MASSACRES IN HARPUT DISTRICT.
American Residences--First Indications--Specious Promises--Riot,
Murder and Pillage--A Dangerous Journey--Attempts at Defense--List
of Villages and Details of Massacres--Statement of a Turkish
Official--Armenians not Responsible--Turkish Dread of Reform--Tabular
Statement.
The city of Harput stands on a hill in a plain to the east of the
Euphrates. It is a city of 30,000 inhabitants, of whom less than
one-half are Armenians, the others being Turks. The plain stretches
out in rolling country, except to the north, where lies a hilly and
even mountainous region. The Harput plain has long been noted as one of
the most fertile in Asia Minor or Eastern Turkey. The inhabitants are
quiet, peaceful folk, both Armenians and Turks. The different villages
are prosperous, and there has been a good degree of intelligence and
of self-restraint among this people. The wave of revolutionary feeling
that extended over the region of Marsovan and Yuzgat scarcely seemed
to touch Harput, and up to the close of 1895 there were no indications
of any trouble. The city is the centre of a large mission work and the
seat of the Euphrates College, together with a theological seminary and
a flourishing girls’ school. The students are gathered from the whole
of Eastern Turkey, and represent the better element of the Armenian
nation throughout that section of the empire. From the very beginning
of the Armenian question, strong influence was exerted in favor of
entirely peaceful action in the effort to secure reform, and all overt
opposition to the government was strongly discountenanced. Turkish
officials were always welcomed at the exercises in the college and
repeatedly expressed their pleasure at its conduct. The missionaries
had always been on excellent terms with the officials, especially with
the governors of the province, who were located at the town of Mezereh,
about four miles below the city on the plains. So far as was apparent,
not a sign of revolutionary influence was manifest anywhere in the
region, and friends of the missionaries located there felt that they
at least were in no danger from the disturbances. The first indication
of danger was the appearance on the plain of bands of Kurds from the
regions north and east. Villages were attacked, looted and burned,
while the villagers were killed or scattered. For a time the marauders
seemed to hold aloof from the city itself, but as they kept on their
course of pillage their appetite for plunder was whetted, and they
looked with avaricious eyes at the city on the hill. They were joined,
too, by the Turkish rabble, both in the city and villages, and it
became evident that there was danger, even for the Americans. Dr. H. N.
Barnum went to the city officials and was assured that nothing should
happen to them; that no Kurds would be allowed to enter the city. What
followed is best told in the words of an eye-witness.
“We were surrounded for a week or ten days by a cordon of burning
villages on the plain. Gradually the cordon of fire and fiendish
savages drew nearer the city. The attack in the city was planned for
Sunday, November 10th, and some of the city rabble began to make
demonstrations; but the soldiers drove them back. The invading Kurds,
Redifs (Turkish soldiers in disguise as Kurds), were not ready for
the onset. On Monday, November 11th, the attack began on Husenik (a
village of the plains only a short distance from the city), where 200
were killed and as many more wounded, then up the gorge to Sinamood (a
rocky hill on which stands the ruins of an old fortress) and the east
part of the city. Then a body of men appeared in the Turkish cemetery
below the city. They came near a body of soldiers posted on the hill
with a cannon. Big Turks came down to them from the city; a conference
seemed to be held. Apparently the invaders were forbidden to touch
the markets (from which, of course, they knew that both Christians
and Turks had removed their goods to their houses). Then the soldiers
withdrew and were posted on the road higher up, apparently to better
defend the empty markets. Then the invaders, with a great cry of
‘_Ash! ash!_’ began to fire their guns. The soldiers also began to
fire. It was soon apparent that this was only a little sham fight; but
it was too thin to cover the nefarious design of the men who planned
this thing. Then began the attack on the houses in this quarter. (The
American houses are in the western part of the city, quite a distance
from the markets.) The soldiers protected the raiders, and not a finger
was lifted by the military officers on the ground to protect the
people or us from the plundering, murderous mob. There were hundreds
of plunderers. Scarcely a house in this quarter escaped, and a large
number were set on fire. A crowd of refugees were in our court and
house and girls’ school.
