the local police force and a few gendarmes, came to the mission
compound again and demanded the young women of the girls’ school.
The whole forenoon was spent by the missionaries in arguing with the
police, and in trying to prevent them from taking the young women
away. The Principal at one time thought it would be better to have
them all shot in the school garden than to give them into the hands
of those brutal men. When further resistance proved useless, the
girls were prepared for the journey with food, clothing and money.
Their American principal[120] tried to get permission to go with
them. This was denied at first. Afterwards she was allowed to go as
far as Y., the first day’s journey. Fourteen wagons bore away the 62
young women from the school compound at two o’clock in the afternoon
of the 12th August. Some beastly looking gendarmes were escorting
them. At the edge of the city the procession was halted. While they
waited, the Governor sent for the President of the college to come
out and witness what was done, in order, as he said, that he might
see that no undue pressure was brought to bear upon these young
women to change their faith. The police asked each of the young
women whether they would deny their faith and become Mohammedans, to
save themselves from that terrible journey. All 62 refused. Two
miles out on the road the same thing was repeated. All refused
again. The first night they reached Y., and were kept in a field by
the city over-night. The next morning the American principal
furnished them with an extra supply of food and money, and then the
Governor of Y. ordered her to leave the girls and return home. She
arrived back at X. on the evening of the 13th August very sad,
expecting never to see any of her girls again. After four days she
was granted permission to visit the Governor of the Province at Z.,
hoping she might be able to persuade him to order the return of her
girls. She caught up with the party just this side of Z. She found
that 21 of the 62 girls had been carried away and lost—41 still
remained. These she was allowed to take to the compound of the
American school in Z.[121] While they were waiting there, she
succeeded in persuading the Governor to allow her to take the 41
remaining girls back to X. The party arrived back there on the 6th
September, after nearly a month’s absence on the road. Thus these
brutal men were cheated out of some of their choicest prey. These 41
girls were all that were left of the city’s 12,000 Armenian
inhabitants who had not been exiled or killed or compelled to turn
Mohammedan. What happened at X. is but a specimen of what happened
to every other town in Asia Minor.[122]
Now the question arises—What do we think about all this, and how do
we feel? We all know what we think and how we feel. But the more
practical question—What are we going to do about it?—is more
difficult to answer. Most of these people are beyond our help. But
small groups such as I have described still remain in some of our
mission stations, which are accessible to help through our Board.
Many have escaped to Russia, where they are accessible to help
through the Armenian Relief Committee. These poor people deserve our
help.
_The Preliminary Report by the same author contains certain passages
not included in the preceding Address, which give additional
information and are therefore appended here._
(_a_) The nervous strain and mental agony which our people had to
endure during the month of July was terrible. They were hanging
suspended between the hope that the American Ambassador would be
able to do something for them and the fear that they might at any
time have to suffer the terrible fate of those that had gone on
before them. This dread of what might befall his wife and daughter
made one of our professors temporarily insane. All were tormented
with the terrible temptation to save themselves by denying their
faith. They reasoned with themselves that they could profess Islam
with the mental reservation that, as soon as the storm was over,
they would again outwardly profess their loyalty to their true
faith. About fifty members of the Protestant church and congregation
yielded to this temptation, as did also a larger number of the
Gregorians. Merely declaring their wish to become Mohammedans by no
means insured their safety. Only the rich and powerful, and those
few whom the Governor thought he could use to advantage, were
accepted upon the payment of large sums of money. He was said, on
good authority, to have enriched himself by £20,000 (Turkish) in
this way. Many who professed Islam and paid money were deported, but
usually in the opposite direction and with the understanding that
they might return to their homes after a time. Some of these new
recruits to Islam seemed to have their characters completely
undermined. In order to show their loyalty to their new faith, they
assisted the persecutors of their own people. One of our students,
the son of the richest man in the city, who became a Mohammedan,
stood at our gate on the day that the professors and students were
deported and actually informed the gendarmes that one of the young
men who had been his fellow student was missing. They went back and
found him.
