The Japanese Ship That Saved Greeks During the Smyrna Catastrophe

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A Japanese vessel saved hundreds of Armenians and Greeks from genocide successful Asia Minor successful 1922 aft the Smyrna Catastrophe.

In a astir singular incident, described successful the publication Armenia, Australia and the Great War, the skipper and unit of the Tokei Maru, a Japanese ship, showed exemplary courageousness successful redeeming the hopeless refugees who were stranded astatine Smyrna.

Desperate refugees stranded aft Smyrna Catastrophe

Hundreds of thousands of Armenian and Greek refugees had fled to the docks of Smyrna aft Turkish nationalist troops had entered, burned, and occupied the metropolis connected September 9, 1922.

The Turkish concern was soon followed by the massacre and deportation of Armenian and Greek civilians.

About 20 ships belonging to the WWI allies were successful the harbor, with their crews simply sitting by and watching the events onshore unfold. A occurrence was started successful Smyrna’s Armenian 4th 4 days later, which yet ended up destroying overmuch of the city.

The skipper of the Japanese merchant vessel abruptly decided to instrumentality it upon himself to rescue the refugees.

The federation of Japan aboriginal besides provided captious humanitarian assistance to the survivors of the Armenian genocide.

Anna Harlowe Birge, the woman of the American professor, Dr. Birge of the International College astatine Smyrna, witnessed the helpless refugees crowding each different disconnected the wharves arsenic Smyrna began to burn.

Men and women could beryllium seen swimming successful the harbor, hoping to beryllium rescued aft the catastrophe successful Smyrna; galore of these radical yet drowned.

Japanese vessel saved hundreds of Greek refugees

Birge related that “in the harbor, astatine that time, was a Japanese freighter, which had conscionable arrived loaded to the decks with a precise invaluable cargo of silks, laces and china representing galore thousands of dollars. The Japanese captain, erstwhile helium realized the situation, did not hesitate.”

“The full cargo went overboard into the soiled waters of the harbor, and the freighter was loaded with respective 100 refugees, who were taken to Piraeus and landed successful information connected Greek shores,” according to Stavros T. Stavridis, who wrote astir Birge’s communicative successful an nonfiction published successful the American Hellenic International Foundation’s argumentation journal.

Another relationship of the brave rescue was published connected September 18, 1922, successful the New York Times.

Refugees perpetually arriving…relate caller details of the Smyrna tragedy. On Thursday [September 14th]…there were six steamers astatine Smyrna to transport the refugees, 1 American, 1 Japanese, 2 French and 2 Italian. The American and Japanese steamers accepted each comers without examining their papers, portion the others took lone overseas subjects with passports.

The humanitarian actions of the Japanese vessel were besides recorded astatine the clip by galore Armenian and Greek survivors of the Smyrna catastrophe.