The sun., 1919-06-01
ARMENIAN GIRLS
TELL OF HORRORS
Scores Live I'm Captivity
Naked and Suffering From
Repeated Beatings.
POOR ONES SLAUGHTERED
Circassians Club to Death
LOO Who Are Unable to
Pay Ransom.

Verified stories OF the Dreadful treat
ment Of Armenians by tho Turks and
Arabs were contained In a statement
issued yesterday by the American Com
mittee for Armenian and Syrian Relief.
These stories were obtained by DR..
Loyal L. Writ. member of an expedition
sent TO Turkey by the commission who
holds afiidavits from numerous narrae
tors. These tales constitute q tragic
chapter Of the war They were not iso-
lated cases but. in some instances. were
the experiences of as many as 5000 ref
usees who had been torn from their
homes.
Hundreds OF girls were torn from the
other members Of their family and taken
none knows where by the Turks. Kurds
or Circassians. Scores were compelled
to live in captivity naked for months
and suffering from sun-blisters and beat
inga Armenian girls who escaped
death were bartered like cattle. After
their fathers or relatives had vainly
fathers or friends murdered. In the
tents OF the Arabs In the Syrian desert
many were bound and forcibly tattoed
on the forehead, lips and chin to mark
them as Moslem women.
Poorer Victims Are Killed.
Generally. the stories Indicate that
the captives were moved sometimes In
large groups from Armenia southwark
toward the desert of Syria The stories
told by at least three Armenian Chris
tian girls deal with tina movements OF
one OF these great groups consisting of
1000 families or 5000 persons.
One story OF this awful journey into
the desert was told by Takouhi Gueze-
kuchukian, girl OF eighteen who with
her father. mother four sisters and
brother was deported from Hadjin,
Adana province. In May, 1915. They
were moved southwark to Aleppo and
thence further on toward the Syrian
desert until the party numbered about
1000 families. At Sivaria, she said.
they were told that on payment OF 5000
Turkish liras they would be allowed to
return,
The refugees said they could not give
this amount" the Armenian girl told
DR.. Kennedy. one Of DR.. wirt's as
sistants. Then the Circassians and
tie tribes Of Chechens who had con-
troll OF them. separated out 1.100 of the
poorer families and took them away.
The same evening some Of these people
returned and said they had escaped and
that four hours after they left the Che
chens had begun to kill them with
reconstructed clubs. The remaining fam
lilies raised 1900 pounds and sent a dep
utation OF fifty-two men with It to buy
their security. The amount was refused
and the men were beaten and sent back.
They raised an additional 500 liras
and took 1000 Turkish pounds in gold
to the Circassian Beys, who took the
money and tried to force them to sign n
paper saying the Armenians had paid
no money to them. The deputation re-
fused to dc this and the fifty-two men
were bound and taken away"
A few days later. according to the
girls story. the remaining families were
deported from Sivaria and after eight
days arrived at Shedadieh, on the river
Habour east Of DER Es-Zor.
ION the way" the girls story went on,
$50 men were separated and taken
away and soon after the Circassians re-
turned and divided among themselves
some Of the clothing which she recog-
mixed as belonging to some OF the men
whom they had taken away. The next
day 400 more men were taken away and
killed" As the refugees resumed their
Journey on the following morning she
saw the bodies of some OF the men she
knew. They had been dubbed to death.
stripped by Arabs.
"A few days after this" reads the
narrative, they were told that for safe
ty each family OF women and children
was to go to the house Of an Arab. The
Arabs robbed them and stripped them
of their clothing and sent them back to
the Circasstans who began at once to
kill them with knives, women and chill
dren, about $50 in all. Twenty-Five boys
and eleven girls were saved and taken
to the tents of the Circassians. Takouhi
was taken with her sister to the village
Of Gerbelleh. where she was beaten be-
cause she did not give them gold they
believed she had"
After having been kept a while by a
Circassian she and her sister were sent
TO another Chechen and then TO the
house OF another Circassian in Shegrush
She is now I'M the orphanage at Aleppo
and her sister is in an Armenian house
in Nusebin.
Other incidents, evidently dealing with
this terrible journey OF the Armenians to
by Araxa Barutjian, a girl Of seventeen
who was q pupil in the American girls
school at Ada-Bazaar. in the western
portion OF Asia Minor near Constantt-
nople. She spoke English.
AT Shedadieh," the narrative says
"she saw a party of 800 men. women
and children all naked. 1t was In July
and their backs had been blistered by
the sun and many Of them had bruises
all over their limbs and bodies and sores
caused by the beatings they had re-
ceived. During the heat OF the day
they would lie covered in the water, as
the pain in the sun was unbearable.
Before she arrived at Shedadieh two
OF her brothers died at Bah and her
father at another place. AS the Arabs
were taking only unmarried girls from
among the refugees. her mother told
them she was married. At Shedadieh
her mother was sold TO one Arab and
she to another and the girl lived in his
house for a year"
COTTAGE FAMINE IN NEWPORT