, 1916 555
XIX.—VILAYET OF DAMASCUS AND SANDJAK OF DER-EL-ZOR 557
143. Damascus: Report from a foreign resident at Damascus,
dated 20th September, but containing information up to
the 3rd October, 1915; communicated by the American
Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 558
144. Exiles on the Euphrates: Record, dated Erzeroum, June,
1915, by M. Henry Barby, of an interview with Dr. H.
Toroyan, an Armenian physician formerly in the service
of the Ottoman Army; published in “Le Journal,” of
Paris, 13th July, 1916 562
145. Der-el-Zor: Letter, dated 12th July, 1915, from
Schwester L. Möhring, a German missionary, describing
her journey from Baghdad to the passes of Amanus;
published in the German journal “Sonnenaufgang,”
September, 1915 566
XX.—DOCUMENTS RECEIVED WHILE GOING TO PRESS 571
146. Despatch from Mr. Henry Wood (Doc. 1: Fuller version,
obtained through the courtesy of the representative of
the American “United Press” in London 572
147. Urmia, Salmas, and Hakkiari: Fuller statement by Mr.
Paul Shimmon, edited, as a pamphlet, by the Rev. F.N.
Heazell, Organising Secretary of the Archbishop of
Canterbury’s Assyrian Mission 577
148. First exodus from Urmia: Narrative of Mr. J.D.
Barnard, of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Assyrian
Mission; published in the “Assyrian Mission Quarterly
Paper,” April, 1915 587
149. Erzeroum: Letter, dated 21st March, 1916, from the
Rev. Robert S. Stapleton to the Hon. F. Willoughby
Smith, U.S. Consul at Tiflis; communicated by the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief 589
A Summary of Armenian History up to and including the year 1915 591
I.—The European War and Armenia 593
II.—An Outline of Armenian History 596
III.—Dispersion and Distribution of the Armenian Nation 607
IV.—The Armenian People and the Ottoman Government 617
V.—The Deportations of 1915: Antecedents 627
VI.—The Deportations of 1915: Procedure 637
Annexe A 654
Annexe B 657
Annexe C 659
Annexe D 661
Annexe E 662
Annexe F 664
Index of Places referred to in the Documents 669
150. Message, dated 22nd July, 1916, from Mr. N., of
Constantinople; communicated by the American Committee
for Armenian and Syrian Relief 684
CORRESPONDENCE
BETWEEN
VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODON
_Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs_
AND
VISCOUNT BRYCE.
LETTER FROM VISCOUNT BRYCE TO VISCOUNT GREY
OF FALLODON, SECRETARY OF STATE
FOR FOREIGN
AFFAIRS.
_July 1st, 1916._
MY DEAR SIR EDWARD,
In the autumn of 1915 accounts of massacres and deportations of the
Christian population of Asiatic Turkey began to reach Western Europe and
the United States. Few and imperfect at first—for every effort was made
by the Turkish Government to prevent them from passing out of the
country—these accounts increased in number and fullness of detail, till
in the beginning of 1916 it became possible to obtain a fairly accurate
knowledge of what had happened. It then struck me that, in the interest
of historic truth, as well as with a view to the questions that must
arise when the war ends, it had become necessary to try to complete
these accounts, and test them by further evidence, so as to compile a
general narrative of the events and estimate their significance. As
materials were wanting or scanty in respect of some localities, I wrote
to all the persons I could think of likely to possess or to be able to
procure trustworthy data, begging them to favour me with such data. I
addressed myself in particular to friends in the United States, a
country which has long had intimate relations with the Eastern
Christians and to which many of those Christians have in recent years
emigrated. Similar requests were made to Switzerland, also a neutral
country, many of whose people have taken a lively interest in the
welfare of the Armenians. When the responses from these quarters showed
that sufficient materials for a history—provisional, no doubt, but
trustworthy as far as the present data went—could be obtained, I had the
good fortune to secure the co-operation of a young historian of high
academic distinction, Mr. Arnold J. Toynbee, late Fellow of Balliol
College, Oxford. He undertook to examine and put together the pieces of
evidence collected, arranging them in order and adding such
observations, historical and geographical, as seemed needed to explain
them. The materials so arranged by Mr. Toynbee, followed by such
observations as aforesaid, I now transmit to you. They are, of course,
of unequal value, for while most of them are narratives by
eye-witnesses, some few report, at second hand what was told by
eye-witnesses. In a short introduction prefixed, I have tried to
estimate their value, and so need only say here that nothing has been
admitted the substantial truth of which seems open to reasonable doubt.
