Read Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922 - The Destruction of Islam's City of Tolerance Online
Authors: Giles Milton
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #General, #War, #History
Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922 - The Destruction of Islam's City of Tolerance
Giles Milton
Giles Milton is a writer and historian. He is the bestselling author of
Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, Big Chief Elizabeth, The Riddle and the Knight, White Gold, Samurai William, Paradise Lost and
,
most recently
,
Wolfram.
He has also written two novels and two children’s books, one of them illustrated by his wife Alexandra. He Lives in South London.
First published in Great Britain in 2009 Hodder and Stoughton
An Hachette UK company
Copyright © 2008 Giles Milton
The right of Giles Milton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 444 73179 8
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
For Guy
Ex Oriente Lux (Out of the Orient, light)
The motto of Smyrna’s Ionian University, due to open its doors to all – irrespective of race or religion – in September 1922
The strange thing was, he said, how they screamed every night at midnight . . . We were in the harbour and they were on the pier and at midnight they started screaming. We used to turn the searchlight on them to quiet them. That always did the trick.
Ernest Hemingway,
On the Quai at Smyrna
Map of Turkey and Greece: 1922
Map of the Greek Military Advance
PART TWO: SERPENTS IN PARADISE
Friday, 15 September – Monday, 18 September 1922
Tuesday, 19 September – Saturday, 30 September 1922
List of Characters
British
| David Lloyd George | Britain’s pro-Greek Prime Minister |
| Arnold Toynbee | Historian; war reporter for the Manchester Guardian |
| Sir Harry Lamb | British consul-general in Smyrna, 1922 |
| Reverend Charles Dobson | Anglican vicar in Smyrna, 1922 |
| Grace Williamson | Nurse at Smyrna’s English Nursing Home |
Levantine
| Magdalen Whittall | Fearsome matriarch of the Whittall dynasty |
| Herbert Octavius Whittall | Magdalen’s eleventh child |
| Edward Whittall | Herbert’s genial older brother |
| Edmund Giraud | Yachtsman and one of Magdalen’s 91 grandchildren |
| Hortense Wood | Spinster and diarist; eyewitness to the events of 1922 |
| Fernand de Cramer | Hortense’s young nephew |
American
| Dr Alexander Maclachlan | President of American International College in Paradise |
| George Horton | American consul in Smyrna |
| Mark Bristol | American High Commissioner in Constantinople |
| Minnie Mills | Director of Smyrna’s American Collegiate Institute for Girls |
| Asa Jennings | Employee of Smyrna’s YMCA and director of rescue operation |
| Esther Lovejoy | Doctor who played leading role in humanitarian rescue |
Greek
| Eleftherios Venizelos | Greek Prime Minister and architect of the ‘Big Idea’ |
| Aristeidis Stergiadis | Greek governor of Smyrna, 1919-1922 |
| Metropolitan Chrysostom | Greek religious hierarch and staunch nationalist |
Turkish
| Rahmi Bey | Pro-Allied Ottoman governor of Smyrna during the First World War |
| Enver Pasha | One of triumvirate ruling Turkey since 1908 Young Turk revolution |
| Mehmet Talaat Bey | Second member of triumvirate |
| Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) | Leader of nationalist movement; creator of modern Turkey |
| Halide Edib | Prominent nationalist and close colleague of Kemal |
Armenian
| Dr Garabed Hatcherian | Senior physician at Armenian National Hospital |
| Rose Berberian | Young Armenian eyewitness to the violence |
| Hovakim Uregian | Armenian eyewitness to outbreak of fire |
Acknowledgements
The research and writing of
Paradise Lost
would not have been possible without assistance from people in many different countries. I am especially grateful to the descendants of the great Levantine dynasties of Smyrna – now scattered across the globe – who went out of their way to help me locate the unpublished letters and diaries of their grandparents and great grandparents. It should be put on record that the opinions expressed in
Paradise Lost
are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of those who helped with my research, some of whom still live in the modern city of Izmir.
In Turkey, I owe a debt of gratitude to Brian Giraud, whose helpfulness, knowledge and network of friends and acquaintances opened many doors during my time in Izmir. He introduced me to Renée Steinbuchel, to whom I am most grateful for allowing me to photocopy the treasured last diary of her great aunt, Hortense Wood. Renée also supplied me with many of her family’s letters, as well as the graphic despatches written by Fernand de Cramer. As far as I am aware, none of this important material has been used in any book previously written about the events of 1922.
