TNT POW Reports: Turks in Greek Hands (1920-1923)/Part XII

//Ed. Note: This POW was captured east of Afyonkarahisar,
which was occupied by the Greek army from April 1921
until August 1922, and spent most of his captivity on 
Lefkada Island - see previous installments from this TNT 
series for more on Lefkada.//



This POW was taken from Afyonkarahisar to Kütahya and 
from there to Izmir, before being transported to Athens and 
Lefkada Island.

The Statement of Lieutenant Kadir, son of Şükrüof the Hamzaoğullar 

from Yeni Cami Quarter in Izmir, who has returned from captivity:

I was taken prisoner while injured, along with two soldiers whose names 

I do not know, on 15 July 1921 in the vicinity of Nahuçalı, east of 

Afyonkarahisar. Subsequently, we were transported to Piraeus, Athens 

and the fortress on Lefkada Island, where there were about 270 prisoner 

officers.

During our transport from Greece,  I became aware that there were about 

600 civilian prisoners on Corfu Island and that their situation was quite 

deplorable.  I do not know who they are or where they are from. Each 

day 50-60 of them die from illness.  In Izmir I heard that a ship is being 

sent to return them to their hometowns.  I have no information about how

many prisoners there may be on other islands.

The only person who died in the fortress where we stayed was a 

pharmacist captain.  His particulars have been provided to the POW office 

in Izmir by Major Ali, who was the senior officer at Lefkada Island.  He 

died from bleeding hemorrhoids. 

          Corfu and Lefkad Islands on Greece's west coast.

Officers were given just 450 francs for food and salary.  Clothing was 

included in this amount.  The soldiers’ food was not good.  The treatment 

we received was very bad.  We were subject to all kinks of torture and 

insult.  We complained about the food and to have our salary increased  

but these complaints fell on deaf ears.

I fell into the hands of the Greeks while wounded in the vicinity of 

Nahuçalı.  They dragged me to the rear and while I was there they 

subjected me to every kind of torture, including insults and beatings.  

They did not bring me to a hospital. I learned that there were many others 

like me who suffered the same treatment on the road.  They killed a 

majority of the prisoners, the wounded in particular, and I personally 

witnessed this.   We waited at Kütahya for many days in this atmosphere 

of filth and degradation.  Finally I was taken to Izmir and from there, 

together with 30 officers, to Piraeus.  I do not know their names.  

The same degradation and torture continued.  In fact, at Yazapikmaz 

Prison in Athens we were purposely left hungry for 3 days.  We stayed 

in this prison for 15 days and were then transported to Lefkada Island, 

where we spent 20 months in the fortress. Here, as well, the Greeks 

inflicted every kind of degradation and torture on us.  We weren’t the 

Greek government’s prisoners, but rather, a sergeant’s.  From time to 

time the local Greeks would come to the fortress and, thinking that the 

Greeks were going too easy on us, would incite our captors to be even 

more brutal.  Finally,  two months ago, because of the prisoner 

exchange, we were rescued from this misery. 

//END of PART XII//