“Soon our outside gate was attacked, and the crowd of fugitives
fled for their lives. One company pressing through a narrow passage
were fired upon; the bullets fell like hail around them; four were
wounded. A cannon-ball went through the same passage-way. This
company fled to the hill and were taken into the city (twenty-seven
school-girls in the crowd; they suffered untold misery in a khan
that night; delivered next day, and brought away under an escort of
soldiers). The rest of the refugees took refuge in the yard of the
girls’ school, surrounded by a high wall. At the last moment I ran out
to see if our heavy front gate was standing. I saw a hole a foot wide
made, and instantly the loud report of a rifle warned me to retreat.
We had been in the yard but a few moments when the marauders were at
the door of the yard inside the school buildings. We made another start
and hurried out from the gate, and this time for the College (boys’)
building as our last refuge. I was on the outside of the fleeing crowd,
our invalids, Mr. W. and Mrs. A., borne in strong arms. Suddenly a
savage-looking Turk appeared at the corner of the building outside. I
instinctively raised my hand to prevent his coming toward the fleeing
crowd. Instantly he drew and flourished a revolver and deliberately
pointed at me. I thought for an instant it was only to frighten us and
make us hasten our flight, but two shots from his pistol convinced me
that his purpose was to murder. Some thirty or more had been shot down
in the houses just below us. Again, before we were all through the
gate, he aimed at Mr. Gates and Miss Wheeler and fired a third time;
but no one was hit. We breathed more freely as we pressed into the
three-story stone building with the more than four hundred fugitives.
Soon the smoke began to rise from the front of my house and Mr.
Brown’s; some say the house was set on fire by bombshells. Soon the
whole of the houses connected with the Girls’ College were on fire,
and the large college building was no doubt set on fire; also fifty to
seventy houses were burning below ours. Then the chapel close to us
was set on fire, and the intense heat would have set fire to the large
high-school building between the college and chapel; but with our new
fire engine and a plentiful supply of water, Mr. Gates was able to save
it from taking fire. Here in the college building, with 450 persons, we
spent the night, with little bedding and only dry crusts of bread to
eat.
“The plan was evidently to destroy all the buildings, and thus render
our stay here impossible. One of the houses was fired in three places,
but the fire went out. A bombshell was fired into Mr. Barnum’s study,
and burst in the room from which they had fled only a little before.
Mr. Gates’ house would have been burned--oil was poured in two
places--but happily was left unburned. Three nights we remained in
the college building, then went into a room in the Gates’ house; the
Barnums also went to theirs.
“The next morning after the attack, the Turkish military commander
advised and urged leaving the college building, saying: ‘I can’t
protect you here.’ Mr. Barnum replied: ‘The time has come for plain
talk. I saw you standing on the hill there yesterday when our houses
were plundered and burned, and you did nothing to prevent it. If you
wish to protect us, you can do it better here than anywhere else.’
The same officer had said two days before that he would be cut in
pieces before he would allow a Kurd to enter the city. He now brazenly
replied: ‘What could I do against 15,000 Kurds?’ They wanted to get the
people scattered in the city, and us out of the buildings, and then
they would have been burned. But I must not write more, although there
is much to tell. We write to Constantinople, but can’t be sure of our
letters getting through. We have telegraphed a good many times, but
telegrams can’t tell all. The pressure on the villages to become Moslem
is terrible; large numbers have been instantly shot down or butchered
who would not instantly abjure their Christian faith. We have already
heard of the murder of seven of our pastors and six preachers. But I
have not time to enter on these horrible details. If I can get letters
sent on, perhaps I will send again; 45 killed in the west quarter, 100
in the whole city. Husenik, 200 killed, 200 wounded. Official reports
will represent Turks killed. There has not been a single one killed or
wounded.”
