The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-10

the Spanish inquisition, the cruelties of the middle ages all are surpassed in the records of the Turkish outrages.
 Auction of Souls first shows the Armenian people happy and contented on their hillsides in the shadow of ancient Mt Ararat. Then the Turks encourage by the Germans, who found technical ity in that the Armenians were under Russian protection, decided upon de- portat tion of hundreds of thousands of them.
 Their homes are entered and pillaged 1000 of their men are incinerated in one building. into which they have beer lured with the story that they are wanted to cast ballot, and commands are post ed everywhere demanding an immediate departure for lands several hundreds of miles distant.
 DECORATIONS BRUTAL
 Young and old weak and strong, a few of their possessions in bundles, are whipped into lines and march into the desert. Women una be to carry their crying children see the babies killed be fore their eyes. Men and women perish from thirst. Footsore and exhausted. the old are left to die in the torrid sun.
 AURORA LOSES ALL KIN
 Separated from her lover, her parents. brothers and sisters killed, for eighteen months she is fugitive upon the desert Marched off with thousands, she man ages to escape. and then is caught by the Kurds, the wild riders of the desert Here she witnesses their terrible game of hurling living girls upon the swords they have placed in the desert.
 Miss Aurora Mardignian is not a motion picture actress, but was induced to act for the films just what she per sonally passed through in Armenia IF 1915
 Miss Mardiganians inexperience before the camera is not apparent in the pie ture for she holds up her own end as well as any of the regular actors. Per haps her art is that born of the vivid memory of the horrible scenes through which she passed before escaping from her native land to come to America for further relief.
 DAUGHTER OF BANK FER
 She is the daughter of former prosper ous banker at Harpout. and was Is years old when the war broke out. Be- ing a beautiful girl she attracted Turkish official who wished to make her his wife imposing upon her his own religion and the lowly state of Turkish women.
 Her father refused to give her up When the massacres of the Armenians started. carried on by the Turks under a secret agreement WllH lne tIcTI1dnS, tIc 4hO- hammedans made further efforts to get possession of the girl. After seeing her father, mother. two brothers and three sisters brutalv slain, she entered upon a series of adventures which prove that life may be more exciting than the wild est dream of the fictionist.
 She goes through an untold succession of horrible scenes, escapes from the Turks, is captured by the wild Kurds of hn sold oa O cl mt y1 harem, takes refuge with monks, and at last is saved by the British who sent her to America where she has talked and written of and finally acted out her ex- periences.
 RECORD OF FACT
 Auction of Souls" is a record of fact. IL pictures the story of Aurora Mardi- ganian. sole survivor of 100000 young Ar menian girls who were killed during the period of terror created by the Turks in 1915 when it was decided to report the Armenians and annihlats them as na- ton.
 The picture is based upon Miss Mardi- ganian's own story of her amazing es- cape after two years of terrors. Every accusation of harbarism she charges against the Turks is verified by viscount James Bryce, former British ambassa- dor to the United States who headed a commission which was sent into Armenia to report the facts, and by Henry Nor genthau. American ambassador to Tur- key in 1915.
 While the interest centres around the experiences of the sole surviving Ar menian girl. international characters are figures. One of the pictured events shows meeting between the Sultan of Turkey. a weak old man, Enyer Pasha, who later became the cruel military dic- tator, the German ambassador, and Henry Morgenthau, the American ambas- sador. At this meeting MT. Morgenthau made a last vain plea for the Armen-