(_b_) On the 11th August, a Turkish doctor, who was the medical
instructor for the Vilayet of Z., called on us and stated that he
did not approve of the deportation of women and children, and that
he would try to save three Armenian girls by taking them with him to
Constantinople. One of the teachers of the girls’ school, a nurse
from the hospital and a pupil of the girls’ school, whose home was
in Constantinople, ventured to accept his offer. They prepared
themselves for the journey by dressing themselves in Turkish women’s
costumes, so as not to attract any attention along the road. On the
first night of their journey, this doctor tried to force these three
young women to become Mohammedans and enter the houses of his
friends. He persisted in his arguments through the whole of the
first night, but they stood firm, and then he declared that he would
send them back to X., and give them into the possession of the
Turkish officials there who desired them. The next morning he sent
them back under the charge of his servant. On the road back to X.
they met the convoy carrying away the girls from the girls’ school,
and made themselves known by crying out to Miss A., who went to
their assistance, and learned what had befallen them during the
night. They begged Miss A. to get their release, in order that they
might go off into exile with the rest of the girls and teachers; and
the young men who had them in charge delivered them over into Miss
A.’s charge, she signing a receipt that she had received them. They
declared that even exile and the terrible things that might befall
them by the way seemed like heaven to them after the experiences
they had gone through the previous night. I tried for a month to get
permission to bring the teacher in this party with us to America
before she was carried away, but even the efforts of the American
Ambassador on her behalf were unavailing.
_The following passage is taken from the letter (dated 1st/14th
October, 1915, and written by an acquaintance who interviewed the
author of the preceding Address at Athens) which has been quoted
already in a preceding footnote._
Two families accepted Mohammedanism at the beginning. One was the
family of Professor B. with his three grown-up daughters, who were
immediately required to marry Turks; the other was the family of Mr.
C., a notable of the town. Both families were Protestants. The
authorities allowed D.’s family to remain at X., as they wanted D.
to take photographs of the bombs and guns found in the possession of
the “rebels”—all such guns and bombs having been specially placed by
the authorities to be photographed. D. found life unbearable as a
Christian and also accepted Mohammedanism after some time.
Professors E. and F., both of whose mothers are Germans, from the
German colony of M., near Y., were rescued by the German colonists,
and remained with them up to the time my friend (the author of the
preceding Address) left X. The Kaimakam of X. said that they had
only escaped for the moment, and that he would get at them, too, in
the end.
Two Turks of X. were hanged for sheltering or offering to shelter
some Armenian friends of theirs.
-----
Footnote 107:
The witness started from X. on the 18th August.—_Preliminary
Report dated 7th October, 1915, from the witness’ hand._
Footnote 108:
“At Mirkedjia alone, the station-master told us there were 30,000
exiles. Many were weak from hunger, others almost dead.”—_P.R._
Footnote 109:
“Twenty-five.”—_P.R._
Footnote 110:
“This Professor had relinquished his association with this society
before entering our employment.”—_P.R._
Footnote 111:
“He remained unconscious for a day, and could not walk for a
month.”—_P.R._
Footnote 112:
“The 26th June.”—_P.R._
Footnote 113:
“Professors E. and FF.”—_P.R._
Footnote 114:
“£275 Turkish, in all.”—_P.R._
Footnote 115:
“Mr. AL.”—_P.R._
Footnote 116:
“On the road to W.”—_P.R._
Footnote 117:
“A German farmer reported to our Consular Agent that he had seen
50 Armenian corpses in a well, and long trenches on the mountain
side where other victims had been buried.”—_P.R._
Footnote 118:
_The author of the present address gave further particulars of
these men’s fate to an acquaintance who interviewed him at Athens
on his way from Turkey to the United States. This gentleman is the
author of the letter dated Athens, 8th/21st July, Doc. 8 of this
collection. The information he obtained from his interview with
the author of the present document is presented in a subsequent
letter, dated Athens, 1st/14th October, 1915, from which the
following paragraph is taken_:—
“The Kavass of the College, a Circassian, who was ordered to
accompany the deported Armenians, returned a day or two afterwards
and told how these 1,200 men or more were roped together in rows
of five, and were marched towards Y. On each side rode zaptiehs
with fixed bayonets. Those who could not walk were flogged, and
finally, when any one of the five in a batch could walk no
further, the whole five would be made to fall out of the
procession and several zaptiehs would remain with them, who, after
ten or twenty minutes, would rejoin the column with the ghost of
butchery shining in their eyes. Somewhat more than half the
prisoners reached Y. On their arrival at that town a fire broke
out in the Armenian quarter, and the Turks began looting and
massacring the women of Y., while the newly arrived prisoners were
accused of being the incendiaries, and were all led out of the
town to a place already prepared. Here the prisoners were halted
and led in successive batches of five to what appeared to be
tents. Groans were heard from within, and the prisoners outside,
realising what was happening, tried to break through the cordon.
