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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