The Massacre of the Infants of Santa: A Tragic Chapter in the Pontic Greek Genocide

An abandoned religion successful Santa. Credit: Hüseyin Öcal, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The colony of Santa experienced 1 of the astir harrowing episodes successful the persecution of the Pontic Greeks during the last and astir brutal signifier of the genocide aft 1919.

Echoing the sorrow of an Ancient Greek tragedy, this unspeakable lawsuit unfolded successful the autumn of 1921, erstwhile Greek mothers successful the municipality of Santa made the heartbreaking determination to surrender their crying infants to decease successful bid to prevention themselves and their assemblage from annihilation by Turkish forces.

Santa nether siege

Santa, a mountainous municipality located 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of Trebizond, consisted of 7 settlements and a colonisation of 5,000 taste Greeks successful 1919. Targeted aboriginal connected successful the genocide, galore of its inhabitants fled to Trebizond and different comparatively safer areas.

In 1918, to support their homes and lives, the Greeks of Santa formed a well-organized guerrilla unit led by Euclid Kourtides (1887–1937), a fearless person renowned for his courageousness and leadership. By the autumn of 1921, Turkish forces had surrounded the town. With deportation to the interior of Asia Minor imminent, the residents, including women and children, fled into the surrounding mountains.

Night of panic successful Santa epitomized Pontic genocide

On September 21, 1921, a ample unit of Turkish regulars and irregulars (Chetas) launched an violative to pain Santa and destruct its population. A fierce conflict erupted successful the mountains.

In a diary entry, Kostas Kourtidis, member of Euclid, described the nighttime arsenic the astir terrifying of his life. Around 300 women and children took structure successful a cave guarded by 120 unarmed young men. As Turkish troops closed in, a constrictive flight way done the wood remained their lone hope.

However, 1 hopeless occupation remained: the infants. Their cries could betray the group’s determination and doom everyone. With nary different option, the guerrillas made an unthinkable decision. Mothers—silent, terrified, and desperate—handed implicit their infants to beryllium killed, sacrificing 7 babies truthful that the remainder mightiness live.

“Many of the women, incapable to quiescent their children and unwilling to permission them behind, killed them connected the spot,” wrote Kourtidis successful his diary. When Turkish forces aboriginal recovered the bodies of the infants, they were truthful shocked that the commanding serviceman reportedly ordered a afloat retreat, saying, “People who termination their ain children cannot beryllium caught. There is nary constituent successful remaining here.”

The aftermath and legacy

Though galore escaped that night, Santa’s ordeal was acold from over. Two consequent waves of deportations sent its remaining residents into the deadly interior of Asia Minor. Meanwhile, Euclid Kourtides and his fighters continued their absorption from the mountains.

By 1924, the surviving villagers of Santa—battered and broken—arrived successful Greece arsenic refugees. Most settled successful Kilkis, founding the colony of Nea Santa. Among them was Captain Euclid Kourtides, remembered until his decease successful 1937 arsenic a awesome of defiance and dignity.

Eleni Nymfopoulou-Pavlidou has fixed dependable to this tragic lawsuit successful her writing, portion Takis Vamvakidis and composer Dimitris Piperidis person preserved it done euphony and narration, ensuring that the sacrifice of Santa’s infants volition ne'er beryllium forgotten.

Related: Santa: The Ruins of the Deserted Greek Town successful Pontus