But they were bound hand to hand, and when one or two in any batch
had been shot, the survivors could only trail the corpses along
with them until they gave up the effort in exhaustion. They were
all picked up afterwards and carried off to be butchered. They
were butchered with axes.”
Footnote 119:
“On the 2nd July.”—_P.R._
Footnote 120:
“Miss A.”—_P.R._
Footnote 121:
“At Z. the servants were separated from the teachers and pupils
and sent southwards towards V.”—_P.R._
Footnote 122:
“The town of L. was similarly emptied of its Armenian population;
also Y., BT. and U.”—_P.R._
88. X.: STATEMENT BY MISS AA., A FOREIGN TRAVELLER IN TURKEY;
COMMUNICATED BY THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR ARMENIAN AND SYRIAN
RELIEF.
The feud between the Armenians and the Turks is of very long
standing. The Armenian nation is the only one of all the peoples
conquered by the Turkish nation which has not yielded to the demand
of the Turkish Government that they should give up their religion
and become Mohammedans. When the relations between the two nations
became settled after their many wars, the Armenians were given much
religious freedom, but with that freedom came also many oppressive
measures which have been very hard to bear. The Armenian, through
all the centuries, has been exempt from military service. In place
of that, each male member of the Armenian families paid a small
poll-tax. This freedom from military service gave the young men an
opportunity to engage in trade.
The nation is a nation of great traders. They travel easily and are
keen in every financial relation. As a result, when the young Turks
came back from their military service they found in all the large
cities that the young Armenians had seized all the opportunities in
trade. The soldiers have always felt that they had the right to loot
these unfortunate persons, and this has been most systematically
done for centuries.
When _Huriet_[123] came in, the privilege of military service was
given to the Armenians, and it was announced in many public meetings
that the fraternity between Armenians and Turks was to be complete.
Before this time, the Armenians had not been allowed to carry arms,
but the Committee of Union and Progress advised them to carry
personal arms, as the Turks had done for many years. There have been
among the Armenians what have been called “National Societies.”
These societies have been more or less revolutionary and nihilistic
in character, but they have also been very useful in promoting the
advancement and education of the Armenian people, and since _Huriet_
their revolutionary propaganda has been very much lessened. But it
was these societies that furnished arms for the men who could afford
to pay for them, and it is claimed by the Turkish Government that
they also hid in various cities bombs and reserve arms, which were
to be used against the Turkish Government when opportunity arose.
In many cities such bombs have been found hidden. It is very
difficult to find absolute evidence for the truth of political
statements made by any party in Turkey, but it is true that these
revolutionary societies had, in certain centres, hidden bombs for
the defence of the people. Whether their plans included definite
insurrection or not, I do not know; if so, they were most
inadequate.
The history of the Armenians in Turkey has not merely consisted in
exposure to great financial losses, but, at intervals of about 20
years, the Turks have risen against them in greater or lesser
massacres. In the border towns, their daughters have been carried
away; their flocks have been at the mercy of the Kurds; their houses
have been taken by any powerful Sheikh who wished to do so, and they
have never been allowed justice in the courts.
With this history behind them, it is not astonishing that they had
no faith in the promises of fraternity from the party of Union and
Progress, and their arms could easily be explained as being a means
of protection against Turkish attack, should a massacre arise.
When Turkey entered this war, the Armenians were conscripted with
the Turks, but a large number of the people had money with which to
pay the £40 which would exempt them from military service. In X.,
out of the 5,000 soldiers that were sent off, 4,000 were Turks and
1,000 Armenians, while the proportion of Turks and Armenians in the
population of the place is about even. It meant, of course, that
many more Armenian men were left in the place than Turks. The Turks
claimed that this was a menace to the safety of the city and also of
the country. They began to oppress the Armenians by requisitioning
from them large quantities of cloth, for clothing the Army, and
food. Their stores were practically emptied of everything that could
be used by the Army. Horses, wagons, donkeys were all taken, and no
money was paid; a promissory paper was given, but no one valued it.
