Stories many would like to forget.
The
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) defines genocide in part as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Determining what historical events constitute a genocide and which are merely criminal or inhuman behaviour is not a clear-cut matter. Some of accounts below may include ancillary causes of death such as malnutrition and disease, which may or may not have been intentionally inflicted.
(This text taken directly from WIKIPEDIA)
A list exists on WIKI showing genocide statistics around the world. In this, the Greek genocide by the Ottoman Empire is listed as having between 200,000 and 1,000,000 victims.
Was this the only genocide perpetrated by the Ottomans? Well... no.
The Turks did five genocides/massacres over the span of 40 years. A very short period in the big scheme of things.
Numbers Populations affected Period
80,000 - 300,000 Hamidian Massacres (Armenians) 1894-1896
800,000 -1,500,000 50% of Armenians 1915-1923
275,000 - 750,000 75% of Assyrians 1915-1923
200,000 - 1,000,000 Greek Genocide 1915-1918
13,160 - 70,000 Dersim Massacre 1937-1938
This map shows the extend of the Ottoman empire and in a red circle the areas where most genocides were perpetrated.
It is important to realise that the Ottoman genocides had one and only one aim.
ETHNIC CLEANSING.
This is a new concept, something that other Empires did not engage into and which probably shows the need of the Turkish population to establish itself over all other nationalities residing in the affected areas.
This TURKIFICATION incudes Pan-Islamism as a state ideology as Turkish massacres have a large anti-Christian character and genocides are mostly against Christian populations.
BUT THE WORST GENOCIDE EVER...
Can only be the genocide of Jews, leftists, Gypsies, homosexuals and other groups by the German NAZIs in the 1940s.
Between 5 and 11 million people were gathered and put to death by extremely inhumane means.
The history is very recent and records are all too clear to be forgotten.
There is a very important Greek connection here as the massacres involve areas in Greece too.
A substantial number of Greek officials denied cooperation to the NAZIs in many cases as is the case of the Zakynthian Mayor Loukas Karrer and Bishop Chrysostomos, who, when asked by the NAZI commandant Berenz on September 9 1943, to hand in a list of all Jews of the island they handed a list with two names only: theirs. This resulted in the saving of all Zakynthian Jews.
However this has not been a widespread experience. The Greek Jews were all but eradicated from the Hellenic peninsula.
The most numerous Jewish populations transferred to concentration death camps originated in Thessaloniki and the person which oversaw this operation was Max Merten.
The case of Max Merten
is very interesting and a brief account of his personal history will
enlighten.
1942 April. Max Merten comes to Greece as general overseer of
the Jewish expulsions, responsible for the transportation of
45,000 Jews to Auschwitz. He was responsible for the looting
of the Jewish cemetery amounting the astronomic sum of 125,000,000 gold francs. This
earned him the pseudonym "Butcher of Thessaloniki".
1946 The Americans offer his handing over to the Greek authorities as part of the treaty for the
handing over of war criminals to the countries where they did their crimes.
The Greek government rejected the offer and proposed his release because of his excellent
behaviour and his services to Greece.
1957 March. Merten, General Secretary of the German Ministry of Justice, comes to Greece to give
evidence in the trial of another war criminal, Arthur Maisnerkei as a defence witness.
He was recognised by court officials and was arrested immediately.
Interesting fact: The Germans want their war criminals to escape justice.
1958 The German ambassador made numerous representations for the release of Merten and
eventually the Karamanlis government cave in the demands of chancellor Adenaouer in order to
achieve the signing of a loan from Germany worth 200 million marks.
1958 November. The agreement between Greek and German governments on the loan had a secret
close for the cancellation of any prosecution of war criminals although Merten was excluded
from the deal. The opposition was alerted and in:
1959 January the government brought the matter in Parliament, however there was a lot of reaction
both in Greece and abroad.
1959 March. Merten was tried and convicted to 25 years imprisonment.
1959 November. Merten was extradited to Germany.
1961 November. Merten was convicted to
four years for slander!!!
against Greek politicians especially Constantine Karamanlis.
And that is how German NAZIs repay their benefactors.
But this is another story...
SOURCES:
PRONEWS
WIKIPEDIA
Poet Ashraf Fayadh was arrested on August 2013 by the religious police and found guilty of blasphemy. The arrest happened in a cafe when a man reported that he made obscene comments about God and Mohammad and the Saudi State.
Saudi Arabia has executed 152 people in 2015, which according to Amnesty International is the highest recorded number since 1995. Most executions are carried out by beheading, sometimes in public. The vast majority are for murder and drug crimes, but Saudi courts occasionally hand down death sentences for other “crimes” such as apostasy and sorcery.
