ammunition to its members. The League was a political (and quickly becoming quasi-military) organization formed months earlier by Smyrna Ottoman Greeks when the Greek government in Athens had signaled that its army would pull out of Turkey. Unwilling to accept the return of Turkish rule and the harsh consequences that would follow, the Defense League had hoped to create a force of local Greeks and supportive elements of the Greek army to resist a Turkish takeover of Smyrna. It was a desperate idea, given the strength of the nationalist army, but for Greeks and Armenians whose home was Smyrna, desperation seemed the only response.
It was becoming clear there was no ready escape for most of the Christian residents of Smyrna, and most assumed that the Turkish army would retaliate against the Christian population. Horton had already begun planning for the worst. He encouraged his wife to depart, but she insisted on staying with him.
He also encouraged his friend Socrates Onassis to leave. Onassis was one of the richest Greeks in the city, president of the tobacco exporters association, and the eldest of five brothers who operated a trading company inthe city. On being tipped early by Horton to the possibility of a nationalist occupation, Socrates had sent his wife and three daughters to Lesbos but kept his eighteen-year-old son, Aristotle, with him at their home in Karatas, a seaside neighborhood just south of Smyrna. Aristotle was a small, muscular, and clever young man who liked to have a good time, and a good time often included women who wanted to be paid for their companionship. (It was a trait he took into adult life when he became the world’s richest man.) Aristo, as he was called, was often in conflict with his father, a strict, serious, and observant Orthodox Christian. One of the Onassis brothers had departed for Athens, and two others went to towns east of Smyrna, where they had tobacco connections and where they thought they would be safe. A fourth was already in the countryside. As prominent members of the Asia Minor Defense League, they all were in danger. On Horton’s advice, Socrates, the family’s leader, had also hurried away two ships with cargoes of tobacco and cotton for Britain.
The Greeks in Smyrna recognized Horton’s philhellenism and counted him as a friend. On September 4, the Greek governor Stergiades asked Horton to request American mediation for a peaceful transition from Greek to Turkish occupation. Horton sent the request, along with a recommendation of approval, to Constantinople and Washington. As the Turkish army drew nearer to the city, the Greek metropolitan, Chrysostomos, came to Horton and pleaded for American protection of Smyrna’s Christians.
A stream of Greeks and Armenians—some Ottoman subjects, some naturalized Americans—also showed up at the American consulate and filled its first-floor reception room. Agitated and panicky, they wanted Horton’s help to leave the country. He told them he would do what he could, and he tried especially to assist the naturalized Americans and those he knew would be in danger because they had collaborated with the Greek administration. The people needed papers and transportation. He wrote letters on consulate stationery that might pass as substitutes for authorization to travel and went in search of ships that could be chartered to carry people away. He tried without success to put some of the people who had come to him on British ships. In the meantime, he waited for an answer from Washington.
CHAPTER 5
Garabed Hatcherian *
G arabed Hatcherian lived in the Smyrna Armenian neighborhood at 109 Tchakildji Bashi Street, near the Basmahane train station. He and his wife, Elisa, had two daughters and three sons. Their youngest child, a girl named Vartouhi, was one year old. Their oldest, a boy named Hatcheres, was thirteen. Garabed Hatcherian was a doctor whose patients were mostly from prominent Armenian families. He was a general
It was becoming clear there was no ready escape for most of the Christian residents of Smyrna, and most assumed that the Turkish army would retaliate against the Christian population. Horton had already begun planning for the worst. He encouraged his wife to depart, but she insisted on staying with him.
He also encouraged his friend Socrates Onassis to leave. Onassis was one of the richest Greeks in the city, president of the tobacco exporters association, and the eldest of five brothers who operated a trading company inthe city. On being tipped early by Horton to the possibility of a nationalist occupation, Socrates had sent his wife and three daughters to Lesbos but kept his eighteen-year-old son, Aristotle, with him at their home in Karatas, a seaside neighborhood just south of Smyrna. Aristotle was a small, muscular, and clever young man who liked to have a good time, and a good time often included women who wanted to be paid for their companionship. (It was a trait he took into adult life when he became the world’s richest man.) Aristo, as he was called, was often in conflict with his father, a strict, serious, and observant Orthodox Christian. One of the Onassis brothers had departed for Athens, and two others went to towns east of Smyrna, where they had tobacco connections and where they thought they would be safe. A fourth was already in the countryside. As prominent members of the Asia Minor Defense League, they all were in danger. On Horton’s advice, Socrates, the family’s leader, had also hurried away two ships with cargoes of tobacco and cotton for Britain.
The Greeks in Smyrna recognized Horton’s philhellenism and counted him as a friend. On September 4, the Greek governor Stergiades asked Horton to request American mediation for a peaceful transition from Greek to Turkish occupation. Horton sent the request, along with a recommendation of approval, to Constantinople and Washington. As the Turkish army drew nearer to the city, the Greek metropolitan, Chrysostomos, came to Horton and pleaded for American protection of Smyrna’s Christians.
A stream of Greeks and Armenians—some Ottoman subjects, some naturalized Americans—also showed up at the American consulate and filled its first-floor reception room. Agitated and panicky, they wanted Horton’s help to leave the country. He told them he would do what he could, and he tried especially to assist the naturalized Americans and those he knew would be in danger because they had collaborated with the Greek administration. The people needed papers and transportation. He wrote letters on consulate stationery that might pass as substitutes for authorization to travel and went in search of ships that could be chartered to carry people away. He tried without success to put some of the people who had come to him on British ships. In the meantime, he waited for an answer from Washington.
CHAPTER 5
Garabed Hatcherian *
G arabed Hatcherian lived in the Smyrna Armenian neighborhood at 109 Tchakildji Bashi Street, near the Basmahane train station. He and his wife, Elisa, had two daughters and three sons. Their youngest child, a girl named Vartouhi, was one year old. Their oldest, a boy named Hatcheres, was thirteen. Garabed Hatcherian was a doctor whose patients were mostly from prominent Armenian families. He was a general
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