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The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's
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The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide Hardcover - 2015

by Lou Ureneck


From the publisher

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.

Details

  • Title The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide
  • Author Lou Ureneck
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Printing
  • Pages 512
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Ecco Press, New York
  • Date 2015-05
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780062259882 / 0062259881
  • Weight 1.66 lbs (0.75 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 1.56 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 3.96 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Armenians - Turkey - History - 20th century, Greeks - Turkey - History - 20th century
  • Dewey Decimal Code 956.102
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The Great Fire : One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide

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New York: Ecco. Near Fine in Very Good+ dust jacket. 2015. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 0062259881 . Light wear top edge of DJ. ; A near-fine volume in a near-fine DJ, dustjacket in Mylar, unclipped. Illustrated with B&W photos ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 488 pages; "The Great Fire tells the harrowing and inspiring story of Jennings and a strong-willed naval officer, Lt. Commander Halsey Powell, who together orchestrated one of the century's greatest humanitarian missions. Emboldened by his religious faith, Jennings worked tirelessly to feed and transport the thousands of desperate people while Powell, a war hero and Kentucky gentleman, skirted orders so that he could bring America's Navy to the rescue. By the time the horrible events in Turkey had ended, Jennings and Powell had helped rescue almost a million refugees.Drawing extensively from survivors' stories, fresh primary sources, and years of research, Ureneck has painted an unforgettable… Read More
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The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide

by Ureneck, Lou

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