Armenia and the WarHacobian, A. P. (Avetoon Pesak)
History
Armenia and the War
Hacobian, A. P. (Avetoon Pesak)
Armenian question; World War, 1914-1918 -- Armenia
While the Turks were butchering Christians in their hundreds of
thousands, the German Emperor was presenting a sword of honour to the
Sultan of Turkey and showering honours upon Enver Pasha at his
headquarters. While thousands of Christian children and women were
being mercilessly slaughtered and driven to death by Germany's ally, and
their bodies thrown to the wolves and vultures in the Mesopotamian
deserts, the German Government was making provision for the housing and
tuition of thousands of Turkish youths in the technical schools of
Germany to fill the places of the "eliminated" Armenians. What have
Christian Germans to say to all this? Do the Johanniter Knights, of whom
the Kaiser is himself Grand Master, approve of these proceedings? Do
they think that He who said "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
these little ones, ye have done it unto Me" knows of any distinction of
race? How can German Christians, from their rulers downwards, face God
and the Son of God in the intimacy of their prayers after sanctioning
these black deeds which are the very negation of God and the teaching of
Christ? Do the rulers of Germany and Turkey and the protagonists of the
Reventlow doctrine believe that empires, railways, or any other schemes
of expansion, built upon foundations of the blood and tears of hundreds
of thousands of human beings, will endure and prosper and bring forth
harvests of plenty and peace and happiness to their promoters, their
children, and their children's children? They are mistaken. My word may
count for naught to the rulers and leaders of mighty states; but it is
true. We are an ancient people. "We have seen empires come and empires
go." We have been ground for centuries in the mill of the ruthless clash
of contending empires; but in spite of our long and bitter sufferings
our belief to-day is as strong as ever in the existence of another mill,
the mill of Divine Justice, which grinds in its own good time, and may
grind slow, but "it grinds exceeding small." Who will doubt or deny that
violence to women and children and unoffending, defenceless men, "every
hair of whose head is numbered," will not be forgiven by their just and
Almighty Creator; that the sacrifice of them for ulterior selfish
objects will not be overlooked? Political and military acts of the
mightiest empires, entailing injustice, violence and suffering to weaker
peoples will bring Nemesis in their train in due course. The idol with
feet of clay, sunk in the blood of innocents, cannot endure. Sooner or
later it must fall.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] _Le Sémaphore de Marseille_, November 20, 1915.
[20] I am indebted to my friend Mr. H. N. Mosditchian for the following
account of an incident which throws some light on the ways of the Turk--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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