Dying in Asia Minor – The unknown story of the Greeks captured by the Turks in 1922

In our nonfiction “Greek prisoners of the Turks: dying successful Asia Minor (1919–1922)” connected Sunday, 14/9/2025, we had promised to instrumentality to the sufferings of the Greek captives aft the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the atrocities of the Turks against them. That is what we are doing successful today’s article.

How galore were the Greek captives successful Asia Minor?
As we mentioned successful the nonfiction of 14/09/2025, astatine the opening of 1922 the Greeks held captive by the Turks numbered lone 324. In August of that aforesaid year, however, aft the illness of the beforehand and the breach astatine Afyon Karahisar, the units of the I and II Army Corps, which had been united, divided into 2 groups: 1 nether Lieutenant General Nikolaos Trikoupis and 1 nether Lieutenant General Athanasios Frangos. From Trikoupis’ group, successful which was included the commandant of the II Army Corps, Kimon Digenis, 190 officers (among them Trikoupis and Digenis) and 4,400 soldiers were captured.

Nikolaos Trikoupis successful 1920

Decisive for the surrender of Trikoupis’ radical were the 2 bloody battles (Chamourkioi–Ilbulak and Ali Veran), the exhaustion of the soldiers, and the implicit deficiency of ammunition. A smaller file nether Lieutenant General Dimitrios Dimaras and Colonel Periklis Kallidopoulos was chopped disconnected and mislaid its predisposition portion wandering successful the dense wood of Murat Dag, wherever 84 officers, including Dimaras, and 1,600 soldiers were forced to surrender. From the units of the III Army Corps, successful the bluish assemblage of the front, the 11th Infantry Division nether Lieutenant General Nikolaos Kladas (4,500 men) was captured. Finally, from the forces of the Military Command of Odemision nether Colonel Dimitrios Zegginis, 23 officers were captured, including Zegginis himself with his men, who alternatively of moving toward the Erythraean Peninsula, wherever ships were waiting for them, went toward Smyrna and fell into Turkish hands…

Greek officers Dimaras, Trikoupis, and Digenis successful a captive campy astatine Kirşehir, the Byzantine Justinianopolis

But however many, successful total, were the Greek captives successful Asia Minor? The numbers, adjacent those initially fixed by the Greek and Turkish sides, changed later. In November 1922 the Army Staff Service could not springiness the nonstop fig of officers and soldiers captured. They estimated 30,000–35,000. The Greek consulate successful Beirut considered the fig astir double: 60,000. A fewer months later, the Ministry of War announced that from the archetypal unit of the Asia Minor Army, 2,521 officers and 54,000 soldiers were missing. However, it could not find precisely however galore of these were dead, missing, oregon prisoners…

Closing
In October 1922, the Turkish authorities spoke of 34,050 prisoners of war. After complaints and accusations astir the extermination of Greek captives, the Turks artificially reduced their fig to 17,000! More reliable information travel from the repatriations of Greeks successful 1923–1924. The Turks did not instantly registry each Greek prisoners. As a result, erstwhile they aboriginal provided the applicable figures, thousands had already been exterminated. The unregistered prisoners of warfare were considered missing and truthful did not autumn nether the humanitarian instrumentality rules of the clip regarding POWs.

Three Greek officers and a British workfellow successful Sardis, during the beforehand into Asia Minor

According to authoritative figures, successful October 1922 the captured Greek officers numbered 2,050. The authoritative Greek authorities reported 2,541. By September 1923, 845 officers had been repatriated to Greece (among them 18 doctors). Two much returned connected February 20, 1924, truthful the full fig of repatriated Greek officers was 847, according to a papers of the Mixed Population Exchange Commission. Thus, during captivity, 1,203 Greek officers died (according to the Turkish version) oregon 1,674 (according to the Greek version). The discrepancy (469 officers) has to bash either with Greek officers killed during operations oregon executed successful acold humor by the Turks a fewer months aft their capture, earlier they were designated prisoners of war.

The discrepancy is adjacent greater successful the fig of captive soldiers. The Turkish Ministry of War announced successful October 1922 that the Greek prisoners were 32,000. At the aforesaid time, the Greek broadside spoke of 54,000! According to the study of the Population Exchange Commission established by the International Red Cross, by September 1923, 14,776 soldiers and 1,587 civilians had returned to Greece. For the latter, it is unclear whether they were Asia Minor civilian hostages oregon Greek soldiers of Asia Minor origin, whom the Turks did not admit arsenic soldiers, since they considered them Ottoman citizens who had betrayed their homeland.

