"THE TERRIBLE TURK."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 251, 16 February 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

"THE TERRIBLE TURK."

DOCUMENTS IN POSSESSION OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT GIVE DETAILS OF ATROCITIES.

TURKS BLAME IT ON BERLIN.

GERMAN NURSES, NUNS AND CONSULS TESTIFY TO THE SUFFERINGS OF THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS.

The French Government has com- • into possession of a number of docu :- ments, in every instance written D; a German or a Turk, in which tin writers, among them German Con ' suls in Turkey, German soldiers J teachers, sisters of charity, an< t civilians resident, or until within ; i, year resident, in Turkey, tell of th atrocities committed against th ... non-Turkish population of the Turk 11 ish Empire. Copies of these docu s ments have been received by th' s American Committee for Armenia] and Syrian Relief, and constitute, i is stated by the committee, the firs account of the atrocities committei " in Turkey which have been receive) .1 in the United States from Germai a sources. The i "ABSOLUTE DEPENDABILITY" 3 - of the documents and the stone; i they tell have, the American Com mittee states, been vouched for. It all instances but one the names o ~ the authors of the documents an s withheld for "reasons of obvioui . prudence." The names, however, an y known to the committee and are t( , be found in the French Governmen ' archives in Paris. Here follow trans 1 j lations of some of these documents > i which were made public by the , j American Committee for Armeniar and Syrian Relief, 1 Madison Ave " I nue, yesterday: "The cultured, Mos 1 lems are under the impression thai ; although the German people disap j prove of the outrages, the Germar t Government will not interfere or I account of consideration for theii " ; Turkish confederates. MOHAMMEDANS MOVED TO TEARS. " 'Cultured, sympathetic Moliam- ' medans, Turks as well as Arabs, 1 shake their heads disapprovingly; . yes, they do not even try to hide their tears when they see these poor i ueported people travelling through a ' | city, being beaten by the soldiers, j They cannot believe that their Gov- : ernment countenances these ourtages, and try to blame the German ! Government for the atrocities which | we know the Turkish soldiers have I performed. Even the Mollahs in j their mosques say that not the Turk- ! ish but tiie German Government orI dered these abuses and annihilation, i The things which one has witnessed here for months will remain a blot on the scutcheon of Germany in the memory of the Orientals. We know that the Embassy in Constantinople, i through the Consulate, has heard of j all these things, but, since the dei portatron rules have not been alter- | ed, we conscientiously believe that it j is our duty to issue this report. At I the time of writing this report Conj sul General Hoffmann succeeded j the former representative to Aleppo, j Consul Hoffmann told me that the German Embassy was time and again i advised by the Consulates in Alexanj dretta, Aleppo, and Mossul of the j things which were occurring. Consul j Hoffman® took pictures of the people ! who were opposite the school and j was interested in what I had to tell ! him of conditions there. The Ger- | man Consul at Mossul told in my j presence in the German Club at j Aleppo that on the way from Mossul ' to Aleppo he had in many places j seen such quantities of CHOPPED OFF HANDS I of little children that the streets j might have been paved with them. ; At the German Hospital in Urfa j theie is a little girl whose two hands I have been chopped off. We refuse to | admit that German Consuls organ- | ised the massacres. The belief of j the Turkish people that we organised them will not be refuted unless German officers and diplomats work energetically to disprove what is nowbelieved." Others of the accounts report sentiments similar to these. One Turkish soldier is quoted as reflecting the feelings of his fellows: "This time Germany has given these unbelieving pigs a lesson they won't forget." The same writer reports that after 34 Armenians, among them I'2-year-old boys, had been shot in Marasch, crowds paraded to the German Hospital, crying, "Three cheers for Germany!" "A German-speaking Turkish major," says the same writer, "complained, 'The General of the staff is a German, and so many Germans are in our army: Our Koran does not allow such treatment as the Armenians are now receiving.' " WHAT CMP MAX NEHSES SAW. German nurses write: "Refugees Mere driwn past cur m use. The pr icession was a huge, mass, bm wiiii only two or three men ; the remainder were women and children. Mai v cried like mad women. They screamed, 'Save us. save us! We aic willing to become Moslems or Germans or whatever you v ani us to Income. <mlv save us! \\ c are to In- taken to Kemn'ihI'oghosy to be beheaded !' " I'.xtracts from a German Consular report of July 1 !, l:)|->. tell o! the beginning of the deportation from Charput (liarput) o! th" Armenians. "On the 11th," says the report, "a proclamation was issued that all Aimenians without exception were to leave the city. "During the lir.si days of July <m< saw in Erzerum and Erzingan the first shift arriving, ragged, dirty, statved. ill- They had been on lie- wav two months, almos 1 uiihoui nourishment, without w ate". They were GIVEN- HAY I'O KAT i.IKK THE ANIMALS; I hey ere so hungry that thev threw I themselves at it lik-- animals, but they were forced I>;iek woli sticks, and several were hilled in this ua\ Mothers offered their cli-idteii t > anv who would accept Ib"ni. Tiie Trrk- sent I»11-i<• i:ills to the voting girls to nest ion them in i egard to their hi-alt !i :i*'<l to pick out the prettiest for their hai'eins. Al.ir the sentence of thesiu u for tuna t ■ • most of t h> 11 ma inder were killed bv Kurds, it-a'iy died of hunger and exhaustion. "Two days later tin arrival o| a new sli i ft. AliioiU' these were thlcc sisters, v ho Ml' lie I'je ]i-li and l eiollgeil to one of the w i alibieM fan ihes in Eiv.erum. Of of th- family, II had

