IN
1915, the time of the vast extermination of Armenians, Consul Jesse B. Jackson
was stationed at Aleppo, and greatly distinguished himself by the aid, which he
gave those unfortunate people. As Consul Jackson was in these horrible scenes,
it would be interesting to read his reports, if they were obtainable, but
unfortunately they are not. Quotation can fortunately be made from the account,
here published for the first time, of a native-born American citizen who was at
Aleppo and was an eye-witness of the things which he
describes:
“The
forerunner of events in which the unfortunate Armenians were to be massacred and
forced to undergo the most severe hardships occurred at Zeitun, a town situated
about five days’ journey north of Aleppo, in February, 1915, when, with great
reluctance, the Armenians were made to submit to disarmament by the Turks.
Following the Zeitun incident, similar action was taken in Aintab, Alexandretta,
Marash, Urfa, etc.”
“Shortly after the disarmament of
the Armenians in the above-mentioned places, the deportations began, which were
so destructive to the Armenian race and were carried out on orders from the
Turkish officials in Constantinople.”
“Throughout
the terrible days of the deportation, Consul Jackson was repeatedly called upon
to render assistance and to use every effort to prevent the deportation of any
one in Aleppo. This, during the time when he represented fifteen different
countries and was protecting their various interests. (This was during the war,
of course, before Turkey severed relations with the United States.) It can be
readily seen that his position was a very delicate one, and every move on his
part had to be made with the utmost care in order not to call down upon him and
especially his assistants, the displeasure of the Turkish
authorities.”
“While
Consul Jackson was endeavoring to the best of his ability to stop a massacre in
Aleppo, news began to leak in of the terrible atrocities that were occurring in
connection with the deportations from Sivas, Harput, Trebizonde, Bitlis,
Diarbekir, Mardin, Caesarea, Konia, Adana, Mersina and other cities and towns in
the district.”
“Gradually
small numbers sent away from the above mentioned towns began to arrive in
Aleppo, relating the harrowing details of the deportations, or the actual
killing of relatives and friends, or the unbelievable brutalities of the
gendarmes toward young girls, and more attractive women, or the carrying off by
Turks and Kurds of beautiful girls and countless other atrocious crimes
committed against them.”
“One
of the most terrible sights ever witnessed in Aleppo was the arrival, early in
August, 1915, of some five thousand terribly emaciated, dirty, ragged and sick
women and children, three thousand on one day and two thousand the following
day. These people were the only survivors of the thrifty and prosperous Armenians of the province of Sivas,
carefully estimated to have been originally over three hundred thousand souls.
And what became of the balance? From the most intelligent of those that reached
Aleppo, it was learned that in early spring of 1915 the men and boys over
fourteen years old had been called to the police stations in that province on
different mornings stretching over a period of several weeks and had been sent
off in groups of from one thousand to two thousand each, tied together with
ropes and that nothing had over been heard of them thereafter. Their fate has
been recorded in the annals of
God, so is needles to dwell thereon here. These survivors related the
most harrowing experiences that they endured en route, parting from their homes
as they did before Easter, traveling perhaps a thousand miles and reaching
Aleppo in August, about four months afterward, afoot, without sufficient food,
and even denied drink by the brutal gendarmes when they came to the wells by the
way side. Hundreds of the prettiest women and girls had been stolen by the
Turkish tribes who came among them every day.”
Of
the fate of the men and boys over fourteen, who were carried away and never
heard of again, many corroborating accounts were received at Smyrna. It is
certain that they were killed, the Turks chopping many of them to death with
axes, to save ammunition.
As
we are still dealing with the systematic extermination of Christians previous to
the burning of Smyrna by the Turks, a few pages will be devoted to the
destruction of the Armenian nation, the most horrible crime in the history of
the human race in its details of lust and savagery and suffering, as well as in
extent, and which definitely outlaws its perpetrators from the society of human
beings and from the fellowship of civilized nations, until such time as full
repentance is convincingly shown and an honest effort made, in so far as
possible, to make reparation.
There
have probably been destructive movements that have cost more lives than that of
the extermination of the Christians by the Turks. Tamerlane, for instance, swept
over vast stretches of country, killing and burning for the mere love of
destruction. He spared neither Mussulman nor Christian. But there were
features of fiendish cruelty and long-drawn-out suffering in the Ottoman
persecution of the Christians that did not characterize the methods of
Tamerlane.
