Hubert Wagner

We Greeks called the muslim Turks "the Grand Masters of Torture." After the fall of Constantinople (May 29, 1453) and during the 400 years of Ottoman slavery in Greece, the Greeks carried out more than 100 uprisings in order to restore the Eastern Roman Empire and free themselves from muslim tyrants. The barbarity of the muslims against the Christian Greeks was out of this world. During these 400 years and as historical sources report, the Turks, in order to intimidate the rebels, systematically committed atrocities that the human mind cannot comprehend. On page 236-237 of the historical book "What You Didn't Know About Turkish Rule and the Greek Revolution of 1821," the following is written: As soon as the Revolution of 1821 broke out, the Turks, in their attempt to intimidate the rebels, butchered those they captured or threw them to the ground and slaughtered them like animals. In some cases, they exceeded the limits of brutality. In Patras, they captured a father and son and, after impaling them, lit a fire and forced the other captives to roast them like lambs. Ali Pasha at that point was more inventive: When he impaled Christians, he forced their relatives to turn the spit, threatening that otherwise he would impale them too. Immediately after the hanging of Patriarch Gregory V in Constantinople, the Turks hanged three metropolitans at various points in the city. However, one of them, the very elderly Metropolitan of Nicomedia, breathed his last before reaching the place of execution. Such, however, was the Turks' mania for revenge that they punished even the dead man by hanging his corpse. After the hanging of the Patriarch, the Turks daily engaged in massacres of Christians who were trying to escape from the City. Then the Sultan sent a firman to the Patriarchate, which prohibited the departure of Christians from Constantinople, making them "jointly liable" in groups of five. This meant that if one from a group of five escaped, the remaining four would pay with their lives. Thus, the Greeks had to choose between the very likely massacre if they waited, or the certain massacre if one of the five managed to escape. The revolution in Northern Greece and especially Macedonia was drowned in an ocean of blood. Five thousand Greeks were massacred in Naousa, the rest were sold in slave markets, and the entire city was reduced to ashes. The Pasha of Thessaloniki, Abdul Abud, who had set as his goal the extermination of the Greeks, burned 120 villages and wiped out their inhabitants to the last one. Among the leaders of the Revolution, Zafeirakis was killed in Veroia, Gatsos and Karatasos escaped, while the fate of their wives was harsh, whom Abdul Abud, with horrific threats, wanted to force to convert to Islam. Only Gatsos's wife gave in, out of fear of torture. The other two were tortured to death in front of the government building in the following way: They put sacks full of mice and cats around their necks, and Karatasos's wife, before dying, in a sack full of snakes. If you want to support me in the effort I’m making, please consider becoming a subscriber to my X account for only $2. I write about the ancient, medieval, and modern history of Greece and what Christians went through because of Islam. Always with primary sources and historical facts. Thanks for reading me and for all the support. - Homer Pavlos