The Great Fire : One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Ureneck, Lou

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xvi, 488 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits, facsimile, photographs ; 24 cm.

Summary:

Relates the true story of Asa Jennings, a YMCA worker from upstate New York who arrived in Smyrna to teach sports to boys, but instead worked tirelessly to help rescue more than 250,000 refugees during the genocide of Armenian and Greek Christians.

Contents:

End of an empire -- An innocent arrives -- The Great Offensive -- George Horton, poet-consul -- Garabed Hatcherian -- Admiral Bristol, American potentate -- Washington responds -- Jennings's suggestion -- Theodora -- An American destroyer arrives -- The view from Nif -- Back in Constantinople -- Captain Hepburn's dilemma -- Garabed Hatcherian -- Noureddin Pasha -- fire breaks out -- "All boats over" -- Morning after -- Garabed Hatcherian -- Oil, war, and the protection of minorities -- Bristol's resistance -- Halsey Powell -- Theodora -- Days of despair -- "We are celebrating Smyrna" -- Jennings and the Hand of God -- Garabed Hatcherian -- Washington feels pressure -- Jennings negotiates with a Prime Minister -- The evacuation begins -- The Rhodes letter resurfaces -- Revolution -- British assistance -- After Smyrna.

Subject Term:

Greco-Turkish War, 1921-1922 -- Refugees -- Turkey -- İzmir.

Greeks -- Turkey -- History -- 20th century.

Armenians -- Turkey -- History -- 20th century.

Massacres -- Turkey -- İzmir.

Publication Info:

New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.

Subject:

Greco-Turkish War, 1921-1922 -- Refugees -- Turkey -- İzmir.

Greeks -- Turkey -- History -- 20th century.

Armenians -- Turkey -- History -- 20th century.

Massacres -- Turkey -- İzmir.

İzmir (Turkey) -- History -- 20th century.

Jennings, Asa Kent, 1877-1933

Greek-Turkish War, 1921-1922

Turco-Greek War, 1921-1922

Turkish-Greek War, 1921-1922

Smirne (Turkey)

Smirna (Turkey)

Smyrna (Turkey)

Smyrne (Turkey)

Zmiwṛnia (Turkey)

İzmir (City)

Ismir (Turkey)

Yazmir (Turkey)

Azmir (Turkey)

Zmyuṛnia (Turkey)

İzmir City (Turkey)

Smyrme (Turkey)

SAILS ISBN:

9780062259882

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Easton - Ames Free Library	956.1023 UREN 2015	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	956.1023 URENECK	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The harrowing story of an ordinary American and a principled Naval officer who, horrified by the burning of Smyrna, led an extraordinary rescue effort which saved a quarter of a million refugees from the Armenian Genocide.

The year was 1922: World War I had just come to a close, the Ottoman Empire was in decline, and Asa Jennings, a YMCA worker from upstate New York, had just arrived in the quiet coastal city of Smyrna to teach sports to boys. Several hundred miles to the east in Turkey's interior, tensions between Greeks and Turks had boiled over into deadly violence. Mustapha Kemal, now known as Ataturk, and his Muslim army soon advanced into Smyrna, a Christian city, where a half a million terrified Greek and Armenian refugees had fled in a desperate attempt to escape his troops. Turkish soldiers proceeded to burn the city and rape and kill countless Christian refugees. Unwilling to leave with the other American civilians and determined to get Armenians and Greeks out of the doomed city, Jennings worked tirelessly to feed and transport the thousands of people gathered at the city's Quay.

With the help of the brilliant naval officer and Kentucky gentleman Halsey Powell, and a handful of others, Jennings commandeered a fleet of unoccupied Greek ships and was able to evacuate a quarter million innocent people--an amazing humanitarian act that has been lost to history, until now. Before the horrible events in Turkey were complete, Jennings had helped rescue a million people.

