TURKEY AND THE ARMENIAN ATROCITIES

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[page 482]

CHAPTER XXVI.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.

Motive of the Massacres — Primarily Political, then Religious — The Religious Element Overpowering the Political — Dread of Christian Domination — False Statements by the Turkish Government — Instances of Persecution and Enforced Conversion to Islam — A Tremendous Moral Disaster — Efforts of the Government to Suppress Reports.

The previous chapters have been confined chiefly to the physical aspects of the massacres. There has been, however, another side that is even more appalling, and that is the moral and religious disaster. The question is often asked whether this is a religious persecution. The question is not an altogether easy one to answer. From one point of view it is purely religious, from another, purely political. The truth probably is, that in the East the two are so inseparably associated that it is impossible to distinguish accurately between them. To the Moslem, every Christian is either a slave or an enemy, to be taxed for service or to be destroyed. So long as the Armenians made no effort for political power, they were slaves; the moment they showed hostility to or impatience with Moslem rule, they became enemies. It made no difference whether that hostility was actual or not; if it had any existence in the minds of the Turks the result was the same. It is unquestionable that there was a widespread

[page 483] FORCED CONVERSION

belief among the Turks that Moslem rule was in danger, not merely from the revolt of the Armenians, but from the assistance assured, as they believed, to the Armenians by the European Powers. Hence, first of all, their hostility was directed against them, and so far it was distinctively political. They began to realize, however, that murder, pure and simple, was not going to accomplish their purpose. How was it to be done ? There was only one other method — forced conversion. -What this means, no one who has not had some personal knowlege of Mohammedan lands can fully imagine. To the political hate and savage desire for plunder was added the ferocity of Moslem propaganda. Any one who has read in history the record of religious persecutions can form a faint conception of what that means, but to understand to the full is given to few people. At the risk of occasional repetition we give some instances of the manifestation of this destructive religious character of the massacres. It will be noticed that parallel with forced conversion has gone the outraging of women. So long as the chief idea seemed to be the suppression of a supposed political revolt, or the looting of property, this was not so noticeable. The moment, however, that religious fanaticism came to the front, the most brutal sensuality was made manifest. A significant comment on Mohammedanism.

“At Chunkush, in the province of Diarbekir, there were 6,000 Armenian Christians. On the 4th of November, the first attack was made and the town was partially pillaged. On the 8th, nth and 14th of November, these attacks on the Christian houses were repeated. The Protestant church, school and parsonage, and many other buildings were burned by the Turks. 880 Armenians were butchered, and

[page 484] STARVING THE CHRISTIANS.

the remainder were forced to accept Mohammedanism at the point of the sword.

“In Palu, in the same province, in the month of August, the governor called upon the Christian notables and told them that he had received orders to tell them that the Sultan had decided to introduce reforms, but that the reforms would be with the sword. This speech reported to the British Embassy at the time, led to the removal of the governor. On the 5th of November, this town was plundered by the Kurds and Turkish troops with but little shedding of blood. On the nth of November, the attacking force returned, and out of a total Christian population of 2,400 they slaughtered 1,580 souls. The Protestant chapel was demolished, and the school and parsonage were taken as barracks for the troops. On the 10th of December, but 300 Christians were left in Palu, and they were at the point of perishing with hunger. The government issued bread to keep them alive, but the public ovens refused to sell to Christians. The policy seemed to be to keep the people at the point of deepest misery, in order to force them to become Mohammedans. The distribution of bread by the government consisted of the filling of several baskets with pieces of bread and emptying the baskets into the street for the people to scramble for the bread. A number of Christian families, driven by hunger, fled to the city of Harput, about thirty-five miles away, where there is a Governor-General. They hoped that this high Turkish official would at least give them protection and bread to eat, since it had been announced that the government intended to feed all the suffering ones. On arrival at Harput, however, they were bitterly disappointed. They were simply put under arrest and sent back to starve at Palu. At

[page 485 - illustration]

After the Slaughter

[caption] AFTER THE SLAUGHTER. Scene from an actual Photograph, showing how the able-bodied defenseless Armenians were butchered in great numbers and left where they fell.

[page 486 - illustration]

Burying the Armenians

[caption] BURYING THE ARMENIANS. A view of how thousands of the murdered Armenians were buried in great trenches after the massacres.

