Reports of the American Red Cross Commissions upon their activities in Macedonia, Thrace, Bulgaria, the Ægean Islands and Greece.

  • American Red Cross
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports of the American Red Cross Commissions upon their activities in Macedonia, Thrace, Bulgaria, the Ægean Islands and Greece. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The condition of the rescued Greeks was such that in spite of all that could be done for them many died before reaching their native land. At all of the food and clothing stations established by the Red Cross one of the many tasks the American men and women had to perform was to dig graves for Greeks who died of star- vation and disease. All the while nurses bathed and fed the children of the refugees and cared for the sick, while other Red Cross workers, by pure American bluff, se- cured the release of Greeks unjustly imprisoned, de- manded permits for the transport of cattle owned by the refugees and clothed the unfortunates, all during the limited time that the refugees’ trains stopped for fuel or more passengers. An idea of the extent of the work undertaken by the Red Cross mission may be gained from the fact that on one day 126 carloads of refugees containing 7,150 persons were provided with 12,500 ra- tions. On another occasion, at Tyrnovo-Siemen, 1,500 refugees were given rations, the sick given emergency attention, 385 were clothed, 1,637 garments were dis- tributed, five refugees buried and the train started for Dedeagatch, all within five hours. Although the repatriation work is considered about finished it is claimed by the Greeks that thousands of their people are still held by the Bulgars. ‘They assert that the Bulgars have added an “off” to the names of thousands of Greek children to deceive Greek investi- gators and prevent the return of these children to their homes. It is also claimed by the Greeks that of 32,000 Greek soldiers imprisoned in Bulgaria, nearly 20,000 died, while the Bulgarian Minister of War, Liaptchew, makes the amazing assertion that only 11,345 armed Greeks were taken and that exactly that number were returned to their own country. Although the repatriation problem is disappearing there still remains a vast amount of work for the Mis- sion to Greece. In common with the rest of the Near
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