Sir Arthur H. Crosfield’s (1865-1938) letter published in the Manchester Guardian on May 10, 1922, contained a memorial from Greek women organizations in Asia Minor protesting about coming under Turkish rule once again.

Who was Arthur H. Crosfield? He was a Liberal MP for Warrington, England from 1906-10 and was created the first Baron of Highgate in 1915. Crosfield inherited a soap and candle business from his parents, which he sold in 1911. His wife Domini Crosfield (nee Elliadi) was born in England but her father had been a merchant in Smyrna. The Crossfields were well-known and well-connected in British Liberal circles and were also close to Lloyd George and Elefterios Venizelos. Crosfield was an ardent Philhellene who supported the Greek cause through his published letters to the editor in the Times of London and the Manchester Guardian.

His May letter mentions the deportation of four American relief workers from Kharput, in Turkey, in March 1922. The Director of the Near East Relief Unit of Kharput, Frank Yowell, is only person identified in Crosfield’s letter. I found the names of two other of these unnamed relief workers, doctors Ruth Parmalee and Mark Ward in the U.S. Department of State documents on Turkey. Unfortunately, I could not identify the fourth person. These relief workers had witnessed outrages committed by the Turks against Greeks and Armenians. Yowell stated that there was a Turkish law that prevented Armenians from reclaiming confiscated property taken by the Turkish government. Additionally, Christian “women forced into Moslem households as slaves” had no right to “appeal to any tribunal.”

The Greeks, like the Armenians, taken to Kharput were treated terribly by the Turks. Yowell revealed that out of 30,000 deportees some 5,000 of them had perished before they reached Kharput. More deportees died when they reached this destination. The relief workers were not allowed to assist children whose parents died en route and women were raped by Turkish soldiers. Yowell’s report mentioned that “the Turkish authorities frankly state it is their deliberate intention to let all Greeks die, and their actions support their” words. The last statement highlights the intent to commit genocide by the perpetrator.

Crosfield describes that deportations had become common with deportees enduring “prolonged mental and physical anguish, beyond the limits of human endurance.” Men and women witnessed each other’s suffering and could nothing to stop this “diabolical cruelty.” One can imagine the trauma experienced by children seeing inhumane treatment inflicted on their parents. Cries of mercy by the deportees to their perpetrators was scoffed at by Turks who jeered “at the impotence of their British and American friends and their Christian God to help them.”

The heart of Crosfield’s letter was the quote of a memorial signed by the “United feminine societies of Asia Minor representing the districts of Aidin, Axar, Odemish, Menemen, Cassaba, Baindir, Coula, and Adramitti” who were concerned about their future in Asia Minor. These societies protested against “the assertion that the Hellenic population of Asia Minor would willingly accept the reoccupation of the Turks of the territories now occupied by the Greek army.” They preferred to fight to maintain their freedom “from the yoke” of the Turk. They protested against any handover of territory from Greek to Turkish administration.

The memorial outlined a brief history of oppression spanning more than five centuries under Ottoman rule. During this period “women sang to their children songs [and] warm lullabies that spoke of liberty and of death.” Thousands died a martyr’s death where great powers did nothing to intervene, protect, stop, and punish the perpetrators for such horrific crimes. The perpetrators committed these crimes with impunity knowing that no punishment would be forthcoming. For the last three years, the presence of the Greek army was an important element in saving many lives from deportation and massacre.

The Turks committed “filthy crimes during the Great War” and the Greeks “fought alongside the allied powers” with Greece becoming the “mandatory” for Smyrna under the authority of the allies. The playing of the Greek national anthem broke the shackles of bondage and ushered a period of a long-awaited freedom. The women appealed “to the noble and liberal traditions of the glorious nation (Great Britain) to which you belong” and did not wish to see the reversal of the last three years of Greek administration back to Turkish rule. The women believed the allies had acted unfaithfully towards the Greeks of Asia Minor by basically handing them back to their enemy. They were prepared to die for their cause “rather than accept this national degradation.”

The memorial concluded with a quote from the women of Aidin who were prepared to confront the Kemalists. It stated “having still before our eyes  the burning ruins of our flourishing town, still all mourning for the loss of our dear ones, massacred by Kemal and his savage hordes, we proclaim that we will submit to every sacrifice and will help with all our might to promote the sacred cause of liberty.”

This statement needs some clarification in that Greeks and Turks fought in Aidin in June-July 1919 with casualties on both sides. The town was eventually reoccupied by the Greek army. It should be stated that Mustapha Kemal had no involvement with the battle of Aidin. He was busily laying plans for the establishment of his nationalist movement in Eastern Anatolia.

Crosfield mentioned that “atrocities and massacres” had “reached a climax” and could no longer be “tolerated.” Britain had a responsibility to stop such horrors and avoid being “dragged down by other powers into a policy which opposes the best interests of the British Empire.” It was important to ensure the regions of Asia Minor under Greek administration remain under its control. Crosfield alluded that “the territory of Ionia, Pontus, and Cilicia are small and additional territory should be reserved as a national home for Armenia in comparison to the vast areas reserved for the Turks.” He believed that this offered “a rational settlement” resolving the Asia Minor issue. The Christians should never be placed under the tyrannical government of the Turks.

In conclusion, Crosfield’s letter including the memorial he presented gave a voice to the women’s organizations in Asia Minor protesting being placed under Turkish rule once again. One senses that the women felt betrayed by the allies and were prepared to die rather than live under the Turks. More than five centuries of Turkish rule with atrocities was too much to bear.