The blight of Asia : $b An account of the systematic extermination of Christian populations by Mohammedans and of the culpability of certain great powers; with the true story of the burning of Smyrna — John Shaqi
The blight of Asia : $b An account of the systematic extermination of Christian populations by Mohammedans and of the culpability of certain great powers; with the true story of the burning of SmyrnaHorton, George
History
The blight of Asia : $b An account of the systematic extermination of Christian populations by Mohammedans and of the culpability of certain great powers; with the true story of the burning of Smyrna
Horton, George
Christians -- Turkey; Fires -- Turkey -- İzmir; Greeks -- Turkey; Turkey; İzmir (Turkey) -- History
“At Intily there was an encampment of about ten thousand and
at Kadma a large encampment of one hundred and fifty thousand.
At this place, adjacent to their encampment, were Turkish
troops who exacted “backshish” from them before they would
let them go on the road to Aleppo. Many who had no money had
had to stay in this camp since their arrival there about two
months before. I spoke with several Armenians here and they
told me the same story of brutal treatment and robbery at the
hands of the gendarmes in charge, as I had heard all along the
road. They had to go at least half a mile for water from this
encampment, and the condition of the camp was filthy.
“From Kadma on to Aleppo I witnessed the worst sights of the
whole trip. Here the people began to play out in the intense
heat and no water, and I passed several who were prostrate,
actually dying of thirst. One woman whom I assisted was
in a deplorable condition and unconscious from thirst and
exhaustion, and farther on I saw two young girls who had become
so exhausted that they had fallen on the road and lay with
their already swollen faces exposed to the sun.
“The road for a great distance was being repaired and covered
with cracked stones; on one side of the road was a footpath,
but many of the Armenians were so dazed from fatigue and
exposure that they did not see this footpath and were
walking—many barefooted—on the cracked stones, their feet, as a
result, bleeding.
“The destination of all these Armenians is Aleppo. Here they
are kept crowded in all available vacant houses, khans,
Armenian churches, courtyards and open lots. Their condition
in Aleppo is beyond description. I personally visited several
of the places where they were kept and found them starving and
dying by the hundreds every day.
“In one vacant house, which I visited, I saw women and
children and men all in the same room lying on the floor so
close together that it was impossible to walk between them.
Here they had been for months, those who had survived, and the
condition of the floor was filthy.
“The British Consulate was filled with these exiles, and
from this place the dead were removed almost every hour.
Coffin-makers throughout the city were working late into the
night, making rough boxes for the dead whose relatives or
friends could afford to give them decent burial.
“Most of the dead were simply thrown into two-wheeled carts
which made daily rounds to all the places where the Armenians
were concentrated. These carts were open at first but afterward
covers were made for them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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