Facts only have been dealt with; questions of future policy have been
carefully avoided.
It is evidently desirable not only that ascertained facts should be put
on record for the sake of future historians, while the events are still
fresh in living memory, but also that the public opinion of the
belligerent nations—and, I may add, of neutral peoples also—should be
enabled by a knowledge of what has happened in Asia Minor and Armenia to
exercise its judgment on the course proper to be followed when, at the
end of the present war, a political re-settlement of the Nearer East has
to be undertaken.
I am,
Yours sincerely,
BRYCE.
LETTER FROM VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODON,
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
TO VISCOUNT BRYCE.
Foreign Office,
_August 23rd, 1916_.
MY DEAR BRYCE,
I have to thank you for sending me the collection of documents on the
Armenian Massacres which has been so ably put together by Mr. Arnold J.
Toynbee.
It is a terrible mass of evidence; but I feel that it ought to be
published and widely studied by all who have the broad interests of
humanity at heart. It will be valuable, not only for the immediate
information of public opinion as to the conduct of the Turkish
Government towards this defenceless people, but also as a mine of
information for historians in the future, and for the other purposes
suggested in your letter.
Yours sincerely,
GREY OF FALLODON.
Documents presented to
VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODON
_Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs_
_By Viscount Bryce_
With a preface by
VISCOUNT BRYCE.
PREFACE BY VISCOUNT BRYCE.
In the summer of 1915 accounts, few and scanty at first, but increasing
in volume later, began to find their way out of Asiatic Turkey as to the
events that were happening there. These accounts described what seemed
to be an effort to exterminate a whole nation, without distinction of
age or sex, whose misfortune it was to be the subjects of a Government
devoid of scruples and of pity, and the policy they disclosed was one
without precedent even in the blood-stained annals of the East. It then
became the obvious duty of those who realised the gravity of these
events to try to collect and put together all the data available for the
purpose of presenting a full and authentic record of what had occurred.
This has been done in the present volume. It contains all the evidence
that could be obtained up till July 1916 as to the massacres and
deportations of the Armenian and other Eastern Christians dwelling in
Asia Minor, Armenia and that north-western corner of Persia which was
invaded by the Turkish troops. It is presented primarily as a
contribution to history, but partly also for the purpose of enabling the
civilised nations of Europe to comprehend the problems which will arise
at the end of this war, when it will become necessary to provide for the
future government of what are now the Turkish dominions. The compilation
has been made in the spirit proper to an historical enquiry, that is to
say, nothing has been omitted which could throw light on the facts,
whatever the political bearing of the accounts might be. In such an
enquiry, no racial or religious sympathies, no prejudices, not even the
natural horror raised by crimes, ought to distract the mind of the
enquirer from the duty of trying to ascertain the real facts.
As will be seen from the analysis which follows, the evidence here
collected comes from various sources.
A large, perhaps the largest, part has been drawn from neutral witnesses
who were living in or passing through Asiatic Turkey while these events
were happening, and had opportunities of observing them.
Another part comes from natives of the country, nearly all Christians,
who succeeded, despite the stringency of the Turkish censorship, in
getting letters into neutral countries, or who themselves escaped into
Greece, or Russia, or Egypt and were there able to write down what they
had seen.
A third but much smaller part comes from subjects of the now belligerent
Powers (mostly Germans) who were in Turkey when these events were
happening, and subsequently published in their own countries accounts
based on their personal knowledge.
In presenting this evidence it has been necessary in very many cases to
withhold the names of the witnesses, because to publish their names
would be to expose such of them as are still within the Turkish
dominions, or the relations and friends of these persons, to the
ruthless vengeance of the gang who now rule those dominions in the name
of the unfortunate Sultan. Even in the case of those neutral witnesses
who are safe in their own countries, a similar precaution must be
observed, because many of them, or their friends and associates, have
property in Turkey which would at once, despite their neutral character,
be seized by the Turkish Government. These difficulties, inevitable in
the nature of the case, are of course only temporary. The names of the
great majority of the witnesses are known to the editor of this book and
to myself[1], and also to several other persons[2], and they can be made
public as soon as it is certain that no harm will result to these
witnesses or to their friends. That certainty evidently cannot be
attained till the war is over and the rule of the savage gang already
referred to has come to an end.
