Great Fire of Smyrna
The title is wrong, was it a fire or was it one of the first
uses of the word “genocide” ever used.
On 8th September 1922 Turkish troops entered the city during
the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). This was the last area the Turkish army had
to take to end the war. At first the army was orderly and kept control of the
city well but some Turks were after revenge mostly against the Armenians.
At this point many Greek people living in the area had accepted
the war was over and had made their way to the city trying to escape. But on
the 13th of September the historic great Fire started and it
started in the Armenian area of the city. But most people know this was not
just a fire and a death toll from 10,000 to 100,000 has been guessed by many
over the years.
The lynching of Chrysostomos of Smyrna (Greek Orthodox
bishop of Smyrna) was the starting point for the violence on the 9th
of September. The level of violence was so bad that many who fought in the war
to take the city reported it was much worse than the war itself.
As the fire rages on during the killing many thousands of
people were trapped in the harbor of the city trying to escape. This would go
on for many days all the up until the 22nd of September when the
fire was finally extinguished.
Diamanda Galas recorded a track for her Defixiones, Will and
Testament: Orders from the Dead album in 2003 the album is described as being "The
performance is an angry meditation on genocide and the politically cooperative
denial of it, in particular the Turkish and American denial of the Armenian,
Assyrian, and Anatolian Greek genocides from 1914 to 1923" one of the
tracks Orders from the Dead is about the Destruction & Massacre of Smyrna
in 1922. The following video has English translation for the song. This version
was covered by the Greek band Rotting Christ who added music to the vocals.
WARNING the video contains very graphic pictures of violence
and very graphic subtitles that translate the lyrics. Please don't watch if you feel it is not for you as it is hard to watch.
This song and video is why I have done this quick blog as
more research into this genocide sends shivers down my spine. Some of the
reports on the level of violence and sickening mutilation of not only adults
but children are simply horrific and not something I read as enjoyment.
Above all the information I found that ships from various
Allied powers in the harbor of Smyrna were ordered not to help anyone. Two US
war ships looked on as the killing and flames killed countless thousands. As
the killing makes a noise “people screaming” the US navy decided to play music
to drown out the noises. All other Allied boats did
nothing to help apart from one, A Japanese freighter, dumped all of its cargo
and filled itself to the brink with refugees, taking them to the Greek port of
Piraeus. The only act of kindness was by a Japanese boat. America still to this
day says this was only a Great Fire and the genocide of Smyrna is nothing but a
made up story.
The Greco-Turkish War started after the Ottoman Empire ended
and the partitioning of the lands started. Greece was promised lands in Turkey
thus starting the Greco-Turkish War. And who was it that promised lands? Yes
the British.
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