The Situation of the Assyrians in the Middle East in Period World War I
Paweł Letko
Zakład Europy Wschodniej, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Kurta Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztynhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8322-5499
Abstract
Assyrians are one of the least known ancient Christian communities in the Middle East. In the years 1914-1918, the Turkish authorities, with the participation of Kurds, began mass deportations and physical liquidation of Christians – Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. Until recently, the Assyrians were the most forgotten victims of this crime. In the collective memory of the Assyrians, the years of the First World War were inscribed as seyfo, which means a sword in Aramaic language. The term seyfo functions as a synonym of the holocaust of Assyrian Christians.
The article is an attempt to depict the genocide committed on the Assyrians in 1914-1918, taking into account the military and political background and the role played by world powers in the described events. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the basic reason for the extermination of the Assyrians was their religion and the fact that despite the threat of losing their lives, they did not want to give up. At the beginning of the First World War in the Ottoman Empire, Christians made up about 1/3 of the population. As a result of the events described, Christian-Muslim Turkey has become an entirely Muslim country.
Keywords:
Assyrians, genocide, Turkey, World War IReferences
Abdalla Michael, 2015, Seyfo: „Czy miecz będzie nieustannie pożerał?” (2 Sm 2,26), Miłujcie się! Katolicki Dwumiesięcznik Ewangelizacyjny, nr 1, s. 26.
Anzerlioğlu Yonca, 2010, The Revolts of Nestorian Christians Against the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, The Muslim World vol. 100, issue 1, s. 45-59.
Aprem Mar, 2000, The history of the Assyrian church of the east in the twentieth century with special reference to the Syriac literature in Kerala, St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, Kottayam.
Austin Herbert Henry, 1920, The Baqubah Refugee Camp. An Account of Work on behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians, The Faith Press, London-Manchester.
Azerbaijan: Statement, dated Tiflis, 22nd February, 1916, by Mr. M. Philips Price, War Correspondent for various British and American newspapers on the Caucasian Front; communicated to Aneurin Williams, Esq., M.P., and published in the Armenian journal “Ararat”, of London, March, 1916, w: The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Em-pire 1915-16. Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916.
Baum Wilhelm, Winkler Dietmar W., 2003, The Church of the East. A concise history, RoutledgeCurzon, London-New York.
Donabed Sargon George, 2010, Iraq and the Assyrian Unimagining: Illuminating Scaled Suffering and a Hierarchy of Genocide from Simele to Anfal, University of Toronto, Toronto.
Grabill Joseph L., 1971, Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East. Missionary Influence on American Policy, 1810–1927, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Historia Iranu, 2010, red. Anna Krasnowolska, Ossolineum, Wrocław.
Ishaya Arianne, 2006, Settling Into Diaspora: A History of Urmia Assyrians in the United States, Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol. 20, no. 1, s. 3-27.
Kucharczyk Grzegorz, 2015, Słowo wstępne, w: Neman Abed Msziho, Seyfo – ludobójstwo o którym nie wolno mówić. Dziennik seminarzysty o ludobójstwie Ormian i Asyryjczyków w roku 1895 i w latach I wojny światowej, przeł., opatrzył wstępem i przypisami Michael Abdalla, Wydawnictwo Agape, Poznań, s. 5-9.
Metin Barış, 2010, Urmiye ve Havalisinde Ermeni ve Nasturilerin Faaliyetleri (1917-1918), Journal of Gazi Academic View, Vol. 4, Issue 7, s. 153-163.
Naayem Joseph, 1921, Shall this nation die?, Chalden rescue, New York.
Neman Abed Msziho, 2015, Seyfo – ludobójstwo o którym nie wolno mówić. Dziennik se-minarzysty o ludobójstwie Ormian i Asyryjczyków w roku 1895 i w latach I wojny światowej, przeł., opatrzył wstępem i przypisami Michael Abdalla, Wydawnictwo Agape, Poznań.
Refugees from Hakkiari: letter, dated Diliman, 1st /14th April, 1916, from Surma, the sis-ter of Mar Shimun, to mrs. D. S. Margoliouth, of Oxford, w: The Treatment of Armeni-ans in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16.
Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916.
Sari Mustafa, 2012, Milli Mücadele Başlarında Bir Devlet Adamı: Van Valisi Haydar (Vaner) Bey, History Studies Vol. 4/1, s. 449-488.
Shaw Stanford J., Shaw Ezel Kural, 2012, Historia Imperium Osmańskiego i Republiki Tureckiej, t. 2, 1808-1975, Wydawnictwo Akademickie Dialog, Warszawa.
Stafford R. S., 1935, The tragedy of the Assyrians, George Allen & Unwin, London.
Surma D’Bait Mar Shimun, Assyrian Church Customs and the murder of Mar Shimun, The Faith Press 1920.
[Shimun Mar Eshai XXIII], 1934, The Assyrian Tragedy, Annemasse.
Top Mehmet, 2010, Hakkari, Hakkari.
Travis Hannibal, 2006, „Native Christians Massacred”: The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians during World War I, Genocide Studies and Prevention, Vol. 1, Issue 3, s. 327-371.
Travis Hannibal, 2010, Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Su-dan, Carolina Academic Press, Durham.
Urmia: letter, dated Urmia, 25th May, 1915, from the Rev. Y. M. Nisan to the Rev. P. N. Heazell, Organising Secretary of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assyrian Mission, [w:] The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16. Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916, s. 156-157.
Yonan Gabriele, 1989, Ein vergessener Holocaust: die Vernichtung der christlichen Assyrer in der Türkei, Fuldaer Verlagsanstalt, Göttingen-Wien.
