Reissued and now available: The Great Betrayal - A powerful book, first published
in 1924, exposes how the pursuit of economic interests by the Great Powers after World War I contributed to the destruction of the Christian communities in Turkey (Asia Minor). Contact us to receive a copy of the book with your US$35 donation to our organization or order online at Amazon.com.
Who's Online
We have 1 guest online
Home
Welcome to the Pontian Greek Society of Chicago.
The Pontian Greek Society of Chicago's mission is to promote our culture and preserve our history, with an emphasis on the tragic events that claimed the lives of an estimated 353,000 Pontian Greeks between 1914-1923.
Vahram Karabent of Merzifon, was an Armenian citizen from the
Ottoman Empire born in the city of
Merzifon in 1905.
At the age of 10, Karabent witnessed the Ottoman Turkish deportation of the Armenians - four of his uncles, along with his Father and Grandfather were deported from their homes and never heard from again. Karabent along with his mother and brother, were the only members of his family to survive.
In addition to the suffering of the Armenian community, Karabent also witnessed similar measures taken by the Turks against the Greek community of Merzifon, and tells of the Greek resistance to the expulsions – below are excerpts from his story:
“At that time the Sultan was still the ruler.The Sultan issued an imperial decree saying, 'Those who become Muslims will remain!' Whether you were Armenian or Greek Orthodox, if you were willing to change your religion and become a Muslim, you would be saved. Those who refused to do so were rounded up and moved.... The government encouraged artisans and tradesmen who had necessary skills to adopt Islam and be saved. There were those who were saved in that way.”
Excerpts from the book You Rejoice My Heart by Kemal Yalcin
ISBN 978-1-903656-72-3
Printed by Gopsons Papers Ltd, Distributed by Garod books Ltd.
Permission has been obtained by Garod books to use and post excerpts from the true story of Vahram Karabent of Merzifon
Created by The Pontian Greek Society of Chicago with the help of Ron Levitsky, a teacher at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, Illinois, The Pontian Greek Genocide Teaching Unit introduces middle school and high school students to the tragedy of the Pontian Greeks who were subjected to the first genocide of the 20th Century. Available to download in English and in Greek.
From 1914 to 1923, Christian minorities were forcibly expelled from their homes to comply with Turkish nationalist visions of an ethnically pure homeland inhabited only by Turks. Villages, cities, and farmlands across Pontus were emptied and the inhabitants subjected to atrocities under carefully concealed orders by government and party officials until the population exchange of 1923.
The Pontian Greek Society of Chicago with the support of the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada has reissued The Great Betrayal , which was originally published in 1924. Contact us to receive a copy of the book with your US$35 donation to our organization or order online at Amazon.com.
First published in 1924, author Edward Hale Bierstadt exposes the rivalries and competing economic interests of the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I, how the Allied Powers failed to demand from Turkey the protection of her Christian minorities, and how they chose, instead, to negotiate economic treaties with her rather than hold her accountable for the premeditated destruction of her own citizens. Bierstadt's account of these events is drawn from his experience as the Executive Secretary of the US Emergency Committee that provided humanitarian aid to Christian refugees deported by the Turkish nationalist regime.
