Ernest Yarrow
Ernest Yarrow | |
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| Born | February 21, 1876 |
| Died | October 26, 1939 (aged 63) |
| Occupation(s) | Christian missionary and witness to the Armenian Genocide |
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Ernest Alfred Yarrow (21 February 1876 - 26 October 1939) was a Christian missionary and a witness to the Armenian Genocide. He was also known for the relief effort of saving and caring for tens and thousands of Armenian refugees as part of the Near East Foundation. Yarrow had publicly declared that "the Turks and Kurds have declared a holy war on the Armenians and have vowed to exterminate them."[1] He also added that the massacres were an "organized, systematic attempt to wipe out the Armenians."[2]
Early life
Ernest Yarrow was born in London, England to a Primitive Methodist family. He and his family moved to the United States when Yarrow was one years old.[3] Once in the United States, Yarrow attended the Northfield Seminary founded by Evangelist preacher Dwight L. Moody. After graduating from there in 1897, he continued his education in Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where he graduated from there in 1901.[3] At Wesleyan University, he also played football.[4] He joined the local First Congregational Church then took theological courses at the Hartford Seminary. Upon graduating from the Hartford Seminary in May 1904, Yarrow married his roommates' sister Jane Tuckley in August of that year. Yarrow then joined the world missionary movement and was sent to Van, Ottoman Empire by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Yarrow became very active in the Van college where he was in charge of the boys' school.[5]
After serving for several years, Yarrow returned to the United States for a brief visit in 1912. In 1913, however, Yarrow and his wife returned to Van to continue with missionary duties.[6] He eventually became president of the Van college right before World War I began.[7]
Armenian Genocide
Yarrow described the massacres against the Armenians in the Van province as an "organized, systematic attempt to wipe out the Armenians."[9][10][11] He concluded that "the Turks and Kurds have declared a holy war on the Armenians and have vowed to exterminate them."[1] Yarrows described how the siege and its subsequent massacres began:
When the people in the city heard of the coming of the Turks they knew that no mercy would be shown them, for half the population were Armenians and Syrians [Assyrians] and they knew the Turks would massacre them. There was great commotion and nobody knew what to do. The battle started when the Turks fired upon and killed a group of women outside of the city. The besieged area was about one mile across and a veritable hail of bullets swept over 28 days that the city of Van was under fire.[12]
He added:
We know that if the Turks once got into the city there would be not a whole soul left. It isn't war that the Turks carry on. It is nothing but butchering. The Turkish atrocities have not been exaggerated. From 500,000 to 1,000,000 Armenians and Syrians were slaughtered in a year.[12]
During the initial stage of the event, Cevdet Bey, the governor or Vali of the Van vilayet and brother-in-law of Enver Pasha, started confiscating the weapons from the Armenians.[13] According to physician and Christian missionary Clarence Ussher, once such weapons were confiscated, Cevdet Bey then initiated a "reign of terror" campaign by arresting, torturing, and ultimately killing the Armenian population in the region.[13] Cevdet Bey then demanded four thousand Armenians to take part in labor battalions which often resulted in the massacre of the laborers.[13] When the Armenians refused to send such an amount and amid further "rumors of massacre," Clarence Ussher intervened by negotiating with Cevdet Bey.[14] During the conversation with Cevdet Bey, Ussher witnessed the colonel of Cevdet Beys regiment called the "Butcher Regiment" (Turkish: Kasab Tabouri) receive orders to massacre the Armenian population, Ussher wrote, "while I was in his office the colonel of the Valis Regiment, which he called his Kasab Tabouri, or Butcher Regiment, composed of Turkish convicts, entered and said, "You sent for me." "Yes," replied Jevdet; "go to Shadakh and wipe out its people." And turning to me he said savagely, "I won't leave one, not one so high," holding his hand below the height of his knee."[15] After the order was given, the Butcher Regiment went on to destroy six villages and massacre its Armenian inhabitants.[16] Yarrows had also described the ensuing massacres and the intention of the local Turkish forces as follows:
While the siege was going on the Turks killed every Armenian that they could find in the vicinity of the city. In most cases also every woman that was found outside the walls was killed. Even little children who came in the hands of the Turks were put to death.[12]
Yarrow accompanied Ussher on another meeting with Cevdet Bey.[13] On this occasion, Cevdet Bey demanded to place Turkish soldiers onto the premises of the American missionary compound. Since the building was located near the Armenian quarter, Ussher believed that this was to be another plan of starting new massacres.[13] After appealing to the Italian consul Sbordini over the matter, the Americans insisted on remaining neutral to the conflict.[18]
Nevertheless, throughout the siege of Van, Yarrow had helped the Armenians become more organized which strengthened their chances of resistance.[19] He helped create a central committee which voiced the affairs of the Armenians. He helped the Armenians organize a semblance of government which included such agencies as judges, police, mayor, and a board of health.[20] He had also reopened bakeries, ovens, and mills to provide provisions and food to the starving Armenian refugees. Hospitals and soup kitchens were also opened by him in order to provide shelter and care for the wounded and sick Armenians.[19] Yarrow remarked about how the Armenians provided relief regardless of race and religion by saying, "I am amazed at the self-control of the Armenians, for though the Turks did not spare a single wounded Armenian, the Armenians are helping us to save the Turks-a thing that I do not believe even Europeans would do."[21]