Furthermore, betwixt February–April 1924, 2,009 prisoners were repatriated, 350 of them soldiers and 1,659 civilian hostages. There were besides immoderate Greeks who managed to flight from the Turkish hellholes, fleeing to Syria and aboriginal returning to Greece. These were successful full 90, who escaped successful July 1923 (32 people), October 1923 (11 people), and December 1923 (47 people). In total, 90 Greek captives returned to Greece this way. Without tiring the scholar with much numbers, we volition notation lone that, according to reports from the International Red Cross Commission and Greek sources, successful 1923 and 1924, 847 officers and 15,214 soldiers were repatriated, including the 90 escapees.

In total, mortality among Greek prisoners of war, based connected the Turks’ archetypal figures, was 53% overall, and among officers 58%! These percentages transcend immoderate known POW mortality complaint of World War I. One of the known cases is that of the British surrender to the Turks aft their decision astatine Kut-al-Amara, wherever mortality reached 35.7%. Finally, it should beryllium noted that among those captured were galore Asia Minor Greeks, who were executed immediately, and a fewer Bulgarian-speaking Greeks, who aft their seizure were transferred to Bulgaria. Closing, we should enactment that according to the Greek Army Directorate, the missing were 450 officers and 17,100 soldiers. However, determination are reports of Greek soldiers returning from Asia Minor adjacent arsenic precocious arsenic 1931, portion immoderate rise the full fig of missing to 40,000.

Turkish atrocities against Greek captives: dying heavy successful Anatolia
After the Turkish counterattack of August 13, 1922, and portion the Greek Army was retreating chaotically and disorganized, much than 34,000 Greek officers and soldiers who were captured oregon surrendered were led to attraction camps. This captivity tin beryllium divided into 2 periods. In the first, determination were wide executions and brutalities by Turkish soldiers, murders and lynchings by Turkish civilians, wide deaths of captives from epidemics, disease, hardships, and shortages of food, water, etc. This play lasted astatine slightest 6–8 weeks and was straight linked to the agelong marches of captives toward the attraction camps wherever they would beryllium held.

During this time, mortality rates among Greek prisoners of warfare were 30%–50%. Those who experienced it, arsenic good arsenic the International Committee established successful 1923 by the Greek Red Cross, called it the “red death.” The adjacent period, which lasted longer – for immoderate captives from November 1922 until April 1924 – was linked to the dilatory extermination of the prisoners. It was called the “white death,” and mortality rates continued to beryllium high.

The Greek wounded, who could not beryllium near down by their comrades successful a harmless place, were handed implicit to the Turkish subject forces, who were obliged to supply contiguous aesculapian attraction and past transportation them to hospitals, attraction camps, oregon adjacent assistance them repatriate. Unfortunately, astir of the wounded were executed successful acold humor by the Turks. Soldier Konstantinos Politis was 1 of the captives who returned to Greece successful November 1924. In his publication Asia Minor helium describes shocking events:
“Outside, however, the corpses were galore and galore wounded moaned and asked for help. But however could you assistance them, successful what way? Those who cried out, the Turks (soldiers) would thrust the weapon into their pharynx and decorativeness them.”

Those Greeks who were captured were not ever definite to beryllium transferred to attraction camps. Emmanouil Kelaïdis (later Air Marshal and Chief of the Air Force, to which helium transferred upon returning to Greece) fought arsenic a worker successful the 7th Infantry Regiment of the IV Division. According to him, successful the country of Uts Serai:
“After the conflict we came crossed the pursuing horrific spectacle: 15–20 soldiers who had been captured prisoners had been lined up, naked, with their genitals chopped off.”

In these atrocities, isolated from Turkish soldiers, the tsétes (irregular Turkish bands) besides participated, possibly adjacent to a greater degree, playing an important relation successful the Turkish victory.

Regarding the attraction of Greeks wounded, what Colonel Panagiotakos writes successful his Report of Actions connected Greek operations against the tsétes successful April 1922 is of large interest:
“Thus, on astir the full magnitude of the gorge were corpses of our soldiers. All were unburied, wholly stripped. Almost each bore inhuman mutilations, amputations of genitals, of the posterior portion of the body, of hands, gouged-out eyes, weapon and axe wounds, immoderate had their 2 feet bound. Obviously, these, being wounded, were subjected to unspeakable tortures. In a basement of a location successful the colony of Soulia were recovered 2 of our soldiers’ corpses butchered. These astir apt lightly wounded, from the detachment of Sub-Lieutenant Kyrkidis, had taken refuge determination to beryllium saved and were butchered by the inhabitants. Also recovered were items of covering of officers and soldiers taken from the looting of the dead.”
(GHQ Historical Service, *Asia Minor Campaign File 256 – A – 1, fol. 90–91).

After the disastrous conflict of Ali Veran (17 August 1922), the Greek soldiers who were wounded and incapable to travel their comrades arsenic they precocious remained successful the vale of the aforesaid name, wherever they were killed by the Turks. Dimitrios Karyofyllakis, primitively from Eastern Thrace, wrote successful his Memoirs of Captivity:

“Not a azygous wounded antheral escaped from the vale of Ali Veran into captivity.”

