ARMENIA’S ANGELS
Vicken Babkenian

The Australian
ory/0,25197,23594423-21147,00.html
April 25 2008
Australia

AT the same time as Australian troops landed at Gallipoli on April
25, 1915, another event of historical importance was taking place in
Turkey: the Armenian genocide. The Gallipoli landing took place one
day after the mass arrest of Armenian leaders in Istanbul, which is
known as the beginning of the genocide.

"Who, after all, remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?" were
Adolf Hitler’s famous words before he embarked on his heinous crime
of the Holocaust.

One group who remember the Armenians are a handful of Australians who
were at the forefront of the relief effort, yet their stories have
been largely hidden. Not one Australian historian has devoted any
attention to these remarkable Australians, who have been forgotten
along with the "forgotten genocide".

For example, Edith Glanville from Haberfield, Sydney, lost her son
Leigh, from the 1st Battalion, who died in battle at Gallipoli. Thus
began her extraordinary journey with the Armenian people.

Glanville was the first woman justice of the peace in NSW and founded
both the Quota and Soroptimist clubs in Australia. Most notably she
was honorary secretary of the Armenian Relief Fund of NSW from 1922,
and became a driving force in raising more than $100,000 worth of
supplies (about $19 million in today’s value) within months.

Other members of the relief fund included Charles Lloyd Jones, the
first chairman of the ABC; and Oscar Lines, the general manager of
the Bank of NSW. Glanville was so concerned about the plight of the
Armenians that she ended up adopting an Armenian orphan.

Former Menzies cabinet minister and British high commissioner Thomas
White was a prisoner of war during World War I in Turkey. As a
witness to the Armenian genocide, he later returned home and joined
the Armenian relief effort.

Another prominent Australian, the Rev J.E.Cresswell from Adelaide’s
Congregational Church (now the Uniting Church), was national secretary
of the Armenian Relief Fund of Australasia in the 1920s.

Witnessing the plight of Armenian refugees in Syria in 1923, Cresswell
said: "Over 6000 are here. The sights within these caves are beyond
words. No words seem adequate to describe the misery that must be
the portion of these poor people."

He oversaw relief programs from port to destination, including setting
up an Australian-funded orphanage for 1700 children who survived the
genocide in Antelias, Lebanon.

That site is now one of the holiest for Armenians, the Catholicosate
of Cilicia.

In 1918, Sydney mayor James Joynton Smith set up the Armenian Relief
Fund, which included prominent philanthropists and business people
such as the Griffith brothers, one of the largest suppliers of tea
and coffee in Australia, and the Elliot brothers, one of the nation’s
biggest pharmaceutical groups.

This fund, with the help of many Sydneysiders, raised hundreds of
thousands of dollars to help the Armenians, all when Australians
were already sacrificing so much during World War I. Even prime
minister Billy Hughes promised that free freight would be provided
by commonwealth steamers for any contribution to the fund.

These are just some of the hundreds of Australian stories of
generosity, hope and moral decency that have been unearthed. In
the words of Robert Manne: "In world history there is an intimate
connection between the Dardanelles campaign and the Armenian genocide."

So, as we reflect on the sacrifices of brave Australians who landed
on those distant shores, let’s also remember those Australians who
lost loved ones and, through the kindness of their hearts, were able
to save others.

Vicken Babkenian is director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust
and Genocide Studies.