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BOSTON GLOBE, DECEMBER 3, 1922
JAPANESE AT SMYRNA
Mrs. Anna Harlow Birge, wife of
Prof. Birge of the International College
at Smyrna, tells of an incident when
Smyrna was being burned. The desper-
ate refugees were crowding each other
off the wharves, and the harbor was
full of men and women swimming
around in the hope of rescue until they
drowned. In the harbor at that time
was a Japanese freighter, which had
just arrived loaded to the decks with a
very valuable cargo of silks, laces
and china, representing many thousands
of dollars.
The Japanese captain, when he real-
ized the situation, did not hesitate. The
whole cargo went overboard into the
dirty waters of the harbor, and the
freighter was loaded with several
hundred refugees, who were taken to
the Piraeus and landed in safety to
Greek shores.
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Transcribed for educational, archival and "fair use" purposes only. (SKK)
Comments of the researcher Sofia Kostos
The Japanese ship was the ONLY known ship that did NOT follow orders to remain neutral. On behalf of the victims of Smyrna-Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians and Others, we owe the Japanese Government a show of appreciation for their compassionate intervention.
I knew a Greek woman who told me that she was nine years old when she and her family were rescued by "a Japanese ship." She also told me that some of the escapees died before they reached Piraeus. She recalled seeing their bodies thrown into the sea.
To date: the name of the Japanese merchant ship is unknown. (SKK)
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