been killed "ii mite. The husband of one of them and her old grandmother had bee" killed by the Kinds before her eyes. A HOY OF 8 VICARS AY AS THE OLDEST MAX among them. V.'hen they left Erzerum they took horses, money, and baggage with 'hem. Everything had been taken from tlieni on the way. even to their clothes—one of them w as entirely naked —the other two had a shirt- In one of the villages the gendarme had given them some clothing of the inhabitants. '"The daughter of the Protestant minister of Krzerum was there, her entire family I ad been killed bv Kurds, lirst the men and (lien the women and children. Everything was well organised, as at fill previous massacres.

"In Charput* the deportation started by taking the men into custody. There were several thousand of them. 'I bey were at first taken into the ncar-bv mountains. Among them were the Armenian Prelate, professors of the Armenian college and the highest officials of the city, also all Armenian soldiers, and those who wore in service but were exempt from duly. Tiiev were told that all that were led to 'he mountains would be killed.

SHOT IN GROUPS OF I'O CUTEMX

"In the n.orning of the fifth of July 800 more wore taken, and at C o'clock they were to be found in the deserts. There they were bound together in groups of fourteen - this was the limit that the rope could hold—and then they were shot. In a neighbouring village some of tlieni were taken into a mosque and empty houses and then locked in; there they were compelled to remain for three days without nourishment and without water, then thev were driven into a near-by valley, stood up against a rock and shot; some wore killed with bayone's and knives. No crime was charged against any of them; there was not even a pretence of a charge. On the Kirh of July there was

NEW MASSACRE OF SEVERAL HUNDRED

in a city vevo hours distant- The same things were happening all around; 300 were killed in Et-schnic ami Iliabar. Later the Government permitted Hie families whoso moil were gone to rema : u in the city. All men were compelled to go. The preposition of the Americans —that the children whose parents were dead bo put in an orphanage—was innnediatolv rejected, with the answer that the Government would take care of them."

The letters of two German nuns who were nurses iu Erzingan sav it. part:

"The personnel of the R#d Cross were forbidden all association with the Armenians, and all further walks and rides were forbidden for the reason that

'a shot might take the wrong direction.'

