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The American Who Saved 250,000 From Death During The Armenian Genoci

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  • The American Who Saved 250,000 From Death During The Armenian Genoci

    THE AMERICAN WHO SAVED 250,000 FROM DEATH DURING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    An American minister organized a last-minute sea rescue of 250,000
    people from the Ottoman city of Smyrna at the height of the Armenian
    genocide

    US Navy Memorial

    The final chapter of the genocide that swept Turkey at the beginning
    of the 20th century was written in Smyrna, one of the richest and
    most cosmopolitan cities of the Ottoman Empire.

    It was there, in Smyrna, where a small-town minister from upstate New
    York put together one of the most astonishing rescues in history. He
    saved the lives of tens of thousands of Christian women and children.

    His name was Asa Kent Jennings, and he is worth remembering now at the
    centennial of the Armenian genocide. His memory is also timely now that
    the problem of Christian persecution has arisen again in the Mideast
    and refugees are flooding out of Africa seeking safety in Europe.

    Jennings was an unlikely hero. Barely over 5 feet tall with a crooked
    back that was an artifact of a bout with tuberculosis, Jennings had
    only recently arrived as an employee of the YMCA, which had a chapter
    in the city.

    Asa Kent Jennings organized a huge last-minute rescue mission from
    Turkey

    Roger Jennings

    The time was September 1922, and the Turkish nationalist army had
    entered the city and soon set to slaughtering its Christian residents
    -- both Armenians and Greeks. Tens of thousands of refugees who had
    fled the country's interior ahead of the Turkish army were packed in
    the city's streets and churchyards and along its waterfront.

    On September 13, the Armenian section of the city was afire -- probably
    to dispose of the corpses that lay in the streets -- and soon the fire
    spread to the rest of Smyrna. The city was a hell of heat and Turkish
    brutality for the helpless people gathered there. Nearly all of the
    refugees were pushed to a narrow band of pavement of the city's Quay
    between the fire and the sea.

    Ironically, warships from Britain, the United States, France and
    Italy were in Smyrna's harbor at the time of slaughter and fire and
    at first chose not to get involved. Eventually, the British saved a
    few thousands as the fire pushed the refugees into the sea, but when
    the fire died down, the rescue effort ended. About 80 percent of the
    city had been destroyed.

    Hundreds of thousands of pitiful people were left to die on the city's
    waterfront. Soon, hunger, thirst and disease began to take their tolls.

    The situation seemed hopeless. There were no ships available or willing
    them to transport the people from Smyrna, and the Turkish army began
    marching them into the interior, where they would be killed or often
    marched until exhaustion took their lives.

    Then, incredibly, Jennings, who had set up a First-Aid station for
    pregnant women in an abandoned house on the waterfront, went into
    action. He later said that he had felt the hand of God on his shoulder.

    The next several days would make history. Using a bribe, a lie and
    ultimately an empty threat, Jennings was able to assemble a fleet of
    ships and to enlist the help of the US Navy in a rescue plan. With the
    assistance of a brave young naval officer, who was skirting his orders,
    the Jennings evacuation removed a quarter-million refugees from Smyrna
    to the Greek islands and the cities of Piraeus and Salonika in only
    seven days. It was just in time to meet a Turkish deadline for their
    removal from the city or face deportations.

    Strangely, Jennings' story is mostly unknown to Americans, and he
    stands as one of the humanitarian heroes of the 20th century.

    Jennings, who died in 1933, remains a testament to the power of
    compassion in action. He had a courageous willingness to come to the
    aid of people in distress -- people who are the victims of religious
    intolerance and war -- qualities that would be welcome today.

    Asa Jennings' story is told in the new book, The Great Fire: One
    American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First
    Genocide, published by HarperCollins.

    http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-24/american-who-saved-250000-death-during-armenian-genocide

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