Northwest of Harput is the city of Arabkir, one of the most prosperous
in the whole region. The Armenians are enterprising and thrifty, and
for the most part have been on good terms with the Mohammedans. The
American Missionaries have had considerable influence there and at the
time of the massacres two of the ladies were in the city. The time had
come for them to return to Harput, but every possible difficulty was
put in their way. There was intense excitement on every side and the
Armenians were in terror. At last, by giving a heavy present the ladies
secured a muleteer and a guard and started on their journey home. One
of them has written of the journey as follows:
“Our journey was through a country infested with robber bands. Twice
they stopped our zaptieh and demanded permission to rob us. We had the
hardest time to get away from Arabkir, for the governor declared that
he had no zaptieh, and we finally had to go to him in person to insist
upon his furnishing one. Then we did not find a muleteer for nearly a
week; he was a Kurd, and his animals were so lazy and slow! We traveled
as if all was as safe and pleasant as possible. The first band of
robbers who insisted upon the satisfaction of ‘cutting us to pieces’
numbered seven fierce Kurds. I sat up straight on my horse and passed
them quickly without looking, as if nothing was going on at all, and
after me came the rest of our caravan, in the same spirit. The second
band numbered 20, all fully armed. Again we pushed past and left our
zaptieh to parley. The latter band had one man who took a fancy to my
horse, and he proposed to shoot me and take Nejib for himself! There
were many other robbers to be seen. We stayed the following night in a
lonely khan, where we were in great danger.
“This khan was on the other bank of the Euphrates, which was crossed
early the next morning. Our zaptieh was to be changed at the town of
Maden, just there. Again the governor would give us none. I was obliged
to go to him myself, whereupon he gave orders that the one who brought
us to Maden should take us on. What a fierce and cruel-looking man that
governor was! But he had a little pity in his heart, for, when he saw
our servant loading up in the market, he said: ‘Make haste, Yavroom (a
term of endearment used for animals), go quickly.’ He must have known
what was coming. Our zaptieh took us on for a big price. I would have
given him anything that he had asked. He was, to us, kind and good. How
more than glad we were to get out of Maden. All were in fear, and the
very next day the blow fell. It was a very worldly place, and all were
busy, trying alone to hide their worldly goods. Oh, the pale faces and
long-drawn sighs!”
At Arabkir and at Malatia, another large and prosperous city farther
south, the Armenians undertook to defend themselves. They, however,
succeeded merely in stirring the greater anger of the Turks, with the
result that they suffered terribly, while comparatively few Turks
were killed. Estimates made soon after the massacre put the number of
Armenians killed in Malatia at 5,000 and at Arabkir at 2,000, while
in all probably not over 500 Turks suffered. In Malatia, all the
Armenians, Gregorians, Roman Catholics and Protestants gathered in two
churches and fought for their lives until compelled to surrender. One
churchful first gave up their arms on condition of being protected, but
after that they were surrounded and many of them were killed. Space
does not permit complete statements, but the following table and notes,
prepared in regard to the Harput region, will give an idea of the
terrible work. The list embraces only a single month, commencing with
the latter part of October, 1895. The items have been gathered with
great care, and may be relied upon as within the truth rather than as
exaggerated. The number of houses is given rather than the population,
because that method is far more reliable. The number of people to a
house varies from 5 to 30. Probably 8 to 10 would be a reasonably fair
average.
_Names._ _Houses._ _Burned._ _Killed._ _Wounded._
1. Adish 310 310 244 men ..
13 women
2. Aivose .. .. 70 ..
3. Aghansi 47 1 12 10
4. Arabkir 3,000 Armenians. 2,750 2,000 ..
5,000 Turks.
350 shops. 325
5. Bizmishen 270 190 23 5
Partly 40
6. Chemishgesek .. .. .. ..
7. Momsa .. .. 10 ..
8. Kutturbul 100 100 .. ..
9. Chunkush 1,000 Ar. 103 680 ..
480 T.
10. Chermuk 400 Ar. most. .. ..
700 T.
11. Diarbekir .. .. 2,000 ..
12. Egin 1,000 Ar. .. .. ..
1,000 T.