"The Aremnians had a few davs in which to sell their belongings v.hioh, of course, brought ridiculously low prices. On the 11 th of Juno the first transport strrtid; we heard they were people hi comfortable circumstances who wore in a position to roat wagcons. They are supposed *o have arrived at Glial nut; at least a telegram to that efleet was received. On tho three following days I-TRTHER TRANSPORTS LEFT. ft was said that manv children had been taken in by the families of Moslems- Later we were tol l that these, too. had boon sent away. The Armenians in our hospital were also compelled to go, oven to a woman who was ill with typhus. Even the plea of the phvsieian" who was attending her (Dr. Ne'ukirch). was of no avail, only that she was allowed to remain m the hospital two (lays longer. One of the soldiers with us who was acting as shoemaker lamented most I v over Ins year-and-a-half-old babv cirl: ou never saw such a pivttv child.' iic said 'lt has eyes as large as plates. If I could but crawl like a snake I would follow her.' lie ciied like a l ahy. Ihe next day the same man came quietly and said: 'Now \ know it; they are all dead.' It was only too true. Our Turkish cook told us through her fears how the Turks in Koinagh Boghasy attacked the defenceless mass, PLUNDER ED THEM. AND KILLED MANY. Two young Armenian teach as who had been educated in the col'ege at Charput, and who were among the refugees, told how they had been taken under eros-lire bv Kurd.; and under the half-regular troops of a certain To.hint. They threw th im.lus on the floor and feigned death ami iilterw :ird they were able bv takin- a roundabout way to reach t'r/.ingan. I'lioy gavo money to all the Kurds they passed. One teacher was accompanied by his betrothed. ho was disguised in woman's attire. When they reached the city a gendarme wanted 'o take the girl as his wife. W hen her protested hj? was shot down. Both of the young girls were taken into Moslem houses, where thev were treated kindly. but were ordered at once to become M (liammecians. 1 hey bade its, throu-di a wiling physician who was visiting an American patient m our hospital, lake them to Charput. One ,-irl wrote: If she had but poison to t;,ke! Of the fate ol the other she could sav nothing it was too dreadful. TOO HORRIFIED TO SHOoT. • On the following :lav wo heard tho s Pliers fell how they threw the women on their kmvs and threw tho children iu'o the Huiihiates. It was awful. A y. liny sildier said: "I could not shoot; I oulv made believe.' In fact we o.teii heard tin Turks express their pity and

s\i.i pat bv. I lie pi" pic said that vaggi.p.s were rendv to take the to Hi • river. Erotn that time there was a continuous ,-ir, am of refugees, who were all b ought to tii<> same place to he killed, as we Were told by many people. (l ii r (Irec'< c> achuian told its that the i .in 'cnai d ha I

I'll Ei I! HANDS 'TIED AM) WEIM THEN 'lll ROWN INTO '1 IIiT^IMVEI!

from a high rc.ck. Si-.tc-r X. ami 1 dieii - d the problem of helping th -< people, and nine to fh* eoticlttsioii tl.;i the test way would be to follow :iII ex pi ilii i hi fo Charput. We did not kno\ ill that time that the tua'-eeiition lia< been I lib red bv I lie (iovcrnin n', am hop 1 to bo able to .-t- p the abu-es o

