Originally posted by Bill77
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The massacres of Monemvasia and Navarino
The Muslims of the small town of Monemvasia, which was besieged by the Greek rebels, decided, in August 1821, to surrender to the rebels, as they could no longer endure the prevalent hunger and disease; but nevertheless they were slaughtered barbarously. These events were hailed in Western Europe as “victory of liberalism and Christianity”21. A few days later the same fate befell the Muslims of Navarino: between 2,000 and 3,000 of them were cruelly massacred. Turkish women were stripped and searched for valuables. Naked women plunged into the sea, and were shot in water; children were thrown in to drown, and babies were taken from their mothers and beaten against the rocks.
Greeks of Navarino were relating with pride the terrible massacres that had taken place there. One of them was boasting that he had killed eighteen Turks; another one was relating how he had stabbed to death nine women and children in their beds. These merciless killers were, with pride, showing to the European volunteers, who had come to help the “Hellenic cause”, the corpses of the Muslim women whom they had raped, carved up and then thrown over the fortifications some time earlier 23. But these terrible scenes did not impress the volunteers; on the contrary, they shocked and disgusted them. A German volunteer named Lieber describes how they felt hatred and disgust towards the Greek rebels who were calling upon them to rape these women when they themselves had already sexually assaulted them
The Tripolitsa massacre
on 5 October 1821, lasting for two days, during which 10,000 people were killed. Most of the corpses were decapitated and carved Up25. The Greek rebels tortured the Muslims whom they believed hoarded their money. According to St. Clair, Howarth and the British Colonial Office and Foreign Office documents, “they were slow1y burnt to death on a fire, after their arms and legs where chopped off’. One can imagine what the rebels had done to pregnant Muslim women.
About 2,000 captives, consisting mostly of women, were stripped naked;
driven to a plain outside the town and then killed. After this event, many starving Muslim children were running from place to place, and were targeted, slaughtered or shot dead by the Greek rebels, who were elated and with their mouths foaming26. The chief Greek brigand, Theodoros Kolokotronis, who occupies pride of place in the “Greek pantheon of heroes”, also took part in these massacres and pillages with relish27.
European officers, including Colonel Thomas Gordon, who happened to be at Tripolitsa during the massacre, witnessed the hair-raising incidents there, and some of them later reached these with all their ugliness. Colonel Gordon became so disgusted with these Greek barbarities that he resigned from the service of the Greeks. The young German philhellene doctor Wilhelm Boldemann, who could not bear to witness these scenes, committed suicide by taking poison. Some of the Other European philhellenes, too, who were extremely disillusioned, followed suit.
The Muslims of the small town of Monemvasia, which was besieged by the Greek rebels, decided, in August 1821, to surrender to the rebels, as they could no longer endure the prevalent hunger and disease; but nevertheless they were slaughtered barbarously. These events were hailed in Western Europe as “victory of liberalism and Christianity”21. A few days later the same fate befell the Muslims of Navarino: between 2,000 and 3,000 of them were cruelly massacred. Turkish women were stripped and searched for valuables. Naked women plunged into the sea, and were shot in water; children were thrown in to drown, and babies were taken from their mothers and beaten against the rocks.
Greeks of Navarino were relating with pride the terrible massacres that had taken place there. One of them was boasting that he had killed eighteen Turks; another one was relating how he had stabbed to death nine women and children in their beds. These merciless killers were, with pride, showing to the European volunteers, who had come to help the “Hellenic cause”, the corpses of the Muslim women whom they had raped, carved up and then thrown over the fortifications some time earlier 23. But these terrible scenes did not impress the volunteers; on the contrary, they shocked and disgusted them. A German volunteer named Lieber describes how they felt hatred and disgust towards the Greek rebels who were calling upon them to rape these women when they themselves had already sexually assaulted them
The Tripolitsa massacre
on 5 October 1821, lasting for two days, during which 10,000 people were killed. Most of the corpses were decapitated and carved Up25. The Greek rebels tortured the Muslims whom they believed hoarded their money. According to St. Clair, Howarth and the British Colonial Office and Foreign Office documents, “they were slow1y burnt to death on a fire, after their arms and legs where chopped off’. One can imagine what the rebels had done to pregnant Muslim women.
About 2,000 captives, consisting mostly of women, were stripped naked;
driven to a plain outside the town and then killed. After this event, many starving Muslim children were running from place to place, and were targeted, slaughtered or shot dead by the Greek rebels, who were elated and with their mouths foaming26. The chief Greek brigand, Theodoros Kolokotronis, who occupies pride of place in the “Greek pantheon of heroes”, also took part in these massacres and pillages with relish27.
European officers, including Colonel Thomas Gordon, who happened to be at Tripolitsa during the massacre, witnessed the hair-raising incidents there, and some of them later reached these with all their ugliness. Colonel Gordon became so disgusted with these Greek barbarities that he resigned from the service of the Greeks. The young German philhellene doctor Wilhelm Boldemann, who could not bear to witness these scenes, committed suicide by taking poison. Some of the Other European philhellenes, too, who were extremely disillusioned, followed suit.
Thanks for sharing that.
This is something most people dont know, thank you!
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