Diary Entries: On the Massacres in Urfa and Izmir

Massacre in Urfa

The city of Urfa, located between Palestine and Karaman,¹ was the site of a very well-organized and previously planned massacre.

On the past August 18, exactly at noon, as soon as the muezzin ascended the mosque’s minaret and began his call, all the Muslims of the city arose from their places—as is now understood since it was planned in advance—and began to walk through the city—some with knives, some with swords, some with revolvers, and others with thick sticks whose heads were full of nails—to kill all the Christians that they encountered.

The killings lasted until the evening at 12 a la turka.² Then, the muezzin ascended the minaret and began his call, at which point all the killing seemed to stop. Between Armenians and Christians of other denominations, almost nine hundred people were murdered.

On September 28,³ there was another massacre, but this time it was of Armenians. A certain number of these unfortunates who were [hiding] in a locked Armenian church were bombarded and killed by the artillery that the famous Jamal Pasha had expressly sent from Sham [Damascus] for this effect.

Well done, liberty! Long live shmiberty! [ . . . ]

Wednesday, January 12, 1916

That which should have come to pass has arrived. There is no longer bread in the city, and muhtars [neighborhood headmen] are going from house to house with police counting all of the people to give them ration cards for 50, 100, or 200 dramas of bread (per person) from the public ovens 50, 100, or 200 every twenty-four hours.

This morning there was a knife-fight in front of an oven. Two Greeks both wanted bread. There was not enough for them at the oven. The watchman intervened and made use of his revolver . . . with the idea of taking for himself the bread that was in the oven. Knives flashed and there was blood.

In Irgat Bazar,⁴ a woman told me that she was making bran bread. The bread that is sold in the ovens has 80 dramas of wheat flower, 80 of barley, 80 of millet, 80 of dari,⁵ and 80 of acorn nuts. This is why it tastes so bitter.

This morning there were special prayers and readings in the churches and mosques so that our enemies might be cast from the Dardanelles.

Yesterday I learned of the death of a very well-known scourge of the Jews, D. S., the great spy and slanderer who was too-often seen milling around near the governor’s house and is always up to no good.

We had written a short time ago that a young son of R. Shemuel Amado and a young son of Arditi had been sent into exile together with sinyores Naḥum Bitran and Shelomo Padova. We regret to learn that the young Amado and the young Arditi have both unfortunately died, unable to withstand the fatigues of the journey. [ . . . ]

Friday, February 18 [1916]

Last night I dreamt that I was submerged in a pond of blood, drowning. My mother (who is already dead) took my clothes and washed them, and my father (also dead) said that he was going to bring me a doctor to save me.

How curious! Whenever I have found myself in stressful times, I have dreamt of my father and salvation came to me immediately. Now it is my mother who is also coming to my aid. Between these, I am very weak, so weak that I can neither walk nor stir myself, and I am almost even unable to see.

Tuesday, February 22

Yesterday there was no bread. There was none in almost all of the ovens and whole families went to bed without eating. There is also no meat in the city, whether kosher or treyf, because the local authorities are making cattle dealers suffer greatly with heavy duties, and thus, everyone is hungry. And the reason that the government is making these distinguished men struggle is in order to make the latter suffer—for they [cattle dealers] are all Greek—until they abandon their trade to the Turks. [ . . . ]

Wednesday, May 22 [1918]

In the interior, it is no longer possible to speak with the Turkish military officials and merchants who are committing a thousand injustices against the non-Muslim merchants.

Lies, schemes, ill deeds—all of this for the sake of profit, so they can enrich themselves, and if the Greek or the Armenian goes to complain to the authorities, woe to him, his business, and his soul.

As for the Jews, in some places there has begun a sort of boycott against them due to the question of Jerusalem, a question that remains unknown to most [people], including many high-placed functionaries. I am certain of this and of this news. And while I may not know the root cause of boycott, I certainly do know that the Committee of Union and Progress gave some order and a secret communique to this effect.