The American Red Cross Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 4, October 1909)American National Red Cross
History
The American Red Cross Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 4, October 1909)
American National Red Cross
American National Red Cross -- Periodicals; Red Cross and Red Crescent -- Periodicals
“The Germans, however, who were shut up in a place called Bagche gave
up the Armenians in their house as the price of their own safety. Here
the Germans are working splendidly on relief work. They are all Saxons
and had a factory full of Armenians, which held out all right. When the
Armenians were being brought out of the factory to the camp, as soon as
things were supposed to be quiet, the soldiers started killing them. I
happened to be at the guardhouse and got my little officer to go to the
rescue, and all were brought in safely except three, who had been already
shot.
“Things are still very unsettled. Murders and fires continue; but, of
course, it is not like the first days of horror.
“We have 15,000 people starving and without shelter. All we can give
them is a fragment of bread or a handful of rice. We have nothing more
to give. No milk for the babies—nothing. And measles and dysentery are
rife.”
REPORT OF F. G. FREYER, SECRETARY-TREASURER OF THE BEIRUT RELIEF
COMMITTEE.
BEIRUT, SYRIA, July 12, 1909.
Mr. E. G. Freyer, Secretary-Treasurer of the Relief Committee, with his
financial statements sends a special appeal for Kessab. He also says, in
regard to the Committee’s work as American Red Cross Agents:
We realized, first, that under the American National Red Cross our
Committee would take the field as a distinctively American undertaking,
even though recognizing the principle which governs all Red Cross
work—that its benefits should reach all in need, irrespective of
nationality or creed.
Secondly, it gave the Committee a standing, a guarantee before the public
which enabled it to raise funds in quarters where remittances under other
circumstances might not have been forthcoming.
The sending of doctors and nurses to Adana in the name and under the
protection of the Red Cross flag was not only a source of satisfaction to
the Committee, but of the very greatest help and blessing to the many who
at that time required immediate medical aid.
Those of us who have lived in the Orient for years have become accustomed
to the remark, and in many cases have allowed ourselves to believe,
that the native will not help himself, much less others, but that he
is willing to be dependent on the charity of the outside world. Be
this as it may under ordinary conditions, the present crisis has fully
demonstrated that the native can and will rise to the occasion and help
not only himself but his neighbor as well.
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