[page 487] MOHAMMED OR DEATH.

Severek, in the province of Diarbekir, out of a Christian population of 2,900, nearly all of the males, in all 750 persons, were killed. This left the authorities free to regard all the women and children as Moslems, and they were distributed among the Mohammedan populace to be taken into their houses.

“At Urfa, after the massacre and pillage which took place on the 27th and 28th of October, the police went around from house to house in the Christian quarter announcing that the people must accept Mohammedanism. They carried axes to break open the doors. All who refused they killed on the spot. Those who accepted the offer were required to put white turbans on their heads and to hang white flags on their houses. The number of white flags displayed seemed innumerable after three days of this, sort of work. Shortly after this a storm arose which carried away many of the white flags. They were not renewed, since the people understood that the government would not recognize these forced conversions. But on the 28th and 29th of December, these people were attacked by the Turks and over 1,500 of them were killed as apostates from Islamism. At Albistan, in the same province, after the massacre began, the people were overpersuaded by the assurance that all the Christians in the empire were being killed, and nearly the whole Christian population accepted Mohammedanism on this representation.

“At Adiaman, in the province of Harput, on the other hand, -the same story was used without effect, and out of the Christian population of 800, only 20 were left alive. At Husenik, in the province of Harput, the Armenian priest was tortured to force him to become a Mohammedan. On his persistent

[page 488] HOURLY FEAR OF MASSACRE.

refusal, and while he was still living, his body was obscenely mutilated, and at last the poor man found rest in death. The Protestant preacher in this village and a large number of the people accepted Mohammedanism in order to escape the fate inflicted upon this martyred priest. At Gamirgab, in the same province, after the Turks and Kurds had pillaged all the Christian houses, they burned 70 houses which could be fired without endangering the Turkish houses, and removed doors and windows from the remainder so as to render them uninhabitable. The head master of the government school in the place, one Ali Effendi, then called the Christians together, and told them he would order them massacred at once if they did not accept Mohammedanism. The people accepted the new religion, but appealed for relief to their bishop at Egin. On demand of the bishop, the governor ordered that these new converts should be released from their promise of conversion, and now the people live in hourly fear of massacre as apostates from the Mohammedan faith.

“At Arabkir, in the province of Harput, on the 6th of November, Turkish civilians aided by soldiers suddenly made an attack upon the Armenian shops in the market. Arabkir had an Armenian population of about 18,000, and a Turkish population of about 30,000. When the Turks began to attack the Armenian houses, the Armenians resisted. Then the authorities called in Kurds from the surrounding region and made a systematic destruction of the Christian quarters of the city. The horrible work lasted six days, and at the end of that time 4,000 Christians had been killed, and 2,750 Christian houses had been burned. Many of the survivors accepted Islamism in order to escape. All alike, however, were stripped of everything they had in the world, and in

[page 489] A SURVIVOR’S NARRATIVE.

some cases even of their clothing. The narrative of one of the survivors, an entirely trustworthy woman, gives a vivid impression of the horror of the experience: “On the 5th of November, our Turkish neighbors, with whom we have always been on good terms, came to tell us that orders had come to kill the Christians, but that seeing our house was next to theirs they would like to help us, and that if we would pay them for it they would defend us. After some bargaining it was agreed that we should pay them $25.00 for the service. This was not easy to find, but we gathered all the money that we had and what jewels we possessed, and so satisfied them. On Tuesday the massacre began by an attack upon the market and then upon the houses. The roar of the firing and the shrieks of the women were awful, but our friends defended us. That night there was no sleep for us, for the attacks on the houses and the firing kept up all night. The next morning our Turkish friends said to us: ‘We have fulfilled our promise, but the massacre is still going on, and we can defend you no longer unless you become Moslems. Otherwise you will all be killed.’ The firing was going on all the time and houses were being set on fire, and the smoke made it seem as if the end of the world had come. I fell on my knees before my father, who was the only man in our household of nine people, and begged him not to swerve from his faith in Jesus Christ. He rebuked me for thinking such a thing of him. We all prayed for help and waited to see what would come. That day my father was killed, but they did not kill us because we were only women. But they made us go for three days into a house with a great many other women, while they robbed our house of everything. They did not burn the house because their own house would have burned also.

