Page:Kvartalshilsen (Kvinnelige misjonsarbeidere). 1921 Vol. 14 nr. 1.pdf/5

of the states of Europe in terms of trade, military costs and the whole economic condition; but most nations, however, do not suffer from a lack of food or other necessities of life. In Armenia, on the other hand, the people are not only deprived of most of the necessities of life, but they are in constant danger of war on their eastern, south-eastern and western fronts. A report that just came from Alexandropol describes the need. It is quite common to see hungry women and children wandering in the fields to seek roots and herbs in addition to the scarce rations.

Due to the uncertainty of the political situation, the Armenian Republic must mobilize different classes of recruits to strengthen the front at Zangezour and the Olti region against a possible attack by the Turks. The country's best men are therefore in the army and there is no prospect of exempting the country's youth from military duties so that they can take on the reconstruction work.

While the British Empire is fighting Bolshevik Russia, exhausted Armenia is fighting for its existence. The signing of the peace treaty and the recognition of the independence of Armenia do not appear to bring a noticeable improvement in the position of the Armenian people.

The Turks are still in possession of the provinces of Van, Bitlis and Erzeroum, which at the time of peace were determined to belong to Armenia. Another winter is near, the surrender of these provinces to Armenian troops before the next spring seems impossible. But it does mean that 300,000 refugees from these provinces have to spend another winter there..

Cut off from the sea at its geographical boundary, the Armenian Republic is still under some kind of blockade and the postal and telegraph connection is not yet in regular operation, as one would now expect.

"The Orient News" - published in Constantinople for the British troops - contains some accounts of the liberation of Armenian orphans from the hands of the Turks. Many of the unhappy girls and boys gathered during the war in the so-called orphanages were kept there by the Turkish government at Talaat and Enver Pascha - solely for the purpose of converting them to Islam.

British and Armenian agents have been working since the armistice to save these Armenian children. A British officer writes: "We had reason to believe that 12 of the girls in the Turkish orphanage in Kiaghathone - near Constantinople - were Armenian. When the men who tried to deliver them approached these girls, they began to bitterly cry and protest that they were Muhammadans. A little girl of 9 years said she was called Djelile. I then asked her where her father, mother and brothers were. They are killed, I'm the only one alive, "she said. "Who killed them?" "Armenians." "Who told you your parents were killed by Armenians?" "They told me this in the orphanage." I asked her about her name; she hesitated a little, but then said, "Do you want to know the whole truth?" "Yes." "Will you promise to adopt me as your child?" "Yes, you can trust that." Then she told them that their village was up on a small mountain, about how well they were there and how happy they were. Her father was the richest man in the village (in Zeitun).

"One day," she said, "all men were assembled by Turkish gendarmes, and nothing has ever been heard of them later. I loved my dad so much; he was so good. Then my mother and the other women were gathered and driven out of the village. Many of them, including my mother, died along the way. Although I am only a little girl, I have seen things that you have never seen. We reached Aleppo and there the Turks changed my name Siranusch to Djelile. Then they took me to a hospital where we