The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-25
AND TEUTON
Ambassador Morgenthau's Story of Great War Plots
By HENRY MoRGENTHAU.

ping at all Armenian villages along the
way, urging everybody to keep public
order. After completing their work
these -four Armenians were murdered
in a Kurdish village.
And so when Djevdet Bey, on his
return to his official post, demanded
that Van furnish him Immediately 1000
soldiers. the people were naturally in
no mood to aCcede to his request. When
we consider what had happened before
and what happened subsequently, there
remains little doubt concerning the pur-
pose which underlay this demand.
Djevdet, acting in obedience to orders
from ConCtantinople. was preparing to
wipe out the whole population, and
his purpose in calling for 1900 able
bodied men was merely to massacre
them, so that the rest of the Ar
menians might have no defenders. The
Armenians, parleying to gain time, Of
fered to furnish 500 soldiers and to
pay exemption money for the rest,
now, however, Djevdet began to talk
aloud about rebellion and his deter
mination to crush it at any cost,
declared, II shall kill every Christian
man, woman and child, up to here, "
pointing to his knee. For some time
the Turks had been constructing in
trenchnents around the Armenian
quarter and filling them with soldiers
tt4u, III ItSptllSt 10 lillS p|IONOCdLlOu
the Armenians began to make prepara-
tons for a defense, On April 20 a
band OF Turkish soldiers seized several
Armenian women who were entering
the city, a couple OF Armenians ran to
their assistance and were shot dead
The Turks now opened fire on the
Armenian quarters with rifles and ar
tillery; soon a large part of the town
was in flames and a regular siege had
started, The whole Armenian fighting
force consisted Of only 1900 men; they
had only 300 rifles and a most made
quatc supply Of ammunition, while
Djevdet had an army Of 5000 men,
completely equipped and supplied. Yet
the Armenians fought with the utmost
heroism n skill. they had little
chance Of holding off their enemies in
definitely. but they knew that a Rus
sian army was fighting its way to
Van and their utmost hope was that
they would be able to defy the be
siegers until these Russians arrived,
As | am not writing the story of sieges
and battles, l can not describe in de
tail the numerous acts of individual
heroism, the cooperation Of the Ar
menian women, the ardor and energy
of the Armenian children, the self
sacrificing zeal OF the American mis-
wife and Miss Grace II. Knapp, and
the thousand other circumstances tina
make this terrible month one OF the
most glorious pages in modern Arme,
Man history. The wonderful thine
about 1t is that the Armenians tri.
umphed, After nearly five weeks OF
sleeplesS fighting. the Russian army
suddenly appeared and the Turks fled
into the surrounding country, where
they found appeasement for their an
ger by again massaCreing unprotected
Armenian villages. DR.. Usher, the
American medical missionary whose
hospital at Van was destroyed by BON.
bardment, is authority for the state.
ment that, after driving off the Turks
the Russians began to collect and tc
Cremate the bodies OF Armenians whC
had been murdered in the province
with the result that IS, 900 bodies were
burned,
have told this story of the "revo.
luton in Van not only because il
marked the first stage in this organ.
lied attempt to wipe out a whole ma.
ton, but because these events are al.
ways brought forward by the Turks a!
a justification of their %subseuuen'
crimes. AS | shall relate, Enver, TIA,
laat and the rest, when | appealed t
them in behalf of the Armenians, in,
variahly instanced the 'revolutionists'
of, Van as a sample of Armenian
treachery. The famous revolution
as this recital shows, was merely thu
determination OF the Armenians tc
save their women's honor and thei-
own lives. after the Turks, by massa.
creing thousands of their neighbors
had shown them the fate that awaited
them.