[page 490] ARMENIAN PRIESTS KILLED.

After they had taken everything from our house, they let us go back into it, and thought themselves very kind for doing so. Crowds of Our friends who were left without shelter came to the house, and we have about 50 people in every room, all without bedding and all without food. What is to become of us ? ”

“At Tadem, in the same province, out of 1,800 Armenians 270 were killed. The survivors escaped only by accepting Mohammedanism. Two Armenian priests were killed, one after shameful mutilation. Of the outrages on women there is no use in trying to keep account. They are universal and hardly attract attention. At Tadem, a Turkish notable was selling Christian women to Turks and Kurds in exchange for horses and donkeys, as long as a month after the massacre. He also kept a certain number of Christian women whom he presented for the night to any police or soldiers who passed through the village on their rounds. The same atrocious practice is reported from other places also.

“In the provinces of Harput and Diarbekir alone, over 8,000 Armenian houses have been burned, and more than 15,000 Christians are known to have been killed, while every day adds to the list. Fifty or more Armenian ecclesiastics are known to have been killed for refusing to accept Mohammedanism, and the list of martyrs among the Protestant pastors has risen to twenty. Some of these are among the best and most influential men in the Protestant community. In connection with this subject one incident may be mentioned. At Cesarea, in the province of Angora, on the 30th of November, 600 Christians were murdered by the Turks of the city. In one of the Protestant houses of the city a father and his little daughter, twelve years of age, were alone, the mother having

[page 491] A LITTLE GIRL BUTCHERED.

gone to visit a married daughter before the massacre began. A fierce-looking Turk suddenly burst into the room where the little girl was sitting. He spoke to the child in as kind a voice as he could command. “My child,” said he, “your father is dead because he would not accept the religion of Islam. Now I shall have to make you a Mohammedan, and if you will agree to it I will take you to my house and you will have everything that you want, just as if you were my daughter. Will you become a Mohammedan ? ” The little girl replied: “ I believe in Jesus Christ. He is my Saviour. I love him. I cannot do as you wish, even if you kill me.” Then the ruffian fell upon the poor child with his sword and slashed and stabbed her in twelve different places. What followed no one knows. The house was pillaged and burned and the body of the father was burned in it. But that evening a cart was brought by a Turkish neighbor to the house in another part of the city where the mother of the little girl was staying. The Turk said to her, “I have brought you the body of your little girl. You are my friend and I could not leave it. I am very sorry for what has happened.” The mother took the body of the little girl into the house, and found that there was still life in it. A surgeon was summoned. He restored the child to her senses, and she is now in a fair way to recovery.

“Another indirect method of destroying the Christian communities in these provinces must be referred to. As if for the purpose of destroying self-respect and the grounds of religious hope, a systematic course of debauching Christian women has been kept up in some of these provinces. At Tamzara, in the district of Sharka Kara Hissar, in the province of Sivasall, the men were killed in the massacres

[page 492] VIOLATING ARMENIAN WOMEN.

early in November. From a well-to-do Armenian population of 1,500, all that remain are about 300 starving and half-naked women and children. Trustworthy information from this place, dated the twenty-fourth of January, says that the most horrible feature of the situation of these women is, that passing Mohammedan soldiery or civilian travelers attack them and outrage them in their houses without hesitation and without restraint. This license has been observed toward these wretched women during all of the three months since the massacres.

“Information from Mezreh, the seat of government in the Province of Harput, dated the twenty-seventh of January, says that the same licensed abuse Christian women exists in that province also. Within sight and hearing of the Governor-General’s palace, Mohammedan young men have broken into Christian houses by night and worked their infernal pleasure upon the women of the houses. It is not once or twice that this thing has happened, but it is week after week, until the women are reduced to the condition of public prostitutes without will of their own.”

