Kaza Bandırma / Panderma / Panormos

The Toponym

Bandırma was the main port of the Ottoman sancak Karesı (Karası) / Balıkesir. The name of the gulf to the east of the ancient city of Kyzikos was probably given to the port established there later.[1] It was known from the period of late antiquity by the Greek name of Pánoramos (‘sheltered port’), which was later shortened to Panormo (Grk.: Pánormos). Pánormos has the same name as the capital city of Palermo in Sicily. The name form Pandırma (Panderma) / Bandırma (also Banderma) is documented since the year 1665.

Bandırma (Panormos): Convent of the Holy Trinity (on the day of its anniversary; source: http://www.levantineheritage.com/panderma.htm)

Christian Populations in the kaza Bandırma (Panormos)

The Greek Orthodox Diocese of Marmara had 13 communities or 31,400 members.[2]

In 1914, 3,450 Armenians lived in the town of Bandırma (Panormos), “most of them earning a living either raising silkworms or in weaving, embroidery, or the silk-trade. In the northern part of the kaza, in Erdek (Grk.: Artaki), on the peninsula of same name, a colony of 1,000 Armenians was established in a Greek environment. Opposite Erdek, on the coast, the port of Eydincik had an Armenian community with 1,470 members. Finally, south of Lake Manias [ancient Miletopolis], in the environs of the city of the same name, there was an Armenian population of 1,200; another 1,302 Armenians lived on the village of Ermeniköy [‘Armenian village’], located at the shores of the Sea of Marmara. To these figures, we must add the few thousand Armenians who lived scattered throughout the rest of the sancak – for example, in Sultançayr Maden (pop. 450), Susurlu [Susurluk] (pop. 100), Armudova (pop. 250), or Edremid (pop. 65). Here, too, the deportations were organized in August 1915.”[3]    

Bandırma (Panormos): Greek-Orthodox Churchyard, 1917 (Source: Austrian National Library – www.kulturpool.at)
Panormos_Bandirma_1922
Bandirma / Panormos 1922 (source: http://www.eskiturkiye.net/793/bandirma-1922#lg=0&slide=0)

Bandirma_Panormos_Railway tunel
“The railway tunel leading to Bandırma, opened in 1865 linking the port to Anatolia, creating a ‘mini-Smyrna’. The line is long-since disused.” (source: http://www.levantineheritage.com/panderma.htm)

“(…) various devices are used in order to reduce the Greeks to poverty and want, such as thefts, plunderings, refusal to give them wheat and flour, and forbidding the deported population to carry away with them even the smallest article. Many victims of this kind of persecution have been noted. Thus, according to a telegram from Constantinople, dated July 15, 1915, No. 4116 (Ministerial Archives, No. 7744), ‘Among the refugees from Madytos [also Madhytos, Maydos in the Diocese of Gallipoli; today Eceabat], numbering 1,730, two or three deaths occur daily from starvation; in the railway station next to Panormo, since June 23, six or seven thousand refugees have been living in want of everything, thirty or forty of them dying every day from hunger and thirst, because the Turks do not allow them to produce for themselves bread and water.”(4)

“On June 15 [1915], the evacuation of Prokonnesos (an island also in the Sea of Marmora) was ordered, its inhabitants being deported to Panormo and Ouktsoukiol (the railway station of Panormo) and from there to different parts of the interior, and exposed to various climatic changes.”[5]

“In the station of Ak-Sakal we found 200 refugees from Madytos and 150 from Krithia, who, after the evacuation of Mehanion, were scattered in the grounds of the above-mentioned station without food or water. In the station of Oktsi-Ghiol we found 250 other inhabitants of Krithia and Madytos who for fifty days have lived under a burning sun and in the humidity of the night, in a desperate condition. As to the refugees of the distrit of Prokonnesos, who have been scattered in the district of Sousourlouk [Susurluk] and Baloukeser [Balıkesir], neither is their number known nor the names of the villages in which they have been settled.”[6]

“On January 25th [1916], Apostolos Pheidaros from Madytos, aged 60 years, died from starvation. Sofia Athanasiou, Sivri-Kiolafe, 7 years old, and Serafim Evangelou Datsos, 14 months old, met with the same fate. All this happened in Panormo where refugees are considered as being much better off than those in the interior. If in Panormo three or four die of hunger how many, I wonder, die in the interior?”[7]

Bandırma_Panormos
Bandırma / Panormos (source: http://www.eskiturkiye.net/2929/bandirma#lg=0&slide=0)

The Metropolitan of Gallipoli, Constantinos, writing from Panderma, on the 1st July, 1915, says:

“More compassion is shown here to dogs than to the Christian refugees. A Greek doctor of Panderma, mistaken for a Moslem, overheard the following conversation between two Turks: One of them indulgently qualified the Greeks as ‘refugees’, thereupon the other emphatically replied, ‘They are not refugees, but dogs’. To their eyes, the Greeks were not worthy of the name of men. The same doctor called to attend to sick refugees had to protest to the Police in the name of humanity, who prevented the refugees from even getting a drink of water from the adjacent fountain.

