Letter of Protest to retract Proclamation

Governor Siegelman,

The magnitude of the Christians in Asia Minor genocide is clearly recorded. Of the 3.5 million Christians martyred, 1.8 were Armenian, 1.7 were Greek. In addition, 100,000 Syrians and Nestorians were also massacred.

As an example of the barbarity of the killing, a young Aristotle Onasis (who was later to escape the genocide) "walked through the city to find his father's warehouse at Daragaz Point burned to the ground, though the office on the Grand Visier Hane still stood despite the fires, guarded by Turkish soldiers. Mutilated corpses were everywhere. A cluster of women's heads bound together like coconuts by their long hair floated down a river toward the harbour." - Nicholas Gage from his book "Greek Fire."

In his book "Passage to Ararat," Michael Arlen writes that Turkish women were given the dagger (Hanjar) to give the final stab to dying Armenians in order to gain credit in the eyes of Allah as having killed a Christian.

In an especially moving portrait of the genocide is the account of the mutilation of Greek Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Smyrna. According to eye-witness testimony from G. Mylonas, of the academy of Athens, "the mob fell upon Chrysostomos," and committed some of the most horrendous acts of cruelty. "All the while, Chrysostomos, his pale face covered with blood, had his face turned upward, continuously praying, 'Holy Father, forgive them, for they know not that they are doing.' Every now and then, when he had the strength to do so, he would raise his right hand and bless his persecutors. A Turk realized what Chrysostomos was doing, and got so furious that he cut off the Metropolitan's hand with his sword. Metropolitan Chrysostomos fell to the ground, and was hacked to pieces by the angry mob."

U.S. Ambassador Morganthau's story appeared in World's Work Magazine November 1918, depicting the horror and the suffering of the Christian community under the hands of the Turks. His is but one of the many reports which covers the genocide of the Christian martyrs at the hands of their Turkish tormentors.

It does not behoove the Governor of the Great State of Alabama to denigrate this Christian tragedy. I and my husband lived in Montgomery when he was Director of Curriculum at Squadron Officer's School at Maxwell Air Force Base. We lost his dear mother during our tour at Maxwell and the Greek community could not have been more sympathetic or more kind to us and we will always remember their generosity. I mention this because these good people are your constituents, Governor. They deserve better.

I hope you will take the time to rectify this gross injustice.

Respectfully submitted,

Stella L. Jatras