The question now arises—What is the value of this evidence? Though the
names of many of the witnesses cannot be given, I may say that most of
them, and nearly all of those who belong to neutral or belligerent
countries, are persons entitled to confidence in respect of their
character and standing, and are, moreover, persons who have no
conceivable motive for inventing or perverting facts, because they are
(with extremely few exceptions) either neutrals with no national or
personal or pecuniary interests involved, or else German subjects. Were
I free to mention names, the trustworthiness of these neutrals and
Germans would at once be recognised.
Let us, however, look at the evidence itself.
(i) Nearly all of it comes from eye-witnesses, some of whom wrote it
down themselves, while others gave it to persons who wrote it out at the
time from the statements given to them orally. Nearly all of it,
moreover, was written immediately after the events described, when the
witnesses’ recollection was still fresh and clear.
(ii) The main facts rest upon evidence coming from different and
independent sources. When the same fact is stated by witnesses who had
no communication with one another, and in many cases did not even speak
the same language, the presumption in favour of its truth becomes
strong.
Take, for instance, the evidence (Section VIII.) regarding the
particularly terrible events at Trebizond. We have a statement from the
Italian Consul-General (Doc. 73, from the Kavass of the local branch of
the Ottoman Bank, a Montenegrin under Italian protection (Doc. 74, and
from an Armenian girl whose family lived in the neighbourhood of the
Italian Consulate, and who was brought out of Turkey by the Italian
Consul-General as his maidservant. The testimony of these three
witnesses exactly tallies, not only as to the public crimes committed in
the city before they left it, but also as to their personal relations
with one another (for they each mention the others explicitly in their
several statements). Yet they were in no touch whatever with one another
when their respective testimonies were given. The Consul-General gave
his at Rome, in an interview with an Italian journalist; the Kavass gave
his in an interview with an Armenian gentleman in Egypt; and the girl
hers in Roumania to a compatriot resident in that country. The three
statements had certainly never been collated till they came, by
different channels, into the hands of the editor of this book. In
addition to this, there is a statement from another foreign resident at
Trebizond (Doc. 72, which reached us through America.
Or take the case of the convoys of exiles deported from the Vilayet of
Erzeroum, and, in particular, from the towns of Erzeroum and Baibourt.
We have a second-hand account of their fate in Doc. 2 a despatch from a
well-informed source at Constantinople; we have a first-hand account,
which completely bears out the former, from a lady who was herself
deported in the third convoy of exiles (Doc. 59; we have the narrative
of two Danish nurses in the service of the German Red Cross at
Erzindjan, who witnessed the passage of the Baibourt exiles through that
place (Doc. 62; and finally there are three witnesses from the town of
H., several days’ journey further along the exiles’ route, who refer
independently to the arrival of convoys from Erzeroum and the
neighbourhood. One of these latter witnesses is a (third) Danish Red
Cross nurse (Doc. 64, one a neutral resident at H. of different
nationality, and one an Armenian inhabitant of the town.
These are two typical instances in which broad groups of events are
independently and consistently recorded, but there are innumerable
instances of the same kind in the case of particular occurrences. The
hanging of the Armenian Bishop of Baibourt, for example, is mentioned,
at second-hand, in Doc. 7 (written at Constantinople) and Doc. 12 (a
selection of evidence published in Germany); but it is also witnessed to
by the author of Doc. 59 an actual resident at Baibourt who was present
there at the time of the murder. Again, the disappearance of the Bishop
of Erzeroum on the road to exile is not only recorded in Doc. 11 a
memorandum from a competent source at Bukarest, but is confirmed, in
Docs. 57 and 76, by testimony obtained from eye-witnesses on the spot
after the Russian occupation of Erzeroum had left them free to speak
out.
(iii) Facts of the same, or of a very similar, nature occurring in
different places, are deposed to by different and independent witnesses.
As there is every reason to believe—and indeed it is hardly denied—that
the massacres and deportations were carried out under general orders
proceeding from Constantinople, the fact that persons who knew only what
was happening in one locality record circumstances there broadly
resembling those which occurred in another locality goes to show the
general correctness of both sets of accounts.
Thus, the two Danish Red Cross nurses (Doc. 62 state that they twice
witnessed the massacre, in cold blood, of gangs of unarmed Armenian
soldiers employed on navvy work, along the road from Erzindjan to Sivas.
In Doc. 7 (written at Constantinople) we find a statement that other
gangs of unarmed Armenian soldiers were similarly murdered on the roads
between Ourfa and Diyarbekir, and Diyarbekir and Harpout; and the
massacre on this latter section of road is confirmed by a German lady
resident, at the time, at Harpout (Doc. 23.