The Turkish-speaking Karyofyllakis was himself captured, escaped execution 4 times, and survived acknowledgment to a Turkish sergeant. The second had learned that his ain brother, who had been captured, was successful Greece nether precise bully surviving conditions. Wanting to “do a bully deed” for a Greek, helium spared Karyofyllakis by declaring him a “Turkish wounded.” Thus Karyofyllakis survived and became a witnesser to galore Turkish crimes. He saw, among different horrors, the tragic extremity of the wounded of the IX Division who had been abandoned successful its tract hospitals.

The Turks, aft sidesplitting them, threw them into a ravine. Karyofyllakis writes vividly:

“They had dragged maine adjacent to a ravine that was filled with our wounded (afterwards, of course) who had been killed. They had slaughtered them each and thrown them into the ravine, and they were dragging maine too, to propulsion maine in—dead oregon adjacent alive. Among the corpses of the slain, faint groans could inactive beryllium heard.”

Later, portion hospitalized with Turkish wounded, Karyofyllakis witnessed much massacres of Greeks, this clip carried retired by mean civilians:

“I froze. I saw them bring successful 3 of our wounded, and lined up was the colony youth, equipped with axes and knives. I understood what was astir to hap and closed my eyes from the horror. They turned them into mince. They struck with specified fury that I cannot picture it.”
(D. Karyofyllakis, Memoirs of Captivity, p. 25).

Doctor Petros Apostolidis from Zagori (1896–1988), who was captured by the Turks astatine Afyon Karahisar and for a twelvemonth (repatriated successful 1923) served arsenic a doc for Greek wounded successful assorted attraction camps, wrote successful his publication What I Remember:

“In that damned ravine (Ali Veran, oregon the ravine of Chalkioi), wrong the aesculapian trucks, they said, determination were 4,000 wounded. Trucks and wounded each stayed there, arsenic good arsenic each the wounded from the conflict and bombardment! What became of them? Some captives aboriginal heard from Turks that, aft we had left, they gathered them each successful a streambed, doused them with gasoline, and burned them alive. Is it true? I cannot know. I cannot know, but I cannot regularisation it retired either, fixed the fanaticism and savagery they had. The information remains that they killed them all. How? Only God knows. In immoderate case, successful the full twelvemonth I spent arsenic a doc of captives—not successful 1 place, but moving from Philadelphia (Alaşehir) to Afyon Karahisar—I did not brushwood a azygous 1 of them.”

Similar testimonies were fixed to the Asia Minor Operations Investigative Committee by officers who were repatriated. Indicatively, Lieutenant (Artillery) Dimitrios Svarnas, captured with General Trikoupis’ group, testified that those wounded astatine Ali Veran were massacred by Turkish villagers:

“… adjacent much inhumanly, hundreds of wounded were abandoned, who were slaughtered by the villagers, though each the battalion animals of the tract artillery and different units would person been much than capable to transport them.”
(Army Historical Directorate, Asia Minor Campaign, record 361-G-2, fol. 51).

Reserve doc G. Andreou of the XI Division, who aft his seizure remained astatine Mudanya to dainty some Greek and Turkish wounded, testified:

“… the wounded transferred from the Mudanya presumption to Bursa were plundered and galore were killed on the way.”

Some testimonies raised the fig of executed adjacent higher:

“From what I perceived and what I heard, aft the ceasefire and during the seizure of the (XI) Division, astir 1,500 of our soldiers were slaughtered.”
(Army Historical Directorate, Asia Minor Campaign, record 361-G-2, fol. 97).

Finally, reserve doc Periklis Zikas of the aforesaid Division testified that when, the time aft its surrender, helium went to the battlefield to cod wounded, helium recovered not a azygous 1 alive, portion astir of the dormant bore bayonet wounds…

Epilogue
What the Greek subject captives suffered successful Asia Minor is beyond belief. Beyond what we person already mentioned, determination were dismemberments with saws, unrecorded burials, wide hangings, mutilations with butcher knives, hacking to pieces wrong stables, amputations, and even—horrifically—the depletion of the soma of Greeks by Turkish villagers astatine the nutrient marketplace of Magnesia (16 November 1922). There were besides rapes, lethal injections, the washing of captives successful bathhouses astatine 50°C and past exposing them to subzero temperatures connected the Anatolian plateau, and more.

Sadly, nary Greek authorities successful the pursuing years ever demanded explanations oregon further information, and each were contented with the Turks’ assurances that the 96 captives who arrived successful Greece successful aboriginal 1924 were the past ones…

Source:
Nikos S. Kanellopoulos – Nikos F. Tompros, The Tragic History of the Greek Prisoners successful Asia Minor, 1919–1924, Minoas Editions, 2024.

Special acknowledgment to Minoas Editions for their invaluable assistance.