About eight months after the beginning of the war, a notice was
served on all Armenians that they must give up their arms. The
reason for this was stated to be that there were so many more
Armenians than Turks left in the country and that the nation was
known to be revolutionary. This political difficulty was being
anticipated by the Government, which was in no condition to meet an
inter-racial revolution.
At other times, just before a massacre, arms had been demanded from
the Armenians, and so when this order was given great fear took
possession of the people. The Government promised in public and
private that no harm should come to the Armenians, and that this was
only a war measure and a legitimate protection to the nation. The
Armenians, however, gave up their arms very reluctantly and very
slowly.
But suddenly one night a batch of about 20 men were arrested and
sent, after a day or two’s imprisonment, to Z., the seat of the Vali
for the whole province. This was immediately followed by the
imprisonment of other leaders among the Armenians of the city. These
men were tortured cruelly. Meanwhile what was going on in X. was
being duplicated in all other cities. I saw some of the men who had
been released, after they had been exhausted by torture. They had
been thrown into a dungeon and kept without food, then beaten on
their backs and the soles of their feet, and, when the flesh was
sensitive, hot water had been poured on them and they had been
beaten again—all this in order to make them reveal the whereabouts
of the hidden arms. When they would not tell, they were made to
kneel and their arms and feet were bound together; their mouths were
filled with manure and all kinds of indignities were poured upon
them. Some died under the process; many went mad. Eyes and nails
were torn out. Some were let go, whether they had confessed anything
that satisfied the Government or not, but many others disappeared
entirely. This sort of inquisition went on until late in June.
Some bombs were found in a field, and it is claimed that they had
been hidden in the houses in the city and then, in fear, transferred
to this field, where the Government soon afterwards found them.
The Missionaries approached the Government, asking that a Committee
from the different Armenian communities—Catholic, Gregorian and
Protestant—might be formed, to collect arms. The Government gave
permission for this, and promised again that no trouble should be
given to the Armenians if they gave up their arms. The Government
told the Committee how many rifles ought to be delivered from that
city, and claimed to know who had most of them. Representatives of
the Committee spoke to the people in the churches, and promised that
if they would deliver their arms to them their names would not be
given to the Government. The requisite number of rifles were soon
collected, but, almost immediately, the order for deportation was
given.
First the men were taken, usually from their homes at night, and
imprisoned in empty barracks. About 400 men were taken the first
time. The next morning their families were notified that they were
to be deported, and that, if they wished, they could furnish them
with food and clothing. So the women got together their supplies and
carried them to their husbands, hoping that they were providing for
their needs on a long journey. They sold everything they could lay
their hands on, and provided money for the men. After a few days the
men were sent away. They were sent at night, bound in fours, about
50 a night. The barracks were continually filled with recruits from
the city. I do not know what became of these men, but I do know
that, within six hours of the city, there are long ditches and deep
wells filled with the bodies of Armenians. Their clothing was taken
from them, as well as those supplies that the women had so
pathetically prepared, and all their money.
Officers of the Government have told our friends that the official
figure for the number of men killed at X. is over 1,300. People like
to tell stories in Turkey, and it may be that this is not true.
On the 4th July the deportation order for the women came. It had
been hoped that they would be allowed to remain. At the same time,
it was publicly announced that people could save themselves if they
would become Mohammedans. Large numbers, it is said 1,000 families,
put in petitions to the Government. Only a small number of these
petitions were accepted; the rest of the women and children were
rapidly sent away.
Ox-carts were provided, and in some cases wagons, by the Government,
but the people had to pay the carriage hire; if not, they had to
walk. Some people could get donkeys, but, of course, the poor went
on foot. It was difficult to get wagons and carts, and so the people
were not all sent out at once. The Government scheduled the houses
of those who were to go in each company, and gave them notice two or
three days beforehand.