Reference
will be made to the most notable official collections of evidence on the
subject, and two important documents, reports of American eyewitnesses, will be
given. These latter have never before been published. One of the fullest
and most reliable sources of information on the Armenian massacres is the
official publication of the British Parliament, 1915 entitled “The Treatment of the Armenians”,
containing documents presented to Viscount Grey of Falloden, Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, by Viscount Brice. A copy can be found in the
Library of Congress, at Washington. These documents really constitute a
large volume, giving evidence from all sources as to the Armenian butcheries
amid extermination by slow torture. Much of the testimony here given is so
revolting, and so outrages all human feelings and sensibilities, that one
refrains from quoting it.
Lord
Grey, then British Secretary of State, on receiving these documents, wrote to
Viscount Bryce:
“My
Dear Bryce: It Is a terrible mass of evidence, but I feel 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 toward this defenseless
people, but also as a mine of information for historians in the
future.
(Signed)
GREY OF FALLODEN”
Various
opinions of distinguished people are given as to the credibility of this
evidence. Among others, Gilbert Murray, the famous scholar and poet, says:
“The
evidence
of these letters and reports will bear any scrutiny and overpower any
skepticism.”
An
expert on the matter of evidence, Moorfield
Storey, formerly President of the American Bar Association, writes cautiously
but conclusively:
“In
my opinion, the evidence which you print is as reliable as that upon which rests
our belief in many of the universally accepted facts of history, and I think it
establishes beyond any reasonable doubt the deliberate purpose of the Turkish
authorities practically to exterminate the Armenians, and their responsibility
for the hideous atrocities which have been perpetrated upon that unhappy
people.”
Other
works to be consulted in this connection, filled with corroborating and
overwhelming testimony are: “Beginning
Again at Ararat”, by Doctor Mabel E. Elliott; “Shall This Nation Die”, by Reverend
Joseph Naayem; and most convincing of all, the “Secret Report on the Massacres of Armenia”,
by Doctor Johannes Lepsius, German missionary and President of the German
Orient Mission. Doctor Lepsius’ explanation of the necessity for the secrecy of
his report, which was made to his “friends of’ the mission, is
illuminating:
“Dear
Friends of the Mission: The following report which I am sending to you
absolutely confidentiality, has been printed as a manuscript. It can not, either
as a whole or in part, be given to the public, nor utilized. The censor can not
authorize, during the war, publications concerning events in Turkey. Our
political and military interests oblige us with imperious demands. Turkey is our
ally. In addition to having defended her own country, she has rendered service
to us ourselves by her valiant defense of the Dardanelles. Our fraternity of
arms with Turkey imposes, then, obligations, but it does not hinder us from
fulfilling the duties of humanity.”
“But,
if we must be quiet in public, our conscience does not, however, cease to speak.
The most ancient people of Christianity is in danger of being wiped out, in so
far as it is in the power of the Turks; six sevenths of the Armenian people have
been despoiled of their possessions, driven from their firesides, and, in so far
as they have not accepted Islam, have been killed or deported into the desert.
The same fate has happened to the Nestonians of Syria, and part of the Greek
Christians have suffered.”
Doctor
Lepsious prepares his report in the manner of true German scholar. It is detailed,
exhaustive and authoritative.
A
prominent foreign official, not a German, has already been mentioned, who was
constrained to keep silent as to Turkish atrocities. How strong the
Turk is! He can do what he pleases, can break all time laws of God and man, and
everybody, for some reason or other, must keep quiet about it. A redeeming
feature of German complicity in the Armenian horrors was the acquittal by a
German court of the Armenian who wreaked justice upon Talaat Bey. It is said
that the testimony of German missionaries influenced the court to render that
judgment.
The
heart-rending and harrowing details of the wholesale murder of the
Armenians can be drawn out indefinitely. Suffice it to say that, in addition
to actual and repeated killings on a grand
scale, the plant of doing to death by the slow torture of deportation is one of
the most devilish that depraved and fiendish brains have ever
conceived.
A
fresh contribution to the subject confirmatory of all that has hitherto been
written is the report of Walter M. Geddes, of the MacAndrews and Forbes Company,
of New York,
which was handed to me by Mr. Geddes a short time before his unfortunate death
in Smyrna. Mr. Geddes being dead, no fear exists of prejudicing him with the
Turks by using his name. It is perhaps the most remarkable account of a
great historic massacre by slow torture that has ever been written, and derives
its vividness of detail from the fact that the writer describes the things that
he actually saw.
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