Константин Архиепископ Курганский и Шадринский, 2012, История православной миссии в Иране, Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии, 2 (4), s. 12-38
Саввидис-Хофманн Тесса, 2012, Собратья по геноциду, АНИВ” № 2 (41), s. 10-16.
Саргизов Лев Михайлович, 1996, Ассирийцы Турции и Ирана в период первой мировой войны, Вестник общественных наук (Ереван), № 4, s. 73-82.
Anzerlioğlu Yonca, 2010, The Revolts of Nestorian Christians Against the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, The Muslim World vol. 100, issue 1, s. 45-59.
Aprem Mar, 2000, The history of the Assyrian church of the east in the twentieth century with special reference to the Syriac literature in Kerala, St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, Kottayam.
Austin Herbert Henry, 1920, The Baqubah Refugee Camp. An Account of Work on behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians, The Faith Press, London-Manchester.
Azerbaijan: Statement, dated Tiflis, 22nd February, 1916, by Mr. M. Philips Price, War Correspondent for various British and American newspapers on the Caucasian Front; communicated to Aneurin Williams, Esq., M.P., and published in the Armenian journal “Ararat”, of London, March, 1916, w: The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Em-pire 1915-16. Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916.
Baum Wilhelm, Winkler Dietmar W., 2003, The Church of the East. A concise history, RoutledgeCurzon, London-New York.
Donabed Sargon George, 2010, Iraq and the Assyrian Unimagining: Illuminating Scaled Suffering and a Hierarchy of Genocide from Simele to Anfal, University of Toronto, Toronto.
Grabill Joseph L., 1971, Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East. Missionary Influence on American Policy, 1810–1927, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Historia Iranu, 2010, red. Anna Krasnowolska, Ossolineum, Wrocław.
Ishaya Arianne, 2006, Settling Into Diaspora: A History of Urmia Assyrians in the United States, Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol. 20, no. 1, s. 3-27.
Kucharczyk Grzegorz, 2015, Słowo wstępne, w: Neman Abed Msziho, Seyfo – ludobójstwo o którym nie wolno mówić. Dziennik seminarzysty o ludobójstwie Ormian i Asyryjczyków w roku 1895 i w latach I wojny światowej, przeł., opatrzył wstępem i przypisami Michael Abdalla, Wydawnictwo Agape, Poznań, s. 5-9.
Metin Barış, 2010, Urmiye ve Havalisinde Ermeni ve Nasturilerin Faaliyetleri (1917-1918), Journal of Gazi Academic View, Vol. 4, Issue 7, s. 153-163.
Naayem Joseph, 1921, Shall this nation die?, Chalden rescue, New York.
Neman Abed Msziho, 2015, Seyfo – ludobójstwo o którym nie wolno mówić. Dziennik se-minarzysty o ludobójstwie Ormian i Asyryjczyków w roku 1895 i w latach I wojny światowej, przeł., opatrzył wstępem i przypisami Michael Abdalla, Wydawnictwo Agape, Poznań.
Refugees from Hakkiari: letter, dated Diliman, 1st /14th April, 1916, from Surma, the sis-ter of Mar Shimun, to mrs. D. S. Margoliouth, of Oxford, w: The Treatment of Armeni-ans in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16.
Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916.
Sari Mustafa, 2012, Milli Mücadele Başlarında Bir Devlet Adamı: Van Valisi Haydar (Vaner) Bey, History Studies Vol. 4/1, s. 449-488.
Shaw Stanford J., Shaw Ezel Kural, 2012, Historia Imperium Osmańskiego i Republiki Tureckiej, t. 2, 1808-1975, Wydawnictwo Akademickie Dialog, Warszawa.
Stafford R. S., 1935, The tragedy of the Assyrians, George Allen & Unwin, London.
Surma D’Bait Mar Shimun, Assyrian Church Customs and the murder of Mar Shimun, The Faith Press 1920.
[Shimun Mar Eshai XXIII], 1934, The Assyrian Tragedy, Annemasse.
Top Mehmet, 2010, Hakkari, Hakkari.
Travis Hannibal, 2006, „Native Christians Massacred”: The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians during World War I, Genocide Studies and Prevention, Vol. 1, Issue 3, s. 327-371.
Travis Hannibal, 2010, Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Su-dan, Carolina Academic Press, Durham.
Urmia: letter, dated Urmia, 25th May, 1915, from the Rev. Y. M. Nisan to the Rev. P. N. Heazell, Organising Secretary of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assyrian Mission, [w:] The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16. Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Viscount Bryce, New York-London 1916, s. 156-157.
Yonan Gabriele, 1989, Ein vergessener Holocaust: die Vernichtung der christlichen Assyrer in der Türkei, Fuldaer Verlagsanstalt, Göttingen-Wien.
Константин Архиепископ Курганский и Шадринский, 2012, История православной миссии в Иране, Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии, 2 (4), s. 12-38
Саввидис-Хофманн Тесса, 2012, Собратья по геноциду, АНИВ” № 2 (41), s. 10-16.
Саргизов Лев Михайлович, 1996, Ассирийцы Турции и Ирана в период первой мировой войны, Вестник общественных наук (Ереван), № 4, s. 73-82.
Letko, P. (2019). The Situation of the Assyrians in the Middle East in Period World War I. Studia Warmińskie, 56, 405–421. https://doi.org/10.31648/sw.2525
Paweł Letko
Zakład Europy Wschodniej, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Kurta Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztyn
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8322-5499
Zakład Europy Wschodniej, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Kurta Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztyn
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8322-5499