13. Gamirgab 90 32 7 ..
14. Garmuri .. .. .. ..
15. Hokh 125 Ar. 30 62 10
150 T.
16. Huelu 300 Ar. 263 30 ..
15 T.
17. Habusi 180 90 75 50
18. Hulakegh 150 11 16 ..
19. Havah 280 260 110 ..
20. Husenik 650 Ar. 9 260 200
120 T.
21. Ichmeh 200 Ar. .. 60 ..
60 T.
22. Konk 300 .. .. ..
23. Malatia 1,500 Ar. .. 5,000 ..
24. Ozunonah 100 Ar. .. 65 ..
25. Peri 400 Ar. .. 8 12
and 63 villages. 90 T.
89. Palu 400 Ar. .. 1,580 ..
90. Kapu Achmaz 90 Ar. 75 .. ..
91. Khoshmat 160 Ar. 80 .. ..
92. Nurkhi 100 Ar. 90 .. ..
93. Shenaz 80 Ar. 45 .. ..
and 40 villages.
134. Severek 350 Ar. .. 750 ..
135. Saru Kamish 80 Ar. .. 6 ..
136. Sheikhaji .. .. .. ..
137. Tadem 300 Ar. 250 270 100
4 T.
138. Upper Mezreh 20 11 .. ..
------ ----- ------ ---
Total 19,851 5,064 12,708 387
REMARKS.
1. _Adish_ is a mountain village, and many had gone away to earn a
living. Many females carried off by Turks and Kurds.
2. _Aivose._--This place “wiped out.” Women and girls carried off.
Priest was forced to sound the “call to prayer,” then shot. He blessed
the man who shot him and said, “Shoot me again.”
4. _Arabkir._--Began Tuesday, November 6th, continued till Saturday.
After that the Protestant pastor and many leading men were imprisoned.
Pastor and others killed in prison. Plunder complete. Even the richest
are destitute.
5. _Bizmishen._--Eight miles from Harput. All who remained in the
village were killed by Kurds. Most of them were old or sick and could
not flee. The rest fled to Mezreh (the seat of the governor of the
province) where they were robbed by soldiers under pretense of search
for arms.
6. _Chemishgesek._--Up to within a few days the city had escaped, but
the villages being near the region occupied by the Dersim Kurds had
been ravaged and in part burned.
8. _Kutturbul._--Karabash, Kahe, Cherokeeya were burned with much loss
of life. Only four men escaped from Kutturbul. Two Protestants pastors,
men, women and children killed.
9. _Chunkush._--November 4th, Kurds plundered the market and withdrew,
but returned at night and burned 83 houses. Christians taken to mosque
and forced to accept Islam. Gave up weapons. November 8th, Kaimakam
(local governor) came. November 11th, soldiers. November 14th, Kurds
returned; soldiers fired on Christians, and Kurds then raided the town,
all armed with Martini rifles. Protestant church, school and parsonage
burned.
10. _Chermuk._--Few males escaped.
11. _Diarbekir._--November 1st-3d. Began by Moslems issuing from mosque
and burning the market. Christians defended themselves. Do not know how
many Turks were slain.
12. _Egin._--Paid £. T. 1,500 ($6,600) to Mahmud Agha, a Kurdish chief,
to secure immunity.
13. _Gamirgab._--A suburb of Egin.
14. _Garmuri._--Chiefs took Christians to their houses while Kurds
plundered. Then they told them, “Unless you accept Islam we cannot
protect you.” At the edge of the sword they accepted Islam and were
circumcised. Protestant chapel and parsonage burned. Armenian church
now a mosque.
15. _Hokh._--Armenian church, Protestant chapel and parsonage burned.
Those killed had kneeled to receive circumcision. Fifty-five women and
children taken to harems and Turkish villages. Women and girls outraged.
