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

//Ed. Note: This is the second of 4 POW reports from 
civilian Turkish prisoners from Edremit.  The very
lengthy and detailed reports of lawyer Faik Kemâl
and Pharmacist Muzaffer, mentioned here, will follow
in the coming days.// 


Edremit is directly west of Balıkesir, on the Aegean
Sea coast.

Observations of a Member of the Edremit Municipality:

I was imprisoned a number of times on various pretexts during the ill-

omened Greek occupation.  Last year, in the Spring of 1921, I was 

accused, along with lawyer Faik Kemâl, pharmacist Muzaffer and 

other notables in the market bath of deciding to establish a secret 

organization.  Also, together with the aforementioned Faik Kemâl and 

Reji (Tobacco Monopoly) Director Fehmi Bey, I was accused of 

collecting 8,000 lira and sending it to the Balıkesir Revolutionary 

Committee.  

So in April 1922 I was arrested and after suffering many degradations 

and tortures, on 3 September 1922 we were sent in handcuffs to Izmir, 

supposedly for trial.  In Izmir we were paraded around and repeatedly 

threatened with death.  On 6 September 1922, myself and 19 others 

were boarded onto a ferry  and transported to the Liosia (Lucia) prison 

camp in Athens.  Prior to this, we were subjected to all sort of torture 

and degradation at the Monastiraki Prison.  


Monastiraki (red marker). Liosia is about 12 kilometers 
directly north.

From 8 September 1922 until 28 February 1923, the oppression and 

ill-treatment we suffered and witnessed was so horrific it would make 

one’s hair bristle.  First of all, we were left hungry.  The thing they 

called bread was just black dough, mostly mixed with poisonous 

materials.  Secondly, the thing they called food wasn’t fit to eat by 

any living being, let alone by us.  Consequently, we went hungry but 

sustained ourselves by secretly buying food with our money.  There 

was no water at the camp so we had to have it brought from the 

surrounding gardens.  But those who went to get the water could only 

get permission by paying bribes.  Those with no money went without 

water, to their great dismay.

At the prison camp, the military guards had broad authority to beat, 

degrade and kill prisoners.  An unlucky prisoner going from one tent 

to another at night would be accused on some pretext – “you’re 

spilling water here!” and then be beaten to within an inch of his life.  

The punishment was lighter if you gave 5 or 10 francs.  There were a 

number of poor prisoners who died from such beatings.

The camp was along the Salonica (Thessaloniki)-Patras rail line and 

next to a third highway.  Louts on the train would throw rocks at the 

prisoners, shout insults and sometimes fire shots, together with death 

threats.  A Greek Gendarmerie cavalryman coming along the highway 

fired at our friend the lawyer Faik Kemâl but missed him, hitting an 

unfortunate fellow named Emin from Kütahya who had been captured 

in Tekirdağ.  Sick prisoners who cannot bear this sort of murderous 

atmosphere are taken to the hospital, where they are certain to die.  

No prisoner has ever returned alive from the hospital because they are

thrown on a concrete floor there and left to die.  The Turkish doctors 

among the prisoners protested but these protests backfired, resulting 

in punishments for them.

According to stories we heard from prisoners who came to Liosia from 

Thrace, Izmit and Bursa, they were left hungry and thirsty on ferries en 

route, with many prisoners being thrown into the sea.  They said that 

about 673 prisoners going from Thrace to Milos Island were dumped 

alive into the sea along the way.

milos island click here for more info from Part XXII.


                 Milos Island (circle at center of map).

Our letters are ripped up and kept from us.  Any money sent to us is kept, 

as well.  Whatever we can get is stolen from us by various means.  The 

Greek soldiers, who had the authority to beat and kill the prisoners during 

the night, robbed us either secretly or openly in our tents.  Anyone 

complaining about this thievery would be beaten in front of everyone, 

degraded, jailed and otherwise tortured.  The matter of relieving oneself 

was among the worst problems for the prisoners.  It was impossible to 

even approach the latrine trenches because of the stench.  Countless 

prisoners slipped and fell on the filth and mud and some even suffocated 

in the quagmire. 

In short, it is impossible for me to describe the horrors of captivity so I 

will have to be content with what I have written thus far.  We will have 

to carry in our hearts the horrific nightmare of the atrocities we 

experienced at the hands of the Greeks in captivity.  

In particular, in addition I ask that after the current revolutionary 

government settles into power, an organized program be implemented 

to investigate these tragedies and atrocities.

17 June 1923

Hüseyin Hüsnü of Edremit’s Hakimzade quarter and a member of 

the Edremit Municipality

//END of PART XXVI//