28 Temmuz 2019 Pazar

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 haritası ile ilgili görsel sonucu
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 athens map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
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 map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
                 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//

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