The following are excerpts from “The First Adana Massacre,” a chapter from Cilicia 1909 — The Massacre of Armenians, by Hagop H. Terzian, an eye-witness to the massacre. The book1 was published by Taderon Press for a commemorative event in Los Angeles in 2009 by special arrangement for the Gomidas Institute.
The Muslim crowd, made up of Turks, Kurds, Fellas, Cherkez, Arabs, Gypsies, and Cretan refugees split up into 5-10 groups and continued looting, attacking, and killing as they moved towards the centre of the city. We, having retired to our houses in our quarters, didn’t know about the massacres taking place outside and only heard gunfire and saw the looters escape as we waited for the arrival of government troops.
* * *
Armenians in the Turkish quarters (i.e. outside the main Armenian quarters) were all massacred; we, in the centre, knew nothing of these killings.
* * *
The cries of those begging for help, the noise of the guns, the sound of the animals, the screams of the mob, and those of the mob’s leaders—the sheikhs’ and hodjas’ loud prayers—all filled together, filled the air.
* * *
When we understood that crying, sobbing, begging for help and surrendering were of no use, and seeing that the government soldiers and policemen had joined the mob, we were forced, at a critical moment, to defend ourselves fiercely. If we had been even a little late in doing so, there is no doubt that we would all have been finished off. Thus, a group of youths had the courage to go into the street and face the bloodthirsty mob.
* * *
The mob of tens of thousands weren’t brave enough to stand up to these few young men and began to flee. The enormous crowd, terrified of the bravery of this small group of Armenians, began to run away, shouting, “Ermeni fedayileri geliyor!” (Armenian fedayis are coming). The truth was that there were no fedayis. It was that we didn’t want to die, and we defended ourselves against their attack with all our strength.
* * *
The remaining Adana Armenians survived the first massacre thanks to the defence put up by the 173 brave young men recorded above, who stood up against a mob of about 30,000 people.
1Cilicia 1909 – The Massacre of Armenians
By Hagop H. Terzian
Translated by Ara Stepan Melkonian
Edited by Ara Sarafian
A Special Centennial Publication
ISBN 978-1-903656-95-2
146 pages
The Muslim crowd, made up of Turks, Kurds, Fellas, Cherkez, Arabs, Gypsies, and Cretan refugees split up into 5-10 groups and continued looting, attacking, and killing as they moved towards the centre of the city. We, having retired to our houses in our quarters, didn’t know about the massacres taking place outside and only heard gunfire and saw the looters escape as we waited for the arrival of government troops.
Armenians in the Turkish quarters (i.e. outside the main Armenian quarters) were all massacred; we, in the centre, knew nothing of these killings.
The cries of those begging for help, the noise of the guns, the sound of the animals, the screams of the mob, and those of the mob’s leaders—the sheikhs’ and hodjas’ loud prayers—all filled together, filled the air.
When we understood that crying, sobbing, begging for help and surrendering were of no use, and seeing that the government soldiers and policemen had joined the mob, we were forced, at a critical moment, to defend ourselves fiercely. If we had been even a little late in doing so, there is no doubt that we would all have been finished off. Thus, a group of youths had the courage to go into the street and face the bloodthirsty mob.
The mob of tens of thousands weren’t brave enough to stand up to these few young men and began to flee. The enormous crowd, terrified of the bravery of this small group of Armenians, began to run away, shouting, “Ermeni fedayileri geliyor!” (Armenian fedayis are coming). The truth was that there were no fedayis. It was that we didn’t want to die, and we defended ourselves against their attack with all our strength.
The remaining Adana Armenians survived the first massacre thanks to the defence put up by the 173 brave young men recorded above, who stood up against a mob of about 30,000 people.
By Hagop H. Terzian
Translated by Ara Stepan Melkonian
Edited by Ara Sarafian
A Special Centennial Publication
ISBN 978-1-903656-95-2
146 pages
No comments:
Post a Comment