Chapter 3: The Metropolitan Chrysostomos was sacrificed by the Turkish mob in Smyrna in 1922

As the Turks pushed towards Smyrna, residents poured in from the countryside and gathered at Smyrna's Quay, hoping to book passage among one of the international ships. But these military ships, 21 in all, had direct orders not to get involved in the battle between the Greeks and the Turks. They were there to protect their country's own citizens and material interests. Metropolitan Chrysostomos had assured his followers that Smyrna would be spared the wrath of the Turks, but he realized that was a promise that he couldn't keep. Desperate to save his people, Chrysostomos accepted a meeting with his nemesis, Turkish Commander General in Smyrna, Noureddin Pasha....Pasha felt he was slighted before by the Metropolitan and was tired of the religious leader's pro-Hellenic sermons...it was time for revenge... If the Turks could do that to the Metropolitan, there would no be no quarter given to regular civilians.... Humanity was on fire...from the ashes of despair rose heroes, like American Consul General George Horton and Lieutenant Commander Halsey Powell, who defied United States Admiral Mark Bristol’s orders to remain neutral and not allow any refugees aboard ship. Chrysostomos, according to French soldiers who witnessed the lynching, but were under strict orders from their commanding officer not to intervene: “The mob took possession of Metropolitan Chrysostom and carried him away… a little further on, in front of an Italian hairdresser named Ismail … they stopped and the Metropolitan was slipped into a white hairdresser’s overall. They began to beat him with their fists and sticks and to spit on his face. They riddled him with stabs. They tore his beard off, they gouged his eyes out, they cut off his nose and ears.” *This documentary is for educational purposes only and does not claim any right to the archival footage or pictures used in this project. Footage provided by the Red Cross, Near EAst Relief, International YMCA, British Pathe YouTube, US Library of Congress, Levantine Heritage, Robert Davidian; Asa K. Jennings images courtesy Roger Jennings. **Copyright: Mike Damergis, for all the interviews conducted in the piece.