16. _Huelu._--All but thirty-seven poor houses burned. Seventy-five
Protestant houses and their fine new church burned. Two priests
killed. The last houses burned were kindled with kerosene sent by the
government. Survivors accepted Islam or are fugitives.
17. _Habusi._--Dead unburied. Church, chapel and parsonage burned.
18. _Hulakegh._--Plundered by Turks. Preacher tortured and killed in
city. His wife killed.
19. _Havah._--Being considered a centre of nationalism, Turks said
they would make this village “a field.” Attacked by Kurds October 29th.
Villagers held them off for two days and sent to government for help,
which was refused. Then villagers fled, Kurds plundered the village.
Killed 10 or 15. Thursday, October 31st, soldiers came. Fugitives
heard the bugle and returned, expecting protection. Soldiers killed 50
of them; the rest fled to Ibraham Bey, at Socrat. After two or three
days he sent them to barracks at Palu. There the women were separated,
and sent to city; men sent back to Socrat. Ibraham Bey sent Kurds to
meet them, who fired, killing 50 more. Survivors returned to barracks.
Since then they have lived here and there as they could, pulling up the
sprouting grain to get the seed, eating grass, etc. Government gave a
little grain, Kurds took it.
20. _Husenik._--Many of the dead were shot by soldiers. List of killed
still increasing. Priests killed with great indignity.
21. _Ichmeh._--Survivors are considered Moslems. Males are assembled in
church, led out, and made to choose Islam or death. Protestant pastor
killed. Church a mosque, chapel a sheepfold.
22. _Konk._--“Worse than Habusi.” No details.
23. _Malatia._--November 4th-7th. Began by sudden raid of Turks and
Kurds upon the market. Kurds armed with Martini rifles. Four hundred
killed in the market, 30 or 40 at government headquarters. Armenians
defended themselves. Five thousand Armenians, 500 Turks and Kurds
killed. Small rations given for a few days and then ceased.
24. _Ozunonah._--Agha took people to his house for “protection,” while
Kurds plundered the village; then he sent them back, gathered leading
men to take them to Palu for circumcision. Outside the village 10 were
shot. Under the lead of a Christian woman, 55 men, women and children
threw themselves into the river.
25. _Peri._--Seventy villages--20,000 souls in that region
(Christians). Seven villages spared, rest plundered. In Peri Kurds
attacked November 6th. Soldiers guided them to Christian houses.
Plunder largely by Turks of the town. Kurds, dissatisfied with their
share of the plunder, returned November 9th to plunder Turks, but two
Kurds were shot and they withdrew. Agha had 20 to 30 Kurds in his house
and secured much plunder. Four hundred and fifty Christians were made
Moslems. A colonel came a few days later with soldiers. He reproached
the Turks for the small number slain, and said: “You should have killed
at least 100.”
89. _Palu._--November 5th. The market and 50 or 60 houses were
plundered by soldiers and Kurds. Afterward a government _telal_
(broker) ordered people to open shops on penalty of three _medjidies_
(silver dollars) fine. Said everything had passed and no more danger.
Kurds came again, but were driven off to the villages, which they
plundered. A sheik and his son preached a crusade against Christians.
An attempt was made to involve Armenians, but failed. Sheik’s son
said he thirsted for the blood of Armenians, and they were foolish to
wait for them to start a disturbance. He is said to have killed 43
himself. November 11th Kurds suddenly appeared and began to kill. Only
two Armenians resisted. The dead are estimated from 1,200 to 2,000.
Chapel ruined, parsonage and school turned into barracks. Survivors
dying of hunger. No relief allowed. Forty-four villages around Palu
all plundered badly; seven more or less burned. From Khoshmat 20 or 30
women came to the barracks stark naked. Many outraged.
134. _Severek._--Attack began by rush of Turks and Kurds upon the
market; lasted three days. Of 80 Chunkush families in city, only seven
heads of families remain.
