South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-04-26
ARMENIAN RACE
BEING WIPED OUT
Hundreds Die in MaSSaCreS
and From Brutal Treat
ment of Gendarme Guard.

LONDON. April Pa CORES
rondent OF the Chronicle describes
.She Turkish massacres in Armenia
as follows.
The recent Armenian massaCre5,
an which Il is feared that from 500
600 TO 1000 600 have persisted. or
are destined 10 perish. In exile. rep
resent the "a holesale exterminaticn
q a rare That perhaps G quarter
OF a million escaped 20 Transcauca-
Ella does not alter The fact that The
Young Turks Intended 10 make
away with them en- bloc. with the
exception Of the Armenian col
onies OF Constantinople. smyrna.
and one or two Their ports.
Tho reasons. alleged by their exc
cutioners. were that 1he Armenians
had been melted to revolt by tho
entente powers. in cooperation with
ire Russian offensive movement.
that their wholesale deportation was
3 measure dictated 5y imperative
military necessity. and that repres-
sive measures " ere not undertaken
against the Armenians until June,
v hen they rose in Van and other
places in the war zone and joined
hands with the enemy.
As a matter of fact the depOrta-
ton Of Armenians from places
widely removed from the theater
Of war commenced as early as April.
and synchronized with the syste
matte massacre of most OF the able
bodied males. SO that at one blow
IL 4 loo ION.
y ere deprived % their natural de-
tenders.
Poignant Page of History.
The residue. consisting for the
most part Of old men, women and
children, we're upr0oted from their
homes and sent across Asia Minor,
the great majority on foot, until
such as survived reached their des-
5inatiOns in the deserts OF Syria. The
tortured progress of these unfortu-
mates, at the mercy Of their brutal
gendarIna escorts or Of the savage
kurdish tribes who attacked them
on the road. affords one Of the most
poignant pages in history.
The present writer, who spent
two years I'm Armenia. in an official
position. can safely say that. even
III normal times, their condition was
nitoeether uncomfortable They were
treated as a subject and inferior
race. and could get neither justice
nor protection. Their only hope
lay In internal reform. a vain hopee
mover realized IN the face Of de-
termined Turkish opposition Nor
could they look for help. as could
the Greeks and Bulgars. TO rescue
them from Turkish tyranny.
II Is not surprising. therefore
hiatt when Turkey declared war
upon the entente the Armenians
secretly prayed for the success Of
the allies. though they renamed
perfectly quiet. well knowing that
any premature ebullition Of sym
pathy would bring swift retrlbu-
ton.
All the instructions which took
place occurred in consequence OF
the measures taken by the govern
ment against the Armenians. Such
"a escaped the masSacres fed 20
the mountains and joined others in
like case.
The Armenians Of Van. when. in
April. they saw massacres occurring
In districts TO the northwest OF tho
Lake. rose in arms in self defense.
entrenched themselves in the gar
den quarter of the cOwn, and held
Out until the arrival Of the Rus
SLAMS in June.
The neutrality-suspicious. mountain
GERS In Sasun and Zeitun resisted
desperately to the last. until all
we're eNterminated I'm one or two
other places the Armenians. where
they had arms, resisted In an cases
where such opposition was made.
hOlesale massacrCs ensded
Forced To submit.
Elsewhere i'm Anatolia the AZ
menians only existed as scattered