In view of such facts, it is scarcely surprising that a missionary wrote as follows:

“ The world will have heard of the physical side of the disasters which have come upon this country. The moral aspect is still more deplorable. When the Saracens conquered these lands, they offered the people the alternatives of the Koran, tribute or the sword. These. Moslems first strip the people of everything, commit other nameless outrages, and then the only alternative presented is Islam or death; and this in the nineteenth century. Hundreds of people have accepted martyrdom rather than deny their faith. Many more, some

[page 493] CHURCHES BECOME MOSQUES.

from fear of death, and others to save their families from a fate worse than death, have formally accepted Mohammedanism. In most of the villages and towns in this region, the majority of the survivors who were not able to flee, are now professed Moslems. Throughout all this wide Harput mission field, there is probably scarcely a Christian service held among Gregorians or Protestants outside of this quarter of the city. Although the church here was burned, our Sunday services have been maintained in the college. Churches have become mosques, and the trembling Christians are taught to pray after the Mohammedan form. Schools, of course, are disbanded, although we are gathering together the boys of our male department at the college; and we hope to do the same for girls if we can secure rooms outside, as the girls’ college is a complete ruin.

“ Every day, from morning till night, our hearts are torn by the recital of the most horrible tales of bloodshed and outrage and heartless persecution. Some of our best and worthiest men tell of the agony which they suffer from the position which they hold as Mohammedans in form, while their whole being revolts against it. They say: ‘ We would welcome martyrdom with cruel torture, if only our wives and children could be saved from the clutches of these men by death or by some sort of freedom. We have gladly surrendered our homes to the flames and our property to plunder; but we cannot sacrifice our families.’ Here is a very serious problem. Of course we cannot justify this position; and yet, when we see the fate of many of these helpless families, bereft of their protectors, it is not in our hearts to reproach those who have saved their lives by this hypocrisy. Either alternative is dreadful; and to stand in the presence of such

[page 494] TRAVELING UNSAFE.

calamities so utterly helpless, except to cry to God in the agony of our hearts, is a trial which we never expected to experience.

“ Of course, we cannot tell what the outcome will be. We believe that God has a people here, and that in some way, out of all this ruin, he will rebuild his Church; but at present the outlook is dark in the extreme. Many of the churches, parsonages and schools have been destroyed, how many we do not know, for the country is in such a state that traveling is very unsafe and reports come in slowly. We know that seven of our pastors and six preachers have been killed, and we may hear of still others. Few of the preachers remain at their posts. Not only would they be put under a pressure to accept Islam, but they are hated because they are understood to be promoters of freedom of thought. Then, too, where their congregations are recognized as Mohammedans, their presence among them would not be tolerated.”

As these facts have been spread abroad, a storm of indignation has arisen over the entire Christian world, such that even the Turks dared not disregard it, and accordingly, “ early in January the local officials of the provinces of Harput and Diarbekir sent orders to the recently ‘converted’ villages, on no account to admit, in case they are asked, that they were forced to become Mohammedans. The people were informed that death would be the penalty for any complaint respecting the compulsion used to force them to accept Mohammedanism. There are 15,000 of these forced converts in the province of Harput alone, and about 40,000 of them in the whole region devastated by the massacres. If the European Powers would send a commission through the provinces to learn the real

[page 495] CHRISTIAN WORSHIP PROHIBITED.

facts, they could easily verify these statements, and if they could let the people know that they would not be betrayed to the Turks, they would find that these people are pleading for relief from the servitude to a hated religion into which they have been forced. If the Powers could demand of the Ottoman Government the issue of a proclamation condemning these military conversions, and giving the victims of them liberty to return to their own faith without incurring the death penalty which has now been pronounced against them, the mass of the people would gladly return to the Armenian Church.

“ Information from several points in the provinces of Sivas, Harput, Diarbekir, Bitlis and Van, shows that the process of forcing Christians to become Mohammedans is still actively used. Week by week the Christian population is warned that all who have not accepted Mohammedanism are to be massacred. Every Friday is a day of terror for the Christians in all of these provinces. Constant pressure is exerted to induce people in despair to deny their faith. In the country districts neither priest nor pastor dare venture out of their hiding, for they would be instantly killed as men who would interfere with the conversion of the people. In the villages, Christian worship is generally prohibited throughout the six provinces of the reform scheme. In twenty-eight villages in the district of Harput, there had been, at last accounts (January 30, 1896), no Christian worship since the first of November. This abolition of Christian worship among a Christian people is simply a part of the purpose to abolish Christianity.”

We close this chapter with a few illustrations drawn from places well known, and in regard to which there can be no possible question:

[page 496] FIREBRAND, KEROSENE AND BULLETS.