Being amongst the refugees for so long, Yarrow and his wife contracted typhus but both recovered.[22][19]
Relief work
Ernest A. Yarrow along with his wife and thousands of other Armenian refugees retreated into Russian Armenia. Yarrow also notes how the Turkish soldiers continued to shoot at the fleeing refugees by describing that "in one locality the Turkish advance guard, secluded in the hills, poured rifle shots down upon the fleeing people. Hundreds of them were killed by the firing."[12] Yarrow believed a stronger and independent Armenia would alleviate the refugee problems.[7] By that time, 300,000 refugees of the Armenian Genocide and other areas had settled in Russian Armenian under impoverished conditions.[23] In a response to the crisis, in 1916, a relief committee was set up which aimed at assisting at least 250,000 Armenian refugees by providing food and shelter.[7] After staying for two years in the United States,[24] in 1918, Yarrow began helping the refugees in Armenia and became a staff officer for colon Haskell's mission by 1919.[7] Yarrow commented on the Caucasus Campaign where he stated that, "the Turkish advance terrifies the Armenians; and the Caucasian tartars who are unfriendly to the Armenians surround them. There is danger that the whole Armenian race will be exterminated should the combination of these forces be successful."[25]
In 1920, Yarrow took charge as the director of the Near East Foundation.[26] At a point in his career as director, Yarrow took care of 30,000 children who sought refuge in the Caucasus.[7] In Armenia, Yarrow started a street cleaning program and other irrigation projects which provided jobs to some 150,000 refugees.[7] Through the program, much of the refugees earned wages which helped them finance their daily activities independently.[7] He later remarked that "in training 30,000 children for future citizenship I feel that I have a real part in the development of the new Armenia."[7]
In 1924, Yarrow consulted the United States State Department in order to restore Armenian territory that was lost to Turkey in 1920 and 1921.[27]
Awards and decorations
Ernest A. Yarrow was awarded the Order of the Lion and the Sun by the Persian government for his relief efforts in the region.[27]
He also received four decorations from the Russian government and a medal from the Armenian government.[6]
See also
- Armenian Genocide
- Van Resistance
- Witnesses and testimonies of the Armenian Genocide
- American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
- Clarence Ussher
References
- ^ a b "German Directed the Turks at Van". New York Times. 6 October 1915.
- ^ "Armenian Appeal To America For Help" (Reproduction of original newspaper article). New York Times. 16 October 1915.
- ^ a b The Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad, Volume 100. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 1904. pp. 356–8.
- ^ Ussher 1917, p. 223.
- ^ Knapp 1915, p. 12.
- ^ a b "Ernest A. Yarrow, 1876-1939," in Digital Library for International Research Archive, Item #11126, http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/11126 (accessed October 1, 2013)
- ^ a b c d e f g h "The Return of the Caucasus Director". The New Near East. 8 (7): 12. 1923.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b Ussher 1917, p. 254.
- ^ Kloian, Richard Diran (1988). The Armenian genocide: news accounts from the American press, 1915-1922 (3 ed.). Anto Printing. pp. xiv, 76.
- ^ "Armenian Appeal to America for Help". The Survey. 35 (3). Survey Associates: 57–58. October.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "The Armenian Genocide" (PDF). International Education and Resource Network.
- ^ a b c d "Thrilling Story of Experiences". Meriden Morning Record. 18 April 1916.
- ^ a b c d e Balakian 2009, p. 203.
- ^ Kevorkian 2010, p. 233.
- ^ Ussher 1917, pp. 237–38.
- ^ Ussher 1917, p. 238.
- ^ Balakian 2009, p. 205.
- ^ Ussher 1917, p. 243.
- ^ a b c "Yarrow in Near East Employs Royal Relics in Humanitarian Work" (PDF). The Naples Record. 21 December 1921.
- ^ Ussher 1917, p. 251.
- ^ Sarafian, Gomidas Institute. James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee. Ed. and with an introd. by Ara (2000). The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915 - 1916: documents presented to Viscount Grey of Falloden by Viscount Bryce (Uncensored ed. ed.). Princeton, NJ: Gomidas Inst. ISBN 0953519155.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ Knapp 1915, p. 29.
- ^ Meneshian, Knarik (April 2009). "Rescue of a Nation" (PDF). Armenian Weekly.
- ^ Teghtsoonian, Oksen Teghtsoonian ; Robert (2003). From Van to Toronto : a life in two worlds. New York: IUniverse, Inc. p. 88. ISBN 0595274153.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "A Crisis in the Caucasus". The Missionary Review. 41: 549. 1918.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Peterson, Merrill D. (2004). "Starving Armenians": America and the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1930 and after (1. publ. ed.). Charlottesville [u.a.]: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0813922674.
- ^ a b "ERNEST A. YARROW, AIDED ARMENIANS: Former General Manager of Caucasus Branch of Near East Relief Dies at 63 WAS DECORATED BY PERSIA Advanced Plan to Restore to Armenia Land Turks Seized --Hazen Foundation Official". New York Times. 27 October 1939. p. 29.
On his return to the United States, he presented to the State Department a plan to settle the Armenian question by ceding to the Armenians part of the territory taken by the Turks in 1920 and 1921.
Bibliography
- Balakian, Peter (2009). The Burning Tigris. HarperCollins. ISBN 0061860174.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Kevorkian, Raymond H. (2010). The Armenian genocide : a complete history (Reprinted. ed.). London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-84885-561-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Knapp, Grace H. (1915). The mission at Van in Turkey in war time. Prospect Press.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Ussher, Clarence (1917). An American Physician in Turkey: A Narrative of Adventures in Peace and in War. Houghton Mifflin Company.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)