136. _Sheikhaji._--November 5th and 6th. Saved by Agha on payment
of twenty liras. All became Moslems. Two priests killed, one with
great indignity. Hadji Beyo and his son, Mustapha, were foremost in
destroying the village. Now Agha gives a woman to each soldier and
zaptieh on guard every night. He has given two married women to his son
and two to two renegade Armenians.
138. _Upper Mezreh._--Much plunder from the city taken to Ahmed Agha’s
house. His son is a zaptieh and his stepson a collector.
These are only the places in regard to which figures were available
at the time. No one counted the wounded in most places. The number
of deaths increased daily. From the villages which have been counted
around Peri and Palu there were no particulars. The sum total must be
dreadful in the extreme. No attempt has been made to keep count of the
outrages upon women. They came from every quarter and hardly attracted
notice.
If any one is inclined to doubt the reality of these chapters of
horrors, they may be convinced by a table of statistics given below and
prepared by an intelligent Turkish official, whose heart was greatly
moved by the recent outrages in the region of Harput. He devoted
much time to it, although secretly, for obvious reasons; and as he
had had unusual facilities for securing information, this table is
the most complete that has been made. As it is impossible to secure
exact information in such cases, and as there is always a tendency to
exaggerate, some of the items are probably an overstatement. Along with
this was a document of which the following is a translation. Coming as
it does from a Mohammedan, who has a title and who is in the public
service, it is a document of no small interest and importance, for it
is a testimony independent of other testimony that has been given, but
which in every essential confirms what has been previously related.
This statement is as follows:
“A petition in behalf of the Armenians was given to the Powers in the
hope of improving their condition. An Imperial Firman was issued for
carrying out the Reforms suggested by the Powers. On this account the
Turkish population was much excited by the thought that an Armenian
Principality was to be established here; and they began to show great
hostility to the poor Armenians, who had been obedient to them and
with whom they had lived in peace for more than six hundred years.
In addition to their anger was added the permission and help of the
government, by which, before the Reforms were undertaken, the whole
Turkish population was aroused with the evil intent of obliterating the
Armenian name: and behold the Turks of the district, joining with the
neighboring Kurdish tribes, by the thousand, armed with weapons which
are allowed only to the army, and with the help and guidance of Turkish
officials, in an open manner in the daytime attacked the Armenian
shops, stores, monasteries, churches and schools, and committed the
fearful atrocities which are set forth in the accompanying table. They
killed bishops, priests, teachers and common people, with every kind of
torture; and they showed special spite toward ecclesiastics by treating
their bodies with extra indignity, and in many cases they did not allow
their bodies to be buried. Some they burned and some they gave as
food to dogs and wild beasts. They plundered churches and monasteries
and they took all the property of the common people, their flocks and
herds, their ornaments and their money, their house-furnishings, their
food, and even the clothing of the men and women in their flight.
“Then, after plundering them, they burned many houses, churches,
monasteries, schools and markets, with the petroleum they had brought
with them, and the large stone churches, which they could not burn,
they ruined in other ways. Some churches were converted into mosques
and devoted to Moslem worship; other churches suffered all sorts of
defilement; and their sacred books were torn in pieces and cast on the
dunghills, and even the priestly garments, used in the celebration of
the Mass, were put upon harlots. Besides this, priests, laymen, women
and even small children, were made Moslems by force. They put white
turbans on the men and circumcised them in a cruel manner. They cut the
hair of the women in bangs--like that of Moslem women--and made them
go through the Moslem prayers. Married women and girls were defiled
against the sacred law, and some were married by force and are still
detained in Turkish houses. Especially in Palu, Severek, Malatia,
Arabkir, and Chunkush, many women and girls were taken to the soldiers’
barracks and dishonored there. Many to escape such dishonor, threw
themselves into the Euphrates, and some committed suicide in other
ways. It is very clear that the majority of those killed in Harput,
Kesirik, Malatia and Arabkir were killed by the soldiers; and also that
the churches and schools of the missionaries and Gregorians in the
upper quarter of Harput city, together with the houses, were set on
fire by cannon-balls. Merchants, bankers and others of the principal
Armenians are obliged to beg their food. If immediate aid is not sent,
multitudes of the sufferers will perish from hunger and cold during the
severe winter.” (See the table on next page.)
