01/31/2026
William Emory Hawkes (1891-1948) of Caldwell, Idaho was a Near East Relief worker stationed in Turkey for three and a half years, mostly at in central . Sivas was one of the destinations for non-Muslims deported/relocated during the genocide.
Hawkes' report dated 5 June 1922 is published on page 304 and details the treatment of Christians during the genocide. Hawkes wrote:
"The Greek deportations began about a year ago and until November we, in Sivas, were helpless to assist the deportees passing through Sivas except through other people. Many Armenian people from Konia and Eski-shehir-Smyrna sections were allowed to remain in SIvas in care of the Bishop, and through him we were able to help them and to take many children into the Orphanages. In November, we were given permission to help Greek exiles who were allowed to stay in the city and those who were sick [...]
"The deportations have continued for one year and were still in progress when I left the interior, May 1922. Within twelve miles of Sivas we passed a group of about two hundred women and children trudging along in a cold rain. The next morning as Mr. Beach came out to where our car was stranded he passed fourteen dead bodies. We passed bodies in several places and saw two women and one little boy left by the roadside to die.
"All those who we passed were ragged and barefooted and looked almost starved to death. We probably saw fourteen or fifteen hundred people.
"We were told by members of the Tokat Armenia Orphanage Committee that the exiles as they stopped in Tokat were not allowed to be given or to buy bread or water."
Shenk, R, Koktzoglou, S. The in American Naval War Diaries. University of New Orleans Press, 2020.
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