By turns harrowing and inspiring, The Great Fire uses eyewitness accounts, documents, and survivor narratives to bring this episode--extraordinary for its brutality as well as its heroism--to life.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Ureneck (Backcast), a professor of journalism at Boston University, uses wartime archives and private papers from the principals involved to revisit the inferno of Smyrna, the concluding tragedy of the decade-long campaign of religious and ethnic cleansing that "killed more than three million people" across Asia Minor and marked the end of the Ottoman Empire. Talks with WWI allies-including England, France, Italy, and Greece-broke down when former Ottoman army officer Mustapha Kemal rejected old treaties, sparking conflict between Greek occupation troops and Turkish nationalists that led to deportations and executions of local Christians, primarily Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. Ureneck highlights the resourcefulness of U.S. Navy Captain Arthur J. Hepburn and his sailors, who formed a buffer to get a number of terrified Americans through the fire-and enraged mob-to safety on a destroyer offshore. Recounting the personal and political activities of key figures, Ureneck wisely underscores several essential themes of the West's relationships with Muslim countries that remain concerns today: a fragile American foreign policy, human rights violations, and ambitions to control regional oil supplies. Surprisingly fresh, haunting, and potent, Ureneck offers a new perspective on the unforgiveable tragedy at Smyrna and the modern religio-ethnic conflicts that continue to trouble the region. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Ureneck (Journalism/Boston Univ.; Cabin: Two Brothers, a Dream and Five Acres in Maine, 2011, etc.) brings to light the miracles of a little-known hero.In 1922, Asa Jennings was a Methodist minister working as a secretary for the YMCA assigned to Smyrna, located in modern-day Turkey. Smyrna, occupied by Greece, was the richest and most multicultural city of the eastern Mediterranean. Jennings and his family arrived shortly after the Turkish Nationalist Army defeated the Greeks at Afyonkarahisar-Eskishehir. The Nationalist's leader, Mustafa Kemal, continued the policies of the "Young Turks" who had taken over the government. Ureneck's research is thorough and wide-ranging as he explains the 500 years of conflict between Greece and Turkey, the World War I years of the Armenian genocide, and the new government's policy of Turkey for the Turks, barring all others. Jennings' appeals for evacuation to the American senior Naval officer, Adm. Mark Lambert Bristol, were generally ignored. Bristol was a well-known supporter of the Nationalists and harbored little sympathy for the refugees. With the backing of the heroic commander of the USS Edsall, Halsey Powell, and the help of the Greek commander of the Kilkis, they managed to evacuate more than 250,000 people from Smyrna in only seven days. With no Allied ships, they convinced the Greeks to lend merchant ships and then persuaded the Turks to allow them into the harbor under American escort, as long as they didn't fly the Greek flag. Powell certainly fudged his orders by escorting the ships, and Jennings worked night and day to move the refugees to a safe location. The story, especially that of Jennings, crippled by tuberculosis and typhoid, is remarkable, and Ureneck delivers it with a wonderful style that grabs and holds the reader's attention. An inspiring illumination of a hero who deserves recognition. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

Ureneck (journalism, Boston Univ.; Cabin) tells the story of a group of Americans-led by sickly pastor Asa Jennings along with a colorful group of U.S. Naval officers-as they rescued countless Armenian and Greek Christian refugees from the Great Fire of Smyrna in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide in 1922. This is an unusual angle to take in describing this historical event. The book features impressive research from primary resources from the Turkish region and puts considerable focus on the coordination among these Americans as they attempted to save refugees. While this creates an intriguing perspective, it sometimes shifts the focus away from the fire itself and the larger genocide that it was a result of. The narrative is fairly accessible but is nonlinear at times, making it somewhat disjointed. VERDICT This account is written with fans of popular narrative history in mind. Despite the muddled material, many will find this a worthwhile read. Students of this dark part of history, however, will most appreciate Ureneck's research. [See Prepub Alert, 11/17/14.]-Ben Neal, Richland Lib., Columbia, SC © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Cast of Characters	p. xiii
Note on the Text	p. xv
Maps	p. xvii
Prologue	p. 1
Part 1
Chapter 1 End of an Empire	p. 9
Chapter 2 An Innocent Arrives	p. 18
Chapter 3 The Great Offensive	p. 29
Chapter 4 George Horton, Poet-Consul	p. 36
Chapter 5 Garabed Hatcherian	p. 45
Chapter 6 Admiral Bristol, American Potentate	p. 48
Chapter 7 Washington Responds	p. 60
Chapter 8 Jennings's Suggestion	p. 70
Chapter 9 Theodora	p. 92
Chapter 10 An American Destroyer Arrives	p. 95
Chapter 11 The View from Nif	p. 122
Chapter 12 Back in Constantinople	p. 128
Chapter 13 Captain Hepburn's Dilemma	p. 136
Chapter 14 Garabed Hatcherian	p. 168
Chapter 15 Nourcddin Pasha	p. 171
Part 2
Chapter 16 Fire Breaks Out	p. 191
Chapter 17 "All Boats Over"	p. 216
Chapter 18 Morning After	p. 229
Chapter 19 Garabed Hatcherian	p. 237
Chapter 20 Oil, War, and the Protection of Minorities	p. 241
Chapter 21 Bristol's Resistance	p. 248
Part 3
Chapter 22 Halsey Powell	p. 259
Chapter 23 Theodora	p. 286
Chapter 24 Days of Despair	p. 290
Chapter 25 "We Are Celebrating Smyrna"	p. 299
Chapter 26 Jennings and the Hand of God	p. 307
Chapter 27 Garabed Hatcherian	p. 319
Chapter 28 Washington Feels Pressure	p. 325
Chapter 29 Jennings Negotiates with a Prime Minister	p. 338
Chapter 30 The Evacuation Begins	p. 348
Chapter 31 The Rhodes Letter Resurfaces	p. 369
Chapter 32 Revolution	p. 375
Chapter 33 British Assistance	p. 378
Chapter 34 After Smyrna	p. 383
Afterword	p. 391
Acknowledgments	p. 395
Notes	p. 399
Selected Bibliography	p. 449
Index	p. 465

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents