swollen and bleeding feet, clasping their babes to their breasts,
they utter not one murmur or word of complaint; but you see their
eyes move and hear the words: “For Jesus’ sake, for Jesus’ sake!”
The Albustan people were brought by a roundabout way which no one
knew, because, we think, the soldiers were afraid to follow the
direct road past what used to be Zeitoun. So, instead of coming in
two days they wandered for eight days in the mountains, many of them
having not a morsel to eat for the last two days. After they had
been in BM. for nearly twenty-four hours, Badvelli V. came up to see
us. Even then he was so weary and his lips were so parched that it
seemed a great effort for him to speak. Suddenly he threw up his
head and squared his shoulders, and a new tone came into his voice,
as he said: “I want to tell you of my great joy. As my people left
their houses, their lands, their all, there was not one murmur or
complaint, but with joy—yes, with joy—we left all! And I can say
that I believe my people to-day to be nearer to Christ than they
have ever been before.”
I saw the wife of the Gourksoun preacher. She was so tired that, in
spite of herself, perhaps even unknown to herself, her lips quivered
as she spoke, and yet there was nothing but a smile or a cheery word
to be seen or heard from those lips. Someone asked her how she came,
and she said that for a few hours they hired an animal for one pound
(I think that was the sum), but that most of the time she walked. I
looked at her—a delicate woman, who could hardly be expected to walk
three or four miles, to say nothing of all those miles, climbing up
over the mountains or tramping among the rocks—and I said: “Walk!
How could you?” She turned to me, and a look of almost childlike
trust and wonder came into her face, as she answered: “I don’t know.
We felt no weariness; the road was not hard. It just seemed as
though God put out His arms and carried us.”...
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.[161]
On the 10th August, 1914, the Turkish authorities in Zeitoun made a
declaration of “seferbeylik,” which in Turkish military parlance
means that every man in the district under 45 years of age should be
prepared to leave at short notice for active service in the Army.
Every man, Moslem or Christian, was required to secure a “vesiké” or
certificate from the Government stating that he had fulfilled the
preliminary conditions and was ready for military service.
Hundreds upon hundreds, chiefly Moslem Turks, from the surrounding
country came to the Zeitoun Government Building, and while going
through the formalities were entertained hospitably by the Armenians
of the town. These Armenians were also summoned, and they began
seriously to consider whether it would be best to agree to this. (It
is only since 1909 that any Christians have been allowed in the
Turkish Army, though in ancient times the Janissaries were a very
important section of the Ottoman troops.)
Many of the Zeitounlis took to the mountains to escape military
service. Among these were about twenty-five thorough-going ruffians
who made their living by deeds of violence. This small band,
sincerely disliked and dreaded by the peaceable and thrifty people
of Zeitoun, came down upon a company of new Turkish (Moslem)
recruits, stripped them and enraged them by the insolence of their
language. Thereupon Haidar Pasha, the Mutessarif of Marash, came out
about the 31st August with 600 soldiers. He brought with him some
Christian notables from Marash to “persuade” the Zeitounlis.
<The people of Zeitoun knew of this, and Yeghia Agha
Yenidounyaian, one of the notables, advised Nazaret Tchaoush, his
cousin, to meet Haidar Pasha with 500-600 armed young men, as he
felt that Haidar Pasha’s motives were not good. But Nazaret Tchaoush
answered: “No, it may be that his coming means death to me; but I
would rather die than see Zeitoun ruined, as I know well that this
is not the time for opposition.” All the party leaders were of the
same opinion, for they knew that they were not ready for a prolonged
struggle, and that the European Powers were not in a position to
come to their help. So> no opposition was offered to this force.
The Pasha demanded the surrender of the twenty-five outlaws who had
attacked the new recruits. Every one of these was secured and
actually handed over to the Turkish Government. This would seem to
have answered the Pasha’s utmost demand, but, as a matter of fact,
he was not satisfied, and made a proclamation demanding the
surrender of all weapons and firearms. On the pretext of making the
Armenians own up to the possession of rifles, torture and the
bastinado were used with terrible cruelty. Many prominent citizens
had their feet beaten into a mangled pulp. Those who had no rifles
made desperate efforts to purchase some from their neighbours, in
order to be able to deliver them up and escape the torture[162].
There were in all about 200 Martini rifles among the 8,000 people of
Zeitoun, and some 150 of these were seized in this fashion by the
Turkish officers. A quantity of old-fashioned guns and pistols were
collected and confiscated. The Pasha in returning to Marash took
away with him a number of the Armenian notables, allowing the
soldiers to insult and beat them on the road. Certain classes of the
Armenians were also taken to the Marash barracks “for military
service,” but after terrible experiences many of them escaped and
returned to Zeitoun.
The old troubles began again. On the pretext of finding deserters,
houses were searched in the most lawless manner, and relatives and
even neighbours were cruelly beaten. The fathers of some “deserters”
almost died under the beating, <among them Nazaret Tchaoush
himself>. The women and girls in the “deserters’” families were
attacked and violated. Again and again young Armenian girls were
outraged by the coarse Turkish soldiers. Even the young men who were
not deserters were beaten “lest they might desert later.” Of course,
trade had long been at a standstill, and now large quantities of
private property were being confiscated on these various pretexts.
Then, <about the end of February,> some ignorant hotheads met
one night and planned to attack the Government Building. This plot
was frustrated by the Armenian notables, <among whom was Baba Agha
Besilosian, the most influential of them all,> because they felt
it would be doomed to failure. The Arashnort (Armenian bishop and
head of the community) felt it his duty to notify the Government of
this plot.
These are the facts. How can anyone charge the people of Zeitoun
with desiring or attempting an insurrection?
About twenty-five of the young men who had been brutally treated by
the Turkish officers took to the mountains. These twenty-five
attacked and killed nine Turkish mounted police on the way to
Marash. The whole Armenian population of Zeitoun was against this,
and openly said so. A night attack by this reckless band, <who had
taken refuge in the adjacent monastery,> was frustrated by
Government troops aided by a great mass of the Armenian people. Yet
it became evident that the Government was only watching for pretexts
to destroy Zeitoun root and branch.
Gradually 5,000 soldiers were gathered about the town, <and on the
24th March/6th April an Armenian delegation was sent to Zeitoun from
Marash. Among these were the Rev. A. Shiradjian, Father Sahag, a
Catholic monk, and Herr Blank, who persuaded the Armenians to inform
the Government of the whereabouts of the insurgents and follow the
instructions of the Government, to ensure their own safety and the
safety of the other Armenians in Cilicia. The Armenians unanimously
accepted the proposal, and told the Government that the insurgents
were in the monastery.
The next day, the 25th March/7th April, the attack on the monastery
began. The new Mutessarif of Marash wished to invest the monastery,
but Captain Khourshid opposed him, saying that he would be able to
get hold of all the insurgents dead or alive “within two hours.”
The fight continued until nightfall, when the Turks decided to burn
the monastery. But during the night the insurgents rushed out,
killed an officer and many soldiers and escaped to the mountains,
leaving only a few of their men behind them. The Turks lost between
200 and 300. On the 26th March/8th April the Turks burned the
monastery, thinking that the insurgents were still there.
After this,[163]> fifty prominent families were sent into exile; a
few days later, sixty more, then a whole quarter, and another and
another. Finally the remainder were all sent at once. By the time
the Rev. Dikran Andreasian left, no families whatever remained. Even
the Armenian inscriptions over the arches of churches were hacked to
pieces by order of Khourshid Bey, the commander of the troops, and
the name of Zeitoun was changed to Souleimania (after a Turkish
officer who was killed on the Marash road). The Turkish Mufti of
Zeitoun, in his report, stated that in the course of all these
events, such as the storming of the monastery, 101 Turkish soldiers
were killed and 110 wounded. Over against this we may add that 8,000
Armenians who had no evil intention against the Government were
outraged and despoiled beyond all endurance, and were at last driven
out according to a methodical plan born of the Germans—driven out
into hideous misery and suffering in the arid plains of Mesopotamia.
The Zeitounlis were longing for the Allies to carry all before them
at Gallipoli. They were hoping for a sweeping defeat of the Turks;
but there was no insurrection. The one or two seditious plots were
opposed and frustrated chiefly by the Armenians of a saner mind. The
evidence is convincing that the destruction of the people of Zeitoun
was a deliberate Turco-German plan.
-----
Footnote 160:
See Doc. 83 and Annexe C. to the Historical Summary.
Footnote 161:
The passages included between brackets are taken from the (fuller)
Armenian version of Pastor Andreasian’s narrative (Doc. 130, “A
Red Cross Flag That Saved Four Thousand.” These passages have been
translated for the Editor by Mr. G.H. Paelian.
Footnote 162:
See Docs. 68, 82 and 94.
Footnote 163:
The author of Doc. 123 states (page 483, line 24) that the first
batch of Zeitounlis were deported the morning following the night
on which the insurgents in the monastery escaped. This would be
the 8th April. The author of Doc. 121 on the other hand, states
(page 475, line 44) that the first deportation from Zeitoun took
place on a Saturday. This would be the 10th April, 1915.—EDITOR.
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.
_Sunday, 14th March, 1915._
This morning I had a long conversation with Mr. —— about events at
Zeitoun. He has managed to obtain some information regarding the
little Armenian town, although all direct communication with it has
been interrupted. Turkish troops have left Aleppo for Zeitoun—some
say 4,000, some 6,000, others 8,000. With what intention, one
wonders? Mr. ——, who has been there himself during last summer and
this winter, assures me that the Armenians have no wish to revolt
and are prepared to put up with anything the Government may do.
Contrary to the old-established custom, a levy was made at Zeitoun
at the time of the August mobilisation, and they did not offer the
slightest resistance. None the less, the Government has played them
false. In October, 1914, their leader, Nazaret Tchaoush, came to
Marash with a “safe conduct” to arrange some special points with the
officials. In spite of the “safe conduct” they imprisoned him,
tortured him, and put him to death. Still the people of Zeitoun
remained quiet. Bands of zaptiehs (Turkish gendarmes), quartered in
the town, have been molesting the inhabitants, raiding shops,
stealing, maltreating the people and dishonouring their women. It is
obvious that the Government are trying to get a case against the
Zeitounlis, so as to be able to exterminate them at their pleasure
and yet justify themselves in the eyes of the world.
_—th April, 1915._
Three Armenians from Dört Yöl were hanged last night in the chief
squares of Adana. The Government declare that they had been
signalling to the British warship or warships stationed in the Gulf
of Alexandretta. This is untrue; for I know, though I dare not put
the source of my information on paper, that only one Armenian from
Dört Yöl has had any communication with the English.
_—th April._
Two more Armenians from Dört Yöl have been hanged at Adana.
_—th April._
Three Armenians have been hanged at Adana. We were out riding
to-day, and the train came into the station just as we reached the
railway. Imagine our indignation when we saw a cattle-truck filled
with Armenians from Zeitoun. Most of these mountaineers were in
rags, but a few were quite well dressed. They had been driven out of
their homes and were going to be transplanted, God knows where, to
some town in Asia Minor. It seems we have returned to the days of
the Assyrians, if whole populations can be exiled in this way, and
the sacred liberty of the individual so violated.
_—th April (the next day)._
We were able to see the unfortunate refugees, who are still here
to-day. These are the circumstances of their departure from Zeitoun,
or rather this is the tragedy which preceded their exile, though it
was not the cause of it.
The Turkish gendarmes outraged several girls in the town, and were
attacked in consequence by about twenty of the more hot-headed young
men. Several gendarmes were killed, though all the while the
population as a whole was opposed to bloodshed and desired most
earnestly to avoid the least pretext for reprisals. The twenty
rebels were driven out of the town and took refuge in a monastery
about three-quarters of an hour’s distance from the town. At this
point the troops from Aleppo arrived. The Zeitounlis gave them
lodging, and it seemed that all was going excellently between the
populace and the 8,000 soldiers under their German officers.
The Turks surrounded the monastery and attacked it for a whole day;
but the insurgents defended themselves, and, at the cost of one man
slightly wounded, they killed 300 of the regular troops. During the
night, moreover, they managed to escape.
Their escape was as yet unknown to the town when, about nine o’clock
on the following morning, the Turkish Commandant summoned about 300
of the principal inhabitants to present themselves immediately at
the military headquarters. They obeyed the summons without the least
suspicion, believing themselves to be on excellent terms with the
authorities. Some of them took a little money, others some clothing
or wraps, but the majority came in their working clothes and brought
nothing with them. Some of them had even left their flocks on the
mountains in the charge of children. When they reached the Turkish
camp, they were ordered to leave the town at once without returning
to their homes. They were completely stupefied. Leave? But for
where? They did not know.
They had been unable even yet to learn their destination, but it is
probable that they are being sent to the Vilayet of Konia. Some of
them have come in carriages and some on foot.
_—th April._
I heard to-day that the whole population of Dört Yöl has been taken
away to work on the roads. They continue to hang Armenians at Adana.
It is a point worth remembering that Zeitoun and Dört Yöl are the
two Armenian towns which held their own during the Adana massacres
of 1909.
_—th May._
A new batch of Zeitounlis has just arrived. I saw them marching
along the road, an interminable file under the Turkish whips. It is
really the most miserable and pitiable thing in the world. Weak and
scarcely clothed, they rather drag themselves along than walk. Old
women fall down, and struggle to their feet again when the zaptieh
approaches with lifted stick. Others are driven along like donkeys.
I saw one young woman drop down exhausted. The Turk gave her two or
three blows with his stick and she raised herself painfully. Her
husband was walking in front with a baby two or three days old in
his arms.
Further on an old woman had stumbled, and slipped down into the mud.
The gendarme touched her two or three times with his whip, but she
did not stir; then he gave her several kicks with his foot; still
she did not move; then he kicked her harder, and she rolled over
into the ditch; I hope that she was already dead.
These people have now arrived in the town. They have had nothing to
eat for two days. The Turks forbade them to bring anything with them
from Zeitoun, except, in some cases, a few blankets, a donkey, a
mule, or a goat. But even these things they are selling here for
practically nothing—a goat for one medjidia (3s. 2d.), a mule for
half a lira (nine shillings). This is because the Turks steal them
on the road. One young woman who had only been a mother eight days,
had her donkey stolen the first night of the journey. What a way of
starting out! The German and Turkish officers made the Armenians
leave all their property behind, so that the mouhadjirs (refugees)
from Thrace might enter into possession. There are five families in
——’s house! The town and the surrounding villages (about 25,000
inhabitants) are entirely destroyed.
Between fifteen and sixteen thousand exiles have been sent towards
Aleppo, but they are going to be taken further. Perhaps into Arabia?
Can the real object be to starve them to death? Those who have
passed through our town were going to the Vilayet of Konia; there,
too, there are deserts.
_—th May._
Letters have come which confirm my fears. It is not to Aleppo that
the Zeitounlis are being sent, but to Der-el-Zor, in Arabia, between
Aleppo and Babylonia. And those we saw the other day are going to
Kara-Pounar, between Konia and Eregli, in the most arid part of Asia
Minor.
Certain ladies here have given blankets and shoes to some of the
poorest. The local Christians, too, have shown themselves
wonderfully self-sacrificing. But what can one do? It is a little
drop of charity in the ocean of their suffering.
_—th May._
News has come from Konia. Ninety Armenians have been taken to
Kara-Pounar. The Zeitounlis have arrived at Konia. Their sufferings
have been increased by their having had to wait—some of them 8, some
15, some 20 days—at Bozanti (the terminus of the Anatolian Railway
in the Taurus, 2,400 feet above sea level). This delay was caused by
the enormous masses of troops passing continually through the
Cilician Gates; it is the army of Syria which is being recalled for
the defence of the Dardanelles.
When the exiles reached Konia, they had eaten nothing, according to
our news, for three days. The Greeks and Armenians at once collected
money and food for their relief, but the Vali of Konia would not
allow anything of any kind to be given to the exiles. They therefore
remained another three days without food, at the end of which time
the Vali removed his prohibition and allowed food to be served out
to them under the supervision of the zaptiehs.
My informant tells me that, after the departure of the Armenians
from Konia for Kara-Pounar, he saw an Armenian woman throw her
new-born baby into a well; another is said to have thrown hers out
of the window of the train.
_—th May._
A letter has come from Kara-Pounar. I know the writer of it, and can
have no doubt of his truthfulness. He says that the 6,000 or 8,000
Armenians from Zeitoun are dying there from starvation at the rate
of 150 to 200 a day. So from 15,000 to 19,000 Zeitounlis must have
been sent into Arabia, the total population of the town and the
outlying villages having been about 25,000.
_—th May._
The whole garrison of —— and of Adana have left for the Dardanelles.
There are no troops left to defend the district if it should be
attacked from outside.
_—th May (the next day)._
New troops have arrived, but they are untrained.
_—th May._
The last batch of Zeitounlis passed through our town to-day, and I
was able to speak to some of them in the han where they had been
put. I saw one poor little girl who had been walking, barefoot, for
more than a week; her only clothing was a torn pinafore; she was
shivering with cold and hunger, and her bones were literally pushing
through her skin.
About a dozen children had to be left on the road because they could
not walk any further. Have they died of hunger? Probably, but no one
will ever know for certain. I also saw two poor old women without
any hair left, or with hardly any. When the Turks drove them out of
Zeitoun they had been rich, but they could not take anything with
them beyond the clothes they were wearing. They managed somehow to
hide five or six gold pieces in their hair, but, unfortunately for
them, the sun glinted on the metal as they marched along and the
glitter attracted the notice of a zaptieh. He did not waste any time
in picking out the pieces of gold, but found it much quicker to tear
the hair out by the roots.
I came across another very characteristic case. A citizen of
Zeitoun, formerly a rich man, was leading two donkeys, the last
remnants of his fortune. A gendarme came along and seized their
bridles; the Armenian implored him to leave them, saying that he was
already on the verge of starvation. The only answer he received from
the Turk was a shower of blows, repeated till he rolled over in the
dust; even then the Turk continued beating him, till the dust was
turned into a blood-soaked mud; then he gave a final kick and went
off with the donkeys. Several Turks stood by watching; they did not
appear to be at all surprised, nor did any of them attempt to
intervene.
_—th May._
The authorities have sent a number of people from Dört Yöl to be
hanged in the various towns of Adana Vilayet.
_—th May._
There is a rumour of a partial exodus from Marash. It is going to be
our town next.
Dört Yöl has also been evacuated and the inhabitants sent into
Arabia. Hadjin is threatened with the same fate. There has been a
partial clearing out of Adana; Tarsus and Mersina are threatened
too, and also Aintab.
124. EXILES FROM ZEITOUN: FURTHER STATEMENT BY THE AUTHOR OF THE
PRECEDING DOCUMENT; COMMUNICATED BY THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR
ARMENIAN AND SYRIAN RELIEF.
About the middle of April, about 150 Armenian families belonging to
Zeitoun came to B. This is what they told us about the circumstances
under which they had to leave their village.
After a battle that took place one day before their departure,
between the Ottoman troops and 25 young men of Zeitoun, who had
rebelled when they were asked to join the Army (a battle in which
300 soldiers perished, but in which the population of Zeitoun took
no part), these families were called to the Government Building
without any previous explanation and without any other information.
Most of them were rich and went to the Government without
misgivings. There they were informed that they had to leave their
village instantly. They were then all obliged to abandon all that
they had in their houses, their cattle and even part of their
families (for, not knowing why they had been called away, many of
them had left their children at home). This is what I heard from one
of the Armenian exiles in the first convoy from Zeitoun. They came
to B., but when some of them went to the American Mission in this
town, they did not yet know where they were to be planted. Most of
them were in the greatest anxiety on account of the children whom
they had left tending the cattle and whom they had not been able to
take with them.
The first group was not in a very bad state, because it was composed
of the first families of the city, and they could in large part
provide for their immediate needs (carriages and food). But, a few
days later, new bands appeared in a most deplorable condition; their
number was nearly two thousand people.