Again, there is frequent mention of roads being lined, or littered, with
the corpses of Armenian exiles who had died of exhaustion or been
murdered on the way. If these allusions were merely made in general
terms, they might conceivably be explained away as amplifications of
some isolated case, or even as rhetorical embellishments of the exiles’
story without foundation in fact. But when we find such statements made
with regard to particular stretches of road in widely different
localities, and often by more than one witness with regard to a given
stretch, we are led to infer that this wholesale mortality by the
wayside was in very deed a frequent concomitant of the Deportations, and
an inevitable consequence of the method on which the general scheme of
Deportation was organised from headquarters. We hear in Doc. 7 for
instance, of corpses on the road from Malatia to Sivas, on the testimony
of a Moslem traveller; we hear of them on the road from Diyarbekir to
Ourfa in Doc. 12 (a German cavalry captain), and on the road from Ourfa
to Aleppo in Doc. 9 (an Armenian witness), in Doc. 135 (an interned
Englishwoman), and also in Doc. 64 (a Danish Red Cross nurse). The
latter gives the detail of the corpses being mangled by wild beasts, a
detail also mentioned by the German authors of Docs. 12 and 23. Similar
testimony from German officers regarding the road between Baghdad and
Aleppo is reported independently in Docs. 108 and 121.
(iv) The volume of this concurrent evidence from different quarters is
so large as to establish the main facts beyond all question. Errors of
detail in some instances may be allowed for. Exaggeration may, in the
case of native witnesses, who were more likely to be excited, be also,
now and then, allowed for. But the general character of the events
stands out, resting on foundations too broad to be shaken, and even
details comparatively unimportant in themselves are often remarkably
corroborated from different quarters. The fact that the Zeitounli exiles
at Sultania were for some time prevented by the local Turkish
authorities from receiving relief is attested in Doc. 4 (Constantinople)
and Doc. 123 (the town of B. in Cilicia), as well as in Doc. 125 from
Konia. The malicious trick by which the exiles from Shar were deflected
from a good road to a bad, in order that they might be compelled to
abandon their carts, is recorded independently in Docs. 12 and 126.
(v) In particular it is to be noted that many of the most shocking and
horrible accounts are those for which there is the most abundant
testimony from the most trustworthy neutral witnesses. None of the worst
cruelties rest on native evidence alone. If all that class of evidence
were entirely struck out, the general effect would be much the same,
though some of the minor details would be wanting. One may, indeed, say
that an examination of the neutral evidence tends to confirm the native
evidence as a whole by showing that there is in it less of exaggeration
than might have been expected.
Docs. 7 and 9, for instance, both of which are native reports at
second-hand, refer in somewhat rhetorical terms to the corpses of
murdered Armenians washed down by the waters of the Tigris and
Euphrates. Yet their words are more than justified by many concrete and
independent pieces of evidence. The description in Doc. 12 (German
material) of how barge-loads of Armenians were drowned in the Tigris
below Diyarbekir, renders more fully credible the accounts of how the
Armenians of Trebizond were drowned wholesale in the Black Sea. Doc. 12
also contains the statement, from a German employee of the Baghdad
Railway, that the Armenian exiles who reached Biredjik were drowned in
batches every night in the Euphrates; and similar horrors are reported
from almost every section of the Euphrates’ course. Docs. 56, 57, 59 and
62 describe how the convoys of exiles from the Vilayet of Erzeroum were
cast into the Kara Su (western branch of the Euphrates) at the gorge
called Kamakh Boghaz, and were then either shot in the water or left to
drown. The author of Doc. 5 was present at such a scene, though she was
herself spared, and the information in Docs. 56 and 57 was obtained
direct from a lady who was actually cast in, but managed to struggle to
the bank and escape. The authors of Doc. 62 received their information
from a gendarme who had been attached to a convoy and had himself
participated in the massacre. Doc. 24 records the experiences of an
Armenian woman deported from Moush, who was driven with her
fellow-exiles into the Mourad Su (eastern branch of the Euphrates), but
also managed to escape, though the rest were drowned. Doc. 66 describes
corpses floating in the river in the neighbourhood of Kiakhta, and Doc.
137 the drowning of exiles in the tributaries of the Euphrates between
Harpout and Aleppo. These are evidently instances of a regular practice,
and when we find the exiles from Trebizond and Kerasond being disposed
of in the same fashion in a comparatively distant part of the Turkish
Empire, we are almost compelled to infer that the drowning of the exiles
_en masse_ was a definite part of the general scheme drawn out by the
Young Turk leaders at Constantinople.