the gendarmes and also the attacks of the Kurds as we knew their language and had some influence with them. ' Referring to an unnamed German official the nuns say: "He did not believe thai the atrocities had been ordered by tho Government, but allowed himself to be convinced by the lies of the officials that everything was in perfect peace. Ou the -ame evening, while the Herman physicians were at a garden feast which a Turkish official was giving iu appreciation of his recovery, a g ndarme met us and told us that ten minutes' distant fn m the place a train of refugees was halting, lie told us in a horrified way how the men had 1 ecu KILLED ONE AFTER THE OTHER. 'Koss! Kesri! Gellortar:' ('Kill them! Kill th.'in ! They are coming!'). How the women were abu.-.cd wherever they armed, how the little children had their ,-ktills crushed when they cried or said they were tired. '1 had three corpses of women buried iu order to do something good.' 11l this manner lie coiv.ludid his gruesome tale. On the foMj.ving morning wc heard how the refugees were being driven past our hou e, on their way to Erzingan. Wo ran after them and accompanied them to tin city, a distance of about one hour. Some remained sih nt and tramped along patiently with their few belongings'on their backs, holding their children by the hand. Others begged us to save their children. Many Turks carao and TOOK CHILDREN AND YOUNC GIRLS without permission of the parents. There was i;o time for thought; they were simply driven on and on. '1 hj entrance to the city, where the road leads to Keniagh, leoked like a slavj maikct. We ou is-Ives took six boys, their ages ranging from 3 to I t years, who clung to us, and a little girl whom we put in the care of our Turkish cook. She wanted to put her, as an assistant, into the house of until such tinn as we could take her, but one of Riza Bey's deputies hit the woman and threw tho child down. With a pitiful wail the nias-i continued on its sorrowful way, and we returned to the hospital with our charges. N gave us permission to keep the children in our rconi until we had packed our ings'NOW WE ARE SAVED 1' they cried, when we had taken them, and would not let go of our hands. Ih> youngest cue, the son of a rich man in Baiburt, a little fellow whose face wa-i swollen from crying, and who had been hiding in his mother's orat, could not be cons ded. Once lie rushed to the window, and pointing at a gendarme, said. 'He killed my father.' Tho hoys gave u.s their money, 473 piastres, the amount their father had given them, in tho hope that it would not be sought for in this way. We rode to the city in order to get a jiermit tor the boys. Wo wire told that the High Court was in session to decide the fate of the refugees. Sister X—— was able to s]ieak with in acquaintance who allowed us to take the boys al.aig, and who offered to give them different names for thj journey. Greatly pleased, we r. de back, and in the evening, with bag and baggage and the boys, we went to a hotel in Erzingan. STOLE MONEY OF DEAD BOYS. "We left them there and wcut to the | Muttessarif, whom we had noc as yet met. He looked like the living devil. ! and his looks did not belie his manner. With a voice of thunder he screamed at u.s, 'Women should stay out <f politics and respect the GovernmentWe told him we had acted that way, and that this matter had nothing to do with lie would not listen to us, and forbade us going to Charput for our belongings, but he said ho would send J us to Sivas. And, hardest of all, ho would not allow us to take the boys, but immediately despatched a gendarme to take them out of our room. We passed them on our return trip, but they were taken away so quickly thatwe were not able to give them back their money. We later asked Y to attend to this matter, but ia order to got to them he had to ask a Turkish officer. We later learned that* they j were dead, and soon after that Riza Bey | sent a soldier for the money, .saying j ho wanted to give it to the boys. Ou the way to Sivas, on the first two days we i saw I

FIFTEEN CORPSES LYING ON THE ROAD,

among them a woman. This bedy was dror»s-d; the other bodies were not, and on one the head was missing. With itthere wore two Turkish officers, who wore really Armenians, as our gemlarm 1 told us. 'lliev warned us in regard to their incognito and remained very retiring. On the fourth day they were not with us, and when we iafjuiiel about them wo were told that the le-s we worried about them the bitter it would be for u.s. We stopped at a Greek village. There we saw it man with a gun who wan keeping watch. He started a conwivation with us and told us how the Government had given him this post in order to kill all pa cing Armenians He had already kilhd 25". "They all deserved death; thev were all Anarchists, neither Liberals nor Sacial-i-t ,' he .siid. He told the gendarme that lie had received telephonic instructions to kill both of the gentlemen who were travelling with us, and so they, a.s well as their Armenian coachman, HAD EVIDENTLY 11 MEN KILLED. Wo could not hoop from speaking fo this iuun!e:cr, but when he went awav the (Inch coachman warned lis not to say a word, •Or- —,' and lie pretended to level a gun. There had evidently been a rumour spreading that wo were Armenian* and would meet death. We had spent the previous night in Etideie. a day's journey from Kara His.-ar. As usual, an empty Armenian limine was given us for the night. On the wall there was an inscription iu Turkish: 'Our home is oil the mountain f<.|>, we no linger need a room: we have already drunk the diaught of death: we no longer need a judge.' On the g'ound 110 >r of this hoii-o (here were still some women and children, wh'\ the gendarme toll II", woit'd be ta'on away the next day. They did not know this them-elves, and were uneasy about their hu-h.iiids. but lad not given up hope. After 1 had fallen I was suddenly awakened by the lvp-irt of guns in the immediate vlcinify. 'lhe hois followed i tie ano<her in rapid succession, and I ' oald plainly hear someone l commanding. I kuow immediately what had happened, and was r ally relieved t-> know that 1 lies > j oar |<" pie had I c-u r moved froai all earthly so: row.

