Bleeding Armenia: Its history and horrors under the curse of Islam

by Augustus Warner Williams; M. Smbat Gabrielean

“As to the cause of the persecution which has brought two hundred thousand human beings to the actual brink of starvation, there can be but one explanation. The Armenians are Christians. Should they become Mohammedans their troubles would vanish, and return no more. It is for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that they are persecuted unto death.”

A resident of Moush confirmed all that has been stated regarding the widespread suffering and destitution. He said:

“After the departure of the Kurdish tribes, which had perpetrated the massacres of Sassoun, the survivors left their hiding-places. One group of these people settled themselves on the plateaux, in the defiles, and in the forests of Sassoun, whilst the greater part emigrated to Moush, whence they were soon scattered among the Armenian villages of the plain. The Armenians sheltered and fed these emigrants as long as they had the means; but being themselves doubly tried by the want which reigns on all sides, and for the past two years and more, in the country, they soon found it impossible for them to supply the needs of these emigrants. The latter were obliged to move away to the mountains, where they are finding their food from herbs and leaves, or else to beg in the villages, where they are hardly finding a morsel of bread.”

The Kurds took advantage of the sufferings of the people of Sassoun to carry on a trade in white people. A young Armenian woman of Sassoun, was sold as a slave by these nomads. Another was sold to an inhabitant of the village of Hadji-Osman-Bey, and taken to Diarbekir. A little boy and little girl were bought for one hundred and thirty piastres of a Kurd named Mehmed; this amount included besides, the price of a donkey. There were other instances also of the same character.

The following letter from the Duke of Westminster to the editor of an American paper, afforded new evidence of the widespread destitution in Armenia:

“Sir:—There is an additional distressing phase connected with the sufferings of the Armenians consequent on the losses they have sustained at the hands of the Turks, which calls for consideration and assistance from those who are ever ready to relieve distress in whatever part of the world. Vice-Consul Shipley reports from Moush, that ‘there is great distress, amounting in a great number of cases to abject destitution, among the fugitives from Sassoun, of which he and his colleagues have had many opportunities of convincing themselves from personal observation.’ Mr. Hallward, Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Van, testifies that the need for relief is unquestioned; that there is an enormous amount of destitution, and that there will certainly be more before next winter.

“This applies, we are assured, to the province of Bitlis, and to a large extent to Erzeroum, where there are survivors of the Sassoun massacre—mostly women and children who have no one to provide for them—scattered about. A year ago these people were comparatively prosperous and comfortable, but are now barefoot and in rags, begging their daily bread from those who are not much better off than themselves.

“Consul Graves forwards a private letter describing the deplorable condition of the people at Talvorig:—‘There are about eight hundred and fifty of these houseless wanderers now living in the woods and mountains, in caves and hollow trees, half naked, and some, indeed, entirely without covering for their nakedness. Bread they have not tasted for months, and curdled milk they only dream of, living, as they do, upon greens and the leaves of trees. There are two varieties of greens which are preferred, but these are disappearing, as they wither at this season. Living on such food, they become sickly; their skin has turned yellow, their strength is gone, their bodies are swollen, and fever is rife among them.’

“In addition to these, there are thousands of refugees who, compelled by poverty and danger to abandon their village homes, have flocked into the towns where they hope to find personal safety and charity to keep them alive.

“The Committee of the Armenian Relief Fund has already remitted £3,000 to Sir Philip Currie, Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Constantinople, for the distribution of food and clothing in the distressed districts, and further aid is very urgently required.