“ Saturday evening, November 2d, the inhabitants of Kutturbul, just across the Tigris, east of Diarbekir, took refuge from the Kurds in the large stone church of the Jacobite Syrians, to which they had already moved their household goods. Fugitives from three other villages, which had been attacked, the day before, had also taken refuge here, so the church was packed with goods and people. That night the Kurds, with some men from Diarbekir, surrounded the church and began to shoot into the high, narrow windows by which it is lighted. Aboshe Jacob, pastor of the Protestant church of the village, was the first one struck, but his wound was not serious, and he kept on his feet, giving such comfort as he could to his distressed companions. Seeing little effect from their efforts to dislodge the people and get at the booty, about midnight the Kurds tore up part of the vaulted roof, and first throwing in firebrands through the opening, then poured kerosene down upon the blaze, at the same time firing their guns into the defenseless crowd of men, women and children. A frantic rush was made for the door; but it was locked, and could be opened only with the key from the outside. As is the case with most of the old churches, in order to prevent their desecration by being used as stables for horses, the door was very small, only some four and a half feet high by two and a half feet wide. After much effort it was finally broken open, and the smoke-stifled, flame-scorched, terror-stricken crowd poured out from the narrow egress, only to meet a deadly shower of bullets from the surrounding Kurds.

“Among the crowd was Pastor Jurjis Khudhershaw Anteshalian, a graduate from our Theological Seminary in 1868; for some years pastor of the church in Mosul, later engaged in evangelical work in Egypt, whence he had but recently

[page 497] ATTACK ON KARABASH.

come to visit relatives. As he came out he was at once recognized by his beard and intelligent face as one of the clergy, and was seized, thrown down and clubbed. One of the books which had been scattered about by the marauders was thrust into his mouth, and he was mockingly called upon to read the church service. Firebrands were then thrown upon him, and as, restored to partial consciousness by the pain, he began to crawl away, he was clubbed again, drawn back and burned to ashes.

“ The next to suffer was Pastor Hanoosh Melki, of Kara-bash, three hours east of Kutturbul; a classmate of Pastor Jurjis, an earnest worker, and especially efficient as an evangelist. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Karabash church at the time of its organization, but had resigned, and was expecting a call to the church in Sert, which was then on the way to him. Kurds attacked the village Saturday afternoon, November 2d, but were repulsed; and that night most of the unarmed villagers took refuge in the large buildings erected around the outskirts of the village for dovecots. Having received large reinforcements during the night, the Kurds renewed the attack at daybreak Sunday, in spite of a cold, driving rain which had set in, and, getting possession of the village toward noon, began their horrible work of pillage, burning and slaughter. As soon as Pastor Hanoosh, in the dovecot where his family and many others had taken refuge, knew that the village had been taken, he tried to open the small door opposite one at which the Kurds were already trying to force an entrance. Before he could get it open they broke in, and he was the first to meet them. Judging from his beard that he was the priest of the village, they supposed he, of course, would have a large sum of money with him.

[page 498] PROMINENT PREACHERS KILLED.

He only had some bread, and taking a loaf from his bosom he gave it to one of them. They were enraged at this, yet would have spared him had he but raised one finger in token of acceptance of Islam. Refusing to do this, he was struck down by a sword and killed before the eyes of his wife and children. His body was then stripped and his family plundered.

“ The third to fall was Hanna Sehda, son of one of the first pastors, a member of our last theological class, and a preacher of much promise. After graduating in 1890, he ministered for a time to the Sert Church, of which his father had formerly been for a long time pastor. He refused its urgent and oft-repeated call to become its pastor, and had been for only a few months with the Karabash church, which liked him much and had just.built a parsonage for him. That Sabbath morning he led his wife, a graduate of our Girls’ High School, and their three little children out of the dovecot, where, with many others, they had taken refuge the night before, and fled to a village half an hour away, which had already been plundered, and where they thought, for a time at least, they might be safe. Benumbed with the cold and rain, they were glad to find in one of the vacant houses a supply of fuel — cowdung mixed with straw, and made up into large cakes — and soon had a comfortable fire. Here they were joined by Pastor Hanoosh’s widow and children and others. Toward sunset a roving band of Kurds came upon them as they were grouped around the fire, and stripped them of most of what was still left them. Later, another band came, and, enraged at finding nothing left for them to plunder, turned upon the men. These, seeing that the Kurds meant to kill them, rushed out, and made their escape in the darkness, though fired upon. Hanna