Thank you to Daphne Aliberti for sharing her reminiscences about her Smyrniot forebears over a pleasurable coffee morning; to Willy Buttigieg, the British consul in Izmir, whose family have lived in the city for generations and who proved a fount of knowledge. He set up an interview with the nonagenarian Alfred Simes, for which I am most grateful.
Thank you to Esma Dino Deyer, daughter-in-law of Rahmi Bey, with whom I spent a fascinating afternoon at her grandiose villa. I came away with the impression that I had caught a tantalising glimpse of old Smyrna – the city as it was before the destruction. I also wish to offer my thanks to Bulent Senoçak; to Patrick Clarke, one of the last remaining Levantines still working in the fig trade; and to local journalist, Melih Gursoy.
In Greece, I am indebted to Michalis Varlas, Manager of the Genealogy project at the Foundation of the Hellenic World. He shared with me his research into Greece’s venture into Asia Minor and introduced me to Petros Brussalis and other elderly survivors from the events of 1922. I am also most grateful to Stavros Anestides and the staff and librarians of the excellent Centre for Asia Minor Studies. Thank you to Daphne Kapsali for accompanying me to Athens and acting as interpreter and translator. All of the eyewitness accounts contained in the important Greek anthologies,
Exodos
and
Martyries
(full references can be found in the Notes and Sources) were translated by her. I also wish to thank the staff of the Gennadius Library in Athens, where many rare pamphlets (both Greek and Turkish) are held.
In North America, I wish to thank Marjorie Housepain Dobkin, who shared her Smyrna researches with me and whose excellent
Smyrna, 1922
, remains required reading. Thank you to Barbara Jackson for supplying me with Ian Wallace’s reminiscences; and to John Hobbins of McGill University, Quebec, for his help and advice. Special thanks to Dr. Dora Sakayan, whose excellent, illuminating and well-received book,
An Armenian Doctor in Turkey
, was an invaluable resource in researching and writing this book.
In Jerusalem, I wish to express my thanks to George Hintlian for his help and advice over the course of my research.
In Switzerland, my thanks to Alexander Belopopsky for providing me with contacts in the Greek Orthodox world.
In Paris, thank you to Hervé Georgelin for sending me recently published French articles on Smyrna. His most recent publication,
La Fin de Smyrne
, is by far the best study of the pre-1922 cosmopolitan city.
In England, I wish to thank Yolande Whittall for her help and enthusiasm for my project. She put me in touch with many descendants of her extended family, including Betty McKernan, Maya Donelan and Brian Giraud.
I am most grateful to Victoria Solomonides of the Greek Consulate in London for sharing her views on Aristeidis Stergiadis. Her PhD thesis on Smyrna – still, alas, unpublished – is required reading for anyone who wants to understand why the Greek invasion of Asia Minor was doomed to failure.
Thank you to Bruce Clark of
The Economist
for sharing his far-reaching network of contacts. His recently published book on the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne,
Twice a Stranger
, is an invaluable study of the population exchange.
Thank you to Ayça Abakan of the BBC Turkish service for her help and advice and for putting me in contact with many distinguished Turkish families living in Izmir. Other thanks must be extended to Clovis Meath Baker, Frank Barrett, Wendy Driver, Father Alexander Fostiropoulos, Ara Melkonian – for translating Armenian documents – Tom Rees; and to Jessica Gardner and Charlotte Berry of Exeter University Library for allowing me to consult the Whittall archive.
Also, to the staff at the Institute of Historical Research; Colingdale Newspaper Library; the Imperial War Museum; the librarians at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, and to the ever helpful staff at the National Archives in Kew, where much of the research for this book was undertaken; to the staff of the British Library and London Library, where a special mention must be made for Christopher Phipps, who produced the index for this book.
I wish to record my thanks to my late literary agent, Maggie Noach, who represented me for more than a decade and became a good friend in the process. She died suddenly in 2006, when the book was still in its early stages. Thank you, also, to my editor, Roland Philipps, who displayed such enthusiasm for the project, and to Lisa Highton, Heather Rainbow and Juliet Brightmore. I am most grateful to Paul Whyles for once again reading the manuscript and suggesting much needed changes.
Lastly, a huge thank you to my three girls, Madeleine, Héloïse and Aurélia; and to my wife, Alexandra,
pour tout
.
Magny, November, 2007
