Massacre of Samothrace (1821)

Massacre of Samothrace
Part of the Greek War of Independence
The Massacre of Samothrace by Auguste Vinchon
Location	Samothrace
Coordinates	40°17′N 25°19′E / 40.29°N 25.31°E / 40.29; 25.31
Date	1 September 1821
Target	Greeks
Deaths	Hundreds
Perpetrators	Ottoman Army

The Massacre of Samothrace (Greek: Ολοκαύτωμα της Σαμοθράκης, romanized: Holocaust of Samothrace) was the mass murder and enslavement of the Greek population of the island of Samothrace. Following the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the Samothracians rose in revolt against the local Ottoman authorities. On 1 September 1821, an Ottoman punitive expedition under the Castellan of Dardanelles Mehmet Pasha arrived at the island. After suppressing the uprising, the Ottoman troops killed or enslaved most of island's population.

Five Samothracians who refused to convert to Islam in the aftermath of the massacre were recognized as neomartyrs by the Greek Orthodox Church. Samothrace was awarded the golden medal of the Academy of Athens for its contribution to the Greek War of Independence.

Background

Towards the end of the 18th century Samothrace began to flourish economically. Its limited resources, remote location and the absence of a safe harbor that could be used year-round led the Ottomans to largely leave the local Greek population to their own devices. The subsequent increase in agricultural production, led to a growth of the island's population and raised the overall quality of life. According to Sofi Papageorgiou, at the time of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the population of the Island numbered from approximately 4,000 to over 10,000 inhabitants.^[1]

A number of Samothracian

Massacre

In August 1821, an Ottoman fleet set sail from the

Izmir's slave markets. The Ottomans looted the villages and took away the cattle before setting them aflame. Twelve people were hanged from the masts of the Ottoman ships in order to instill fear in the survivors.^[4]

Those who managed to escape sought refuge in the mountains. The Ottomans employed a turncoat named Kyriakos who convinced many of the survivors that they would be amnestied. The Ottomans enslaved the women and children and brought approximately 700 men underneath a Byzantine fortress at Efka where they were massacred.

Topkapi Palace Gate. He subsequently received a congratulatory Imperial letter for his services.^[6]

Aftermath

The remaining Greeks after accepting the amnesty terms of the Ottoman Empire were granted pardon in April 1822.

philhellene George Jarvis visited the island on 13 July 1822. According to Jarvis the island's population was reduced to 200 people who lived in absolute poverty. The population began to grow again after several years as many Samothracian women were bought out of slavery and returned to their homeland. They subsequently married Greek men from other areas of Greece who began to settle the island. The massacre at Efka led to the creation of the Samothracian proverb: "I am not one of the 700," which means, "I am not easily fooled."^{[12] [13]}The Ottoman Census of 1831 states that there were 430 Greek and 3 Turkish males of fighting age on the island. This registrar did not register women, orphans, Christians below the age of puberty, the mentally or physically incapacitated as well as high - ranking officials, so the actual population would be much higher.^[14]

Approximately 70-80 Greeks from Samothrace fled to

Orthodox Easter).^[15] The remains of the saints were initially taken from Makri to Mount Athos but were returned to Samothrace by July 1906.^[16]

The Ottomans tore or burned the books they found during the course of the massacre. A bayoneted bible was recovered by the survivors from the ruins of the Chora village church.[17] It was rediscovered by Ion Dragoumis in Nikolaos Fardys' library during his visit to Samothrace in July 1906. Dragoumis donated the bible to the National Historical Museum, Athens, which houses it in its collection to this day. On 23 March 1980, the Academy of Athens awarded Samothrace its golden medal in recognition of its contribution to the Greek War of Independence.^[18]

References

1. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, p. 75.
2. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, pp. 75–76.
3. ^ Euthymiadis 2002, pp. 177–178.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Papageorgiou 1982, p. 76.
5. ^ Euthymiadis 2002, p. 178.
6. ^ ^{a b} Ilıcak 2021, p. 167.
7. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, p. 79.
8. ^ Euthymiadis 2002, pp. 178–179.
9. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, p. 80.
10. ^ ^{a b} Euthymiadis 2002, p. 180.
11. ^ ^{a b} Ilıcak 2021, pp. 291–292.
12. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, pp. 78–80.
13. ^ Euthymiadis 2002, p. 181.
14. ^ Karpat 1985, pp. 9, 114.
15. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, pp. 81–82.
16. ^ Dragoumis 1926, pp. 12–13.
17. ^ Euthymiadis 2002, p. 179.
18. ^ Papageorgiou 1982, pp. 80–82.

Sources

• Dragoumis, Ion (1926). Σαμοθράκη [Samothrace] (in Greek). Athens: Nea Zoi Alexandreias.
• Euthymiadis, Apostolos (2002). Η συμβολή της Θράκης εις τους απελευθερωτικούς αγώνας του Έθνους : (από του 1361 μέχρι του 1920) [Thrace's Contribution to the Nation's Liberation Struggle: (from 1361 to 1920)] (in Greek). Alexandroupoli: Aigaio.
  ISBN 9607092813
  .
• Ilıcak, H. Şükrü (2021). Those Infidel Greeks: The Greek War of Independence through Ottoman Archival Documents. Leiden:
  ISBN 9789004471306
  .
• ISBN 0299091600
  .
• Papageorgiou, Sofi (1982). Σαμοθράκη : Ἱστορία τοῦ νησιοῦ ἀπό τά πρῶτα χριστιανικά χρόνια ὡς τό 1914 [Samothrace: The History of the Island from the First Christian Years to 1914] (in Greek). Athens: Syllogos pros Diadosin ton Ellinikon Grammaton.