Close to the Panderma Railway Station the deaths of the refugees occur daily, and according to my information many die in the interior of the country. The refugees who arrive at Panderma Station, exhausted through hunger and thirst, are often abandoned two or three nights without shelter, and when the trains which are to transport them to the Interior are ready, they are kicked into the wagons in asphyxiating numbers. A child only six months old was crushed in the arms of its mother. Holding the dead child, the unfortunate mother tried to bring it back to life, while uttering the most terrible laments. The spectacle was heartrending. When the train started, the poor woman, in a terrible anguish, was obliged to part with her baby by throwing it out of the door.

Some of the refugees, driven to despair, bewailed their lot in the presence of an officer, crying: ‘For God’s sake put us to death rather than torture us in the way you do.’ The officer, in a tone of ferocious irony, replied : ‘To massacre you would be doing you a good turn, because you will suffer once only, whilst it is necessary that every one of you should die a little every day, so that you may feel for a long time the dread of death.’

A Christian left alone at Marmara, owing to the illness of his wife and his old father’s infirmity, had to carry her corpse on his shoulder to a distance from the village, and with his own hands dig a grave and bury his wife.

The Christian Orthodox Greeks subjected to this new system of persecution, without massacres, and consisting of protracted privations of all kinds, are surely, slowly being done to death. There is no place any more in Turkey for Christ’s flock. For what is meant by their dispersion in small groups in Turkish villages, without Churches or priests, or intercourse with their countrymen, or the comforts of their religion? What can mean the scattering of the inhabitants of Bairi, among thirty-six Turkish villages from one to twelve hours distant from Balikesser? The dispersion of the other Christian refugees ? What is meant by the repeated deportation of the poor Greeks from one place to another ? Nothing less than through privation and fear of death and in order to escape they should consent to abjure the Christian faith.”

The same Metropolitan of Gallipoli under date of the 17th July, 1915, wrote :

“The extermination of the Christian refugees is most methodical. If they are deported for strategical reasons alone, they could have been left to settle in the place to which they were originally sent. Such, however is not the case. What is obviously aimed at by constantly shifting them from place to place is to exhaust them and so cause their death. Two hundred and fifty villagers of Krithia, along with some others of Madytos from Pasha Liman, who arrived here about a month ago are still in the fields near Oktche Gucul Station. They do not possess the necessary money to provide for their own transport, and are kept waiting indefinitely, till it pleases the Government to take charge of them and send them to their destination. Their position is indescribable.

Yesterday, at my request, four of my countrymen at Oktche [Ökçe] Gucul came and saw me to whom I secretly gave some money to be distributed among the refugees. I was dumbfounded at their appearance, so terribly changed from human beings did they look. I crossed myself. The unfortunate creatures fell at my feet and with tears in their eyes, asked to kiss the Crucifix. ‘Give us the Cross of Christ to kiss,’ they said, ‘it is a long time since we last did so. It is a long time since we have heard the Gospel preached.’ I presented the Holy Bible to them, which they kissed fervently after making the sign of the Cross. I was astonished at such piety and gave them my benediction. Before leaving with the money destined to appease their hunger, they asked to kiss the Crucifix again.

Such was my emotion that, with tears in my eyes, I appealed to God in these terms : ‘Lord have mercy on and save Your people. Send them Your blessing. Abandon them not into the hands of the tyrants, but protect them with Your Almightiness.’

At the time of the evacuation of Mihaniona and Castelli all the Christians’ property was plundered. The Christian inhabitants of these villages, along with the refugees of my Diocese, were sent to the Railway Station at Panderma to be transported to the Interior.

The Turks, like beasts of prey, immediately plundered all the Christians’ property and carried it off. The inhabitants and refugees of my district are entirely without shelter, awaiting to be sent no one knows where …’

Excerpted from: Ecumenical Patriarchate: Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey, 1914-1918. Constantinople [London, Printed by the Hesperia Press], 1919, p. 43f.

“After the tremendous damage done by the earthquake to this diocese (thirteen communities and 31,400 inhabitants), persecution put its finishing hand to its ruin. The supplying of submarines was taken as a pretext to justify the deportation of the inhabitants of this and other dioceses, as proved by the following confidential declaration made by Mehmet Ali Bey, military commander, to a Greek inhabitant of Panderma [Bandırma] on his honor and faith:

‘Listen,’ said he, ‘swear that you will keep this to yourself. What is said about supplying submarines is only a pretext. The fact of the matter is that we have orders to exterminate the ‘Rum’ (Turkish: signifiying the Greek Ottoman subjects). The places evacuated by the Greeks will be populated by Turkish immigrants from Samos, Imbros, and Lemnos.’ In reply to the question put by the Greek as to what would become of so many thousands of Christians he said: ‘They will all die in the interior of Asia Minor.’

  1. KOUTALIS. – In February, 1918, it having been told to the authorities that the Christians were arming, a torpedo boat, having on board the sub-governor of Artaki [Erdek] and 100 gendarmes, was dispatched there.

On landing, everyone was ordered under penalty of death not to stir from their places. Plundering followed, during which the houses were searched, chests broken open, and all valuables and even kitchen utensils, etc., carried away. In May 1918, the inhabitants of the island were deported to the Mihalitsi [Mihaliç; today Gündoğu or Karacabey] district, after much suffering, as usual. In June, the deportation of the following villages was ordered:

  1. MARMARA, 3. KLAZAKI, 4. PALATIA, 5. ALONI, 6. HOULIA, 7. PROSSTI, 8. AFTHONI, 9. GALINI, 10. PASH-LIMAN, 11. SOUPIA, 12. VERI.

Only the inhabitants of the Afficia were exceptionally allowed to remain, because they were employed in the neighboring quarries.

The sufferings of the unfortunate inhabitants of these villages are indescribable. The Turkish authorities very often shut them up in stables without providing in any way for them, and left them to starve and shiver with cold in a most cruel way.

At Panderma, the halting place of all refugees destined for the interior of Asia Minor, a poor father was obliged to carry his two dead sons and bury them with his own hands, and without the assistance of a priest or any one else. At Oktche-Guiol [Ökçe Göl], the refugees were obliged to bury their dead after previously digging the graves themselves. In a desperate condition these poor wretches endured no end of suffering. The reports received at the Patriarchate prove, in a most categorical manner, the wantom neglect and inhumanity shown by the Turkish Government and officials towards these unfortunate creatures, whom they seem to consider unworthy of any notice or protection.

We have an undeniable proof of the truth of this assertation, in the numerous deaths that occurred during the deportation and exile of the inhabitants of this Diocese, as also a further one in their endeavours to convert them. This was the language used by the Turks to the poor class of refugees, who went about begging: ‘You have been supplying the submarines. There is no bread for you. You will all die of hunger unless you become Mussulmen. If you do so, we will give you bread.’

The property in houses and furniture left behind by the Christians who were deported were not taken care of by the Government. Although the Greek Churches and houses were closed and sealed up, the arrival of the governor of Bali-Kesser [Balıkesir], accompanied by the sub-governor of Artaka and by the [C.U.P., Unionist] Committee of Bali-Kesser for the safeguard of the fortunes of the evacuated districts at Artaki, was the signal for the work of destruction to begin. The committee set to work breaking the seals, opening shops and houses and emptying them of their contents. Previous to this the Mayor of Artaki officially informed the public that those who wishes to acquire certain specified articles should apply to the Committee, ad hoc, at the offices of Marmara. Sailing vessels full of furniture, mattresses, bedsteads, etc., kept daily arriving at Artaki. The Bishopric was broken open and plundered.

The abandoned villages were then populated by Pomac [Pomak] immigrants from Bali-Kesser [Balikesır], who were brought over by sailing vessels, stolen from the Greeks, but whose Greek crews were kept on, contributing in a great measure towards the establishment of the Moslems in their own dwellings.”[8]

“Based on accounts of travelers who visited the town in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Banderma’s population consisted primarily of Greeks and Armenians. Toward the end of nineteenth century, however, their numerical strength had diminished so that Muslims formed nearly three-fourths of its 10,000 inhabitants, with the remainder nearly evenly divided between Armenians and Greeks. In 1874, a massive fire engulfed Banderma and consumed most of the town, but the people gradually recovered and benefited from the Ottoman Empire’s rudimentary industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century. By 1914, Banderma had become a major center for commerce, shipping, and exports of commodities from the interior such as cereals, sesame, and livestock.

Bookcover of Elise Hagopian Taft’s recollections Rebirth (1981)

The Deutsche Bank and other foreign companies had branches and agencies in the town and there was a potpourri of insurance agents, bankers, watchmakers, opium producers, and tailors who plied their trade. Elise Hagopian Taft’s Rebirth paints a vivid picture of Armenian life in Banderma in the years before the genocide. Each group lived in its respective quarter, with the Greeks near the sea, the Turks high up on the hillside, and the Armenians nestled between the two. The Armenians maintained the Church of Surb Astvatsatsin, as well as Evangelical and Catholic churches. The Armenian school was coeducational up until the upper grades.

Armenians were relatively well off, many growing silkworms and almost every family having a small vineyard, an orchard, and olive trees. Taft reminisces that harvest season was a particularly joyous time, as she lists the various types of fruits and vegetables that the bountiful gardens yielded. All that ended in August 1915 when the Armenians of the town woke up to the ominous sight of ten bodies of Armenian intellectuals hanging in the public square and news that they were to be resettled.

Some of the deportees managed to survive and returned to Banderma after the war only to find their homes occupied by Muslims and the Armenian church and boys’ school destroyed. They soon had no choice but to leave once again as Mustafa Kemal’s Nationalist forces advanced toward the sea.”[9]

Bandirma_Panormos
Bandirma / Panormos (source: http://www.eskiturkiye.net/2794/bandirma#lg=0&slide=0)

Panderma, November 1916

“Panderma is situated on a large oval bay with partly steep, mountainous shores (…) At its feet the long, blue waves roll majestically and a refreshing sea breeze blows above. Behind it, the city gradually rises, which is estimated to have 40,000 inhabitants. Thanks to the strict hygienic regulations, it is a clean place to live, but typhoid fever is endemic. But the clean facade cannot hide the hardship from which the population suffers. Food, although it is about half the price of Constantinople, is hard to come by. Above all, the lack of coal is very noticeable at the onset of cold weather. It is not possible to prove how much of the blame for this lies with the Turkish authorities and officials. But there are great conditions in this respect. You can have everything for the right baksheesh. Even the other day, when we visited the expelled Armenians on the other side of the bay on the orders of the Marshal [Otto Liman von Sanders], we had to wait the whole morning until the government steamer had collected the necessary coal.

The Marshal is doing a great deal of good to these unfortunate people and is trying to alleviate the misery as far as possible by means of funds made available to him from private sources. Here in Panderma they are accommodated, clothed and fed under his own care. The other day we took large kettles of warm soup with us. The people vegetated in caves and huts, were half-starved and all sick. The Turks are very sensitive to be talked into the Armenian question. To them, the Armenian is an insidious traitor to the state, a cowardly assassin. The ones we were with were supposed to have been supplied English submarines. We can all confront that misery only as private citizens. Similarly with the Greeks, who are also hereditary enemies of the Turks. Some time ago, 7000 Greeks were expelled from Panderma within an hour and deported. The worst thing about it is that the rumour is spread, even if not officially, but left unchallenged, that the Germans ordered these persecutions. The German High Command has officially and seriously objected to this.”

Source: Malade, Theo: Von Amiens bis Aleppo: Ein Beitrag zur Seelenkunde des Großen Krieges; aus dem Tagebuch eines Feldarztes [From Amiens to Aleppo: A contribution to the psychology of the Great War; from the diary of a field doctor]. München: I. F. Lehmanns Verlag, 1930, p. 176f. 

2. Ecumenical Patriarchate: The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey, 1914-1918. Constantinople (London: Hesperia Presse, 1919), p. 59
3. Kévorkian, Raymond: The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2011, p. 564
4. Ecumenical Patriarchate: The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey, 1914-1918. Constantinople (London: Hesperia Presse, 1919), p. 59
5. Ion, Theodore P.; Brown, Caroll N. (Carroll Neidé): The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey since the Beginning of the European War. New York: Pub. for the American-Hellenic Society by Oxfort University Press, American Section, 1918, p. 25. According to the 'Black Book' of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a tenth of the deported inhabitants from Madytos died "of the privations and unprecendented ill-treatment they underwent". Ecumenical Patriarchate: The Persecution of the Greeks of Turkey, 1914-1918. Constantinople: (London: Hesperia Press(, 1919, p. 42
6. Ion, Theodore P.; Brown, Caroll N. (Carroll Neidé): The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey since the Beginning of the European War. New York: Pub. for the American-Hellenic Society by Oxfort University Press, American Section, 1918, p. 42
7. Ion, Theodore P.; Brown, Caroll N. (Carroll Neidé): The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey since the Beginning of the European War. New York: Pub. for the American-Hellenic Society by Oxfort University Press, American Section, 1918, p. 62
8. Ecumenical Patriarchate: The Persecution of the Greeks in Turkey, 1914-1918. Constantinople (London: Hesperia Presse, 1919), p. 59f.
9. Hovannisian, Richard G.; Manuk-Khaloyan, Armen: The Armenian Communities of Asia Minor: A Pictorial Essay, in: The Armenian Communities of Asia Minor; ed. R. G. Hovannisian (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2014), p. 27f.