8 Ağustos 2019 Perşembe

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

//Ed. Note: In this section of his report, pharmacist Muzaffer
Akpınar recounts the threats the inmates endured from 
outside the camp, conversions to Christianity and a spy
in their midst.//

larissa athens highway map ile ilgili görsel sonucu
The road mentioned ran by the camp near Ilia on the map
above, north of Athens.


Because the Yenişehir highway passed through the garrison, the insults 
hurled at us by passers-by became intolerable.  One day a cavalry 
soldier stopped in front of the garrison while on the highway.  I was 
there with two other fellows.  The Greek soldier demanded to know if
there was one among us from Afyonkarahisar.  We said yes, which 
prompted him to take out his revolver.  I was able to hide behind a 
mulberry tree as he fired.  There were cries of contempt from our tents, 
as a prisoner from Aydin in one of them was hit by a bullet that went 
through one shoulder and out the other.   

And although the guards saw all this happen, they did nothing.  The 
shooter then turned his animal and continued on his way.  Greek 
soldiers who had been rescued from the panic in Anatolia were being 
transported by train to Thrace each day and for the sake of revenge 
they would fire their gun at us as they passed by.  Fortunately, the 
shots these dogs fired didn’t kill anyone but two fellows were 
wounded and treated by the prisoner doctors among us. 

The prisoners were given no clothes and would roam around stark 
naked.  At times, a rumor would spread that the Dutch Ambassador or 
a representative from the American Red Cross would be coming to 
visit.  This would prompt great activity in the camp, with some of us 
being given clothes, others blankets and others boots by the Greeks.  
Since the number of those in need of clothing was just about equal to 
the camp’s entire population,  some prisoners were shunted to the fields 
surrounding the garrison for a couple of hours.  As soon as the visitors 
left, the distributed items would be retrieved by the Greeks right away 
and the prisoners in the fields would return to the camp. 

At our prison camp, among us were some district chiefs, senior 
bureaucrats, inspectors, judges, court officials, doctors, pharmacists and 
many other officials.  On the slightest pretext they would be taken to jail 
or made to dig latrine ditches.  A young prisoner named İbrahim was 
taken from the pavillion by an armed guard one night and the next day 
we found out they had converted him to Christianity.  Complaints we 
made to the camp commander and the prisoner inspectorship went for 
naught.  Anyone who wanted to pursue the matter was threatened and 
sent away. 

pow mail turkey ile ilgili görsel sonucu

Letters that came from prisoners’ families were only given to the 
prisoners in exchange for money.  In other words, each prisoner had 
to pay to read the letters from his family.  Those without money went
from tent to tent trying to borrow money so they could buy their letters.
There were 6 Turkish officers at our prison camp.  One was a captain, 
three were first lieutenants and the other two were second lieutenants.  
They were given 400 drahmas each month for their expenses – in the 
later times a drahma was worth 60 kuruş – and they could not get by 
with this amount of money.  So to the extent possible, they tried to get 
money from their families.   Those who could not, borrowed from 
many fellows at the camp in order to get along.  The Greeks treated 
them as they would a Turkish private.  In their tents thye had neither 
cots to sleep on nor blankets. 

A Turkish Spy in the Camp:

There was also a fellow named Mehmed Bey.  This dishonorable creep 
was also known by the name Georgian Mehmet Bey and he was a 
captain in the Karamürsel militia.  He identified himself as a 
Gendarmerie captain.  He was friendly with the Greeks, converted to 
Christianity by marriage and was given a permit by the Greeks to roam 
freely, so he acted as their spy in the camp.  This ignorant dog was a 
low-life and without honor.  He was given largesse by the Greeks, who 
declared that if there was a gentleman among the Turkish officers then 
it would be Mehmed Bey.

//END of PART XXVIII-G//

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