STATISTICS OF THE RECENT OUTRAGES IN THE HARPUT VILAYET.
============++=======+=======+=============+======+======+=====+=======+========+=======+==========+=====+===========+========+==========
|| | | | | DIED | | | | | | | | |
|| | | | DIED | IN | | | | | | | | | NUMBER
|| | | | FROM |FIELDS| | | | | | | CHURCHES, | MARRIED| OF
|| | |ECCLESIASTICS|HUNGER|AND ON|DIED | | | | FORCIBLE | |MONASTERIES|BY FORCE|DESTITUTE
|| | | AND TEACHERS| AND | THE |FROM | TOTAL | |HOUSES |CONVERSION| |AND SCHOOLS| TO | AND
||KILLED.|BURNED.| KILLED. |COLD. |ROAD. |FEAR.|DEATHS.|WOUNDED.|BURNED.|TO ISLAM. |RAPE.|DESTROYED. |TURKS. | NEEDY.
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+----------
Harput and || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
its 59 || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Villages || 5,523 | 340 | 14 | 990| 450| 106 | 7,423 | 1,987 | 9,890| 4,643 | 973| 108 | 345 | 29,804
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
Arabkir and || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
its Village || 7,550 | 440 | 6 | 590| 960| 130 | 9,676| 1,390 | 5,960| 1,540 | 913| 19 | 216 | 17,970
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
Egin, || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Pingan, and || | | | | | | | | | | |
Villages || 2,670 | 70 | 4 | 130| 170| 31 | 3,075| 1,195 | 1,860| 2,320 | 552| 38 | 193 | 9,511
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
Keban Maden,|| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Kaimakamluk || 11 | .... | .... | 6| ....| 6 | 23| 7 | ....| 113 | ....| 6 | .... | 460
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------|-----------
Malatia and || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
District || 6,540 | 213 | 7 | 495| 1,960| 203 | 9,418| 1,721 | 5,602| 3,450 |1,120| 13 | 195 | 11,650
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
Dersim || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mutesariflik|| 2,450 | 75 | 9 | 260| 320| 72 | 3,186| 710 | 2,350| 1,573 | 192| 27 | 156 | 13,850
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
Palu & its || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Villages || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(bel. to || | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Diarbekir) || 4,800 | 245 | 11 | 795| 470| 112 | 6,433| 990 | 2,900| 1,440 |1,780| 16 | 427 | 11,625
------------++-------+-------+-------------+------+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----------+-----+-----------+--------+-----------
TOTALS ||29,544 | 1,383 | 51 | 3,266| 4,330| 760 | 39,234| 8,000 | 28,562| 15,179 |5,530| 227 | 1,532 | 94,870
============++=======+=======+=============+======+======+=====+=======+========+=======+==========+=====+===========+========+===========
The government makes little effort to provide for the security of the
people and unless special protection is provided, the survivors will
perish also.
“It is impossible to state the amount of the pecuniary loss. The single
city of Egin has given twelve hundred liras ($5,280) as a ransom. (It
is said by others to have been fifteen hundred liras.)
“These events have occurred for the reasons which I have mentioned.
I wish to show by this report, which I have written from love to
humanity, that the Armenians gave no occasion for these attacks.”
Strong as these statements are, they are not overdrawn. There may be
exaggerations in the figures by hundreds and thousands, but the facts
it is impossible to exaggerate. Every place has its own tale of horror,
and when individual cases are examined the record is too vast for the
human imagination. Only God and the angels can take it in.
[Illustration:
BRITISH FLOTILLA. The gigantic gunboats of the British Mediterranean
fleet nearing Constantinople after the most terrible massacres.]
[Illustration:
MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS. This is a sketch by an eye-witness of the
terrible massacre of Armenians by Softas (fanatical Moslem Students)
near St. Sofia.]