THE MIRACLE A True Story PHOTOGRAPHIC APPENDIX 27 September 1922: The first page of the report written by George Horton, Counsul General of the Unites States in Smyrna. AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL Athens, Greece, September 27, 1922 SUBJECT: The Near Eastern Question THE HONORABLE THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON    SIR:    I have the honor to submit to the Department a statement of what has been and is going on in the Near East, with a brief discourse on the events and causes which have led up to the appalling tragedy that is now being enacted at Smyrna.    I have the honor to call the attention of the Department to the fact that immediately after the Greeks landed in Smyrna, I telegraphed that this would prove a second "Syracusan Expedition", referring to the war against Syracuse in 413 B. C. which led to the complete depletion of the Athenian treasury and the effacement of Athens as the leading power of the ancient world.    In another dispatch, whose date I cannot refer to here as the archives are in Smyrna, I predicted that if the Greek army retreated from Asia Minor it would be followed by the entire Christian population and said that anyone who could not foresee this was not familiar with the situation of the Near East and the mentality of its peoples. A copy of this was forwarded to Constantinople, and I remember receiving an explanation to the effect that the new Turkish administration which would be estab-lished would be a "kindly and benevolent administration".    Of course in some circles, the hideous and outrageous conduct of the Turks in Smyrna will be explained by the rage created among the Turks by the devastation, caused by the Greek army in its retreat upon this city. I have been in the Consular service in the Near East for nearly thirty years and there are some things which all men who have had long residence in this country absolutely know. After the atrocious and frightful massacre of Armenians in 1915 of which I reported to the Department full accounts given me by the native-born American eyewitnesses, representatives of American firms who came to Smyrna, I did not see how anyone could any longer have faith in the kindly intentions of the Turks towards the Christian populations of the empire. About one million and a quarter Armenians perished in that awful affair, done to death by slow torture under circumstances of the most dreadful cruelty. This methodical extermination of the Christian population has been going on steadily over since. The fear inspired in the Christian population is such 152 and 153 Leonidas Koumakis THE MIRACLE A True Story If you prefer a hard copy of the book, please send an email to HEC-Books@hec.greece.org Previous Page | Initial Page | Site Map | Next Page (154th of 204) © For Internet 2001 HEC and Leonidas Koumakis. Updated on 19 June 2001.