[page 499] DEATHS FROM EXPOSURE.

had taken his two little boys out with him, but finding he could not get away with them, he let go their hands and made off. Already faint with hunger and stiff with cold, he could make but slow progress. So he was soon overtaken by the Kurds, to whom he refused to yield by accepting Islam to save his life. The last seen of him by one of his church-members as he looked back in his flight, he was extending his arms to ward off the sword-blow which hewed him down, after which a gun was discharged into his body. A few days after, one of his congregation, compelled by Moslems to go to the village where he was killed, saw that his body had been burned. His baby girl and youngest boy died that night from exposure, while the elder boy and his fair-looking mother were led away into captivity, from which, however, they were recovered later and are now at her father’s house.

“The fourth victim was Pastor Aboshe, of Kutturbul, already mentioned as the first one wounded in the church Saturday night before the roof was broken in. He escaped through the broken door, and though thrust with daggers as he passed out, made off in the darkness and climbed a tree in which he stayed till near morning. Then he got down stealthily, and made his way to a house in which cut straw was stored, where he stayed hidden until Monday noon, when he felt sufficiently revived to go out in search of his scattered family. He found them in a deserted bath not far from their own house, his wife uninjured, one child killed, a married daughter lying in a corner fatally wounded, in attempting to protect her husband who was killed, the eldest son severely wounded, while a younger daughter had been carried away captive. They passed Monday night caring tenderly for the wounded daughter, mourning over the captivity of the younger one,

[page 500] FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.

and praying for deliverance from further woes. Tuesday a roving band of Kurds went through the village to see if anything were still left to plunder, and, finally coming to the yard of the bath-house, began to abuse some of the pastor’s congregation who had gathered there, as it was a more protected place than most. The pastor, overhearing them, went out to try to persuade them to cease from further barbarities toward those who had already suffered so much. Perceiving that he was a ‘spiritual head,’ as the clergy are called, the Kurds at once called on him to renounce his faith and embrace Islam. He fixed a steady gaze on them, but said nothing. ‘Ha!’ said one, ‘see how the kafir (infidel) still holds stoutly to his faith.’ Another said to him: ‘Just raise one finger (this is accepted by them as a confession of one God: Mohammed His prophet), and you will not be harmed.’ Instantly he calmly replied: ‘I shall never raise my finger.’ Immediately a Kurd near him made a thrust at him with a straight dagger, while another a little farther away put a bullet through him, right in the presence of several of his flock. His firm faith and bold confession of it in the presence of death was the weightiest sermon they had ever heard from his lips. He was the most scholarly and refined among all our native helpers. He came of an educated, priestly family, and his grandfather was the author of a grammatical work in ancient Syriac. Mr. Andrus’ first sermon in Kutturbul years ago from the text, ‘ Son, go work to-day in my vineyard,’ was the means of his conversion and of bringing him later into the ministry. Soon after graduating from the theological seminary he became pastor of the church in his native village, Kutturbul, and during his pastorate had erected a beautiful little chapel, the finest in our field; now, alas! used as a sheep-

[page 501] GOD STILL REIGNS.

fold, while the adjoining school building has been burned. Out of his congregation of 161 souls, 98 went with him into eternity, and of the 63 remaining, 18 of them are wounded; most are scattered abroad — some of them we know not where. Half of our pastors have fallen, ‘not accepting deliverance;’ half our churches are scattered; one-third of our stations are destroyed. But God still reigns (Ps. 2). He is faithful and true, and His promises sure. Pray with us that the desolate places may speedily be rebuilt; that His Church, purified and quickened by this tempest of persecution, may apply itself with fresh faith and zeal to His work; and that He will shortly accomplish His purpose of grace for this land.”

Acknowledgements:

Source: Bliss, Rev. Edwin Munsell . Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities. Edgewood Publishing Company , 1896
Provided by: Aram Arkun, Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center
Scanned by: Karen Vrtanesyan
OCR: Irina Minasyan