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The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 september 1916
Bron: National Library of Australia
Armenian Horrors
INCREDIBLE TURKISH ATROCITIES
ALLOWED BY TEUTONS
“STAIN ON GERMAN HONOUR”
NEW YORK, Sept. 10.
A most barbarous and revolting story of Turkish atrocities against the Armenians is published in the “New York Times,” which is in possession of photographs of the original documents.
The Faculty of the German High School at Aleppo, in Asiatic Turkey, lodged a protest with the German Foreign Office, wherein it was stated: “We feel it our duty to draw the attention of the Foreign Office to the fact that it is impossible to carry on the schoolwork unless Germany ends the brutalities being inflicted here on the exiled wives and children of murdered Armenians. Owing to the horrible scenes daily near the school, our work is absolutely valueless.
“Girls, boys, and women, practically naked, lie on the ground amid the coffins which are waiting to receive them. Of 3000 healthy peasant women driven here from Upper Armenia, only 50 are left, and they are reduced to skeletons. The good looking ones have been decimated by the vice of the gaolers, and the ugly ones victimised by beatings, hunger, and thirst. Those living near the water's edge are not even allowed to drink. Europeans are prohibited from distributing bread. More than one hundred corpses are taken daily from Aleppo.
“All this has been witnessed by high Turkish officials. Fifty people, reduced to skeletons, are lying in a heap near the school. They are practically insane, and have forgotten how to eat.
“The natives declare that the Germans are responsible. Educated Turks and Arabs shake their heads sorrowfully when they see the brutal soldiers drag through the town pregnant women, whom they beat with cudgels. The scenes we have witnessed are degrading to mankind, and unless stopped, they will be a terrible stain on the honour of Germans for generations to come.”
The document bears the signatures of the director, Huber M. Spieler, and Doctors Niepage and Graetner.
In an accompanying letter, Dr. Graetner says: “This is not only a massacre, but an attempt to exterminate the Armenians in Turkey. Talaat Bey's officials have cynically admitted this to the German Consul. Some 18.000 Armenians were driven out of Charput and Sivas, but only 450 reached Aleppo. Many of these were driven on to the Syrian steppes, where the survivors endure a miserable existence. I have seen many corpses floating in the Euphrates, and lying on the steppe.
“With few exceptions, the Germans witness those things unperturbed, saying they are afraid to interfere lest they offend the Turks.
“The Armenians at Urfa, seeing the fate of their compatriots, refused to leave the town. Thereupon Count von Wolfskel ordered a bombardment. A thousand Armenians surrendered, but be had not the power to prevent all being massacred.”