WOTIIER. SORROW EE I, fORTECI

veiiil days before we had met n train of refugees, who had bidden farewell fo (heir homes, and were now on the way to K-einagh lioghav We had to W'ait a long time fo allow them fo pa's-. Never will we forget the si.elit. A few men. many vwuneii, line figures.

wit«i strong features, and a few nice children, some of them light-haired and blue-eyed, who looked at one listlessly. One little girl smiled at us, but tne others looked as serious as death. But not a sound was heard. (Quietly, and in perfect order, many of the children on ox-carts, they passed by: some of them nodded at us. Most of them are now stuading at t»he Throne of (Jod, telling llim of their sorrows. One very old woman was being taken from a donkey. She apparently could not help herself. I wonder whether she was killed at once.' Our hearts turned to icc. The gendarme who was accompanying us told us lie had seen a

CARAVAN OF 3000 WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

vo'io were being taken from Mania (.hat tin, near Erzerum to Keiiagh Bogliasy. 'All that came arc dead,' he said. We asked: 'But why were they compelled to suffer so long before? Windid they not kill them in their own villages!-' Answer: That was the right way to do. They must first be made miserable, and what would we do with the bodies. They would smell. Our people told us that in the preceding night 10 Armenians had been shot (those v.'ere the shots that I had heard), and that now the civilians were on t>!ic hunt. We saw them hurrying about with guns. We saw two of them sitting wilder a tree dividing the clothing oi ono of tne unfortunates. They were j holding up a pair of blue trousers. We saw puddles of blood, the corpses had been done away with. These were the 250 of whom the man had told us. We met some of these workers who had previously done their duty. They wtre divided iu three sections. I.—Moslems; 2.—Greeks; :i.—Armenians. Near the last section wore some officers. Our voung 'Hasscn' called: 'Tliev will all "bo killed.' LINED UP TO BE SLAIN. "We continued on up the side of a mountain. Our coachman, with his whip, pointed into the valley, and we saw »!iow -100 people were being placed against the edge of a low piec, of ground. We knew what was to happen. Two days before we had seen the same tragedy, the bayonets of the soldiers gleaming in tho sunshine. In the Mission Hospital we spoke with a man who had escaped with his life. One hundred Armenians wore to tie killed: 10 gendarmes used their guns. The remainder of the task was completed by Moslems with knives and stones. Ten Armenians escaped. The man with whom wo spoke had a dreadful wound in his neck, and suddenly became unconscious, but came to and dragged himself to Sivas in two days. Twelve hours from Sivas we spent the night in a house belonging to the Government. For a long time a gendarme sat before our door and sang continually, 'Ermeniery, hep kesdiler" ("The Armenians are all dead'), and in the neighbouring room there was a telephone conversation to tho same effect, v-e were compelled to spend the night rn an Armenian house where the women had just received word of the death of their husbands. It was dreadful to hear their lamenting. Without avail we tried to comfort them. 'Cannot your Kaiser help!-' they screamed. Our gendarme saw our misery and said: 'Their screaming annoys you, I will stop it,' but listened to us when we spoke to him and told him not- to dare stop them. He seemed to enjoy showing us and telling us dreadful things. He kept saying to his assistant: 'Now we are killing the Armenians, then the Greeks, then the Kurds,' and I suppose he would have enjovod saying. And then the strangers.' Our poor Greek coachman had to take many an insult. The gendarmes would say "to him: 'Look down there in the pit; there are some Greeks, too.''