Sometimes they were taken in batches of from three to four hundred
up to a monastery, about an hour from the city. Here they were
imprisoned, and the Turkish men and women went to take away the
women and girls who could be persuaded to become Turks and live in
their harems. This was said to be the only way to save their lives,
for they were all assured over and over again that, if they were not
killed by the gendarmes or the wild villagers, they would die from
the privations of the journey.
The missionaries in X. were allowed to bring to their premises those
people who belonged to their institutions, the families of
professors and servants, and many girls who had been students in the
school. It was vacation, and, although a Summer school had been open
to other boarders who could not get home because of the war, most of
the city pupils who were in their own homes were allowed to enrol
themselves as boarders.
The Government soon said that they must clear the premises. Some of
the professors were arrested and imprisoned, but, by a money
arrangement with the Government, their Armenian friends were able to
secure them their release. It was soon learned that the Armenian
people in the town were beginning to offer large sums of money for
their protection and for permission to remain. These offers were
accepted. The women gave their jewels to the wives of the Government
officers, and obtained promises that they should not be sent away,
although in every case they were obliged to become Moslems. The
missionaries tried in every possible way to persuade the Government
to allow their people, about 350 in all, to remain upon their
premises. The American Embassy in Constantinople secured permission
from the Ministries of War and the Interior for these people to be
protected. But these authorisations were not recognised by the local
Government, and, on the 10th August, the professors and servants
were sent away on ox-carts—about 173 in all. The nurses in the
hospital and the sickest of the patients, together with the people
in the Girls’ School, were not taken at this time, but they were
taken on the 12th August. The professors and servants travelled
together as far as W., about a week’s journey with ox-carts, over
the mountains. Here the men were bound together, shoulder to
shoulder, in batches of four and marched away. Their wives
sorrowfully went on alone. As these women reached the high mountain
pass of AZ., the Circassians rushed upon them and robbed them of
coats and bedding, as well as of all the gold they could lay their
hands on.
These people and all those who went from X., and indeed from the
whole Vilayet of Z., travelled east as far as the village of V. Here
whatever means of conveyance they had travelled with was taken away
and they were obliged to find some substitute. Wagoners placed
exorbitant prices on their wagons. Ox-cart drivers quadrupled their
prices, and many people were unable to find any way, except to go on
foot. They were then driven eastward to Kirk Göz, a small village
about six hours from Malatia, on the bank of the River Euphrates.
There again their conveyances were taken away, and they could not
cross the river without paying large sums of money. Many, many died
here, and it is said that many were thrown into the river. From this
point they went south over the Taurus mountains, and word has been
received from a few at Surudj and Aleppo....
(_A portion of this document has been omitted here, and printed
separately as Doc. 96_)
went out from Constantinople to all the vilayets stopping further
deportation of Armenians, but yet the deportation has been
continuing ever since. Only four weeks before I left X., a company
of young Armenian brides with their little boys, all of whom had
become Mohammedans, were sent away. The order had come privately,
not to the Governor but to the police, that women who had boys, no
matter if they were babies in arms, should be deported with their
children. Of that category there were perhaps three or four hundred
in the city, and about 60 wagon-loads were chosen out at this time
to go. No warning was given to the people beforehand; the ox-carts
were simply driven to their doors in the morning. They had made no
preparation, and the women, especially mothers-in-law (who have a
good deal of influence in this country) were very angry. They went
to the Governor and said: “See! We have given our pearl necklaces to
your wife in order to save our lives; we paid one hundred liras to
be saved; we have become Mohammedans. We have sold our souls and
have given our money, and now you take our lives. We will not go.”
One woman stood up on her cart and shouted all the Mohammedan
prayers she had learned, to prove that she was a Mohammedan. It was
a time of general frenzy. But they grabbed the women—bound them to
the carts in many instances—and took them to the Armenian monastery.
There they were imprisoned, but after much petitioning they finally
got permission to send a representative from each family to the city
to prepare food and get money for their journey. They sold their
personal effects and in this way provided for themselves. This whole
batch was killed in the mountains, on the other side of the plain
from the city. Their birth certificates were found, and the burial
had been so badly done that the bodies of little children were left
on the ground, and the arms and legs of the corpses in the ditches
protruded. Stories of this kind can, of course, be duplicated in all
parts of the country, but I am only telling the things I can
personally vouch for.