Summary
Villages reportedly burned
The text explicitly names these seven villages as having been burned down, with their Muslim populations reportedly massacred:
- Ürgandichilar
- Popova
- Taljali
- Bujuklü
- Tschillu
- Gensetschelü
- Surlova
Reported killings and other atrocities
- Madenjeri — 64 unarmed people reportedly traveling toward Thessaloniki were killed.
- Doiran–Gewegelü road — 16 Muslims were reportedly shot.
- Ürgandichilar — 90 Muslims were reportedly bound together and stabbed with bayonets.
- Ürgandichilar and the other burned villages — the Muslim population was reportedly massacred.
- Doiran — houses were reportedly looted, and people who refused to hand over money were allegedly threatened with death.
- Doiran — Turkish officers’ homes were reportedly broken into, and women were allegedly raped.
- Surrounding villages — Muslim and Turkish homes were reportedly looted.
- Kirbach Bala and Skirbach Sir — Muslims reportedly converted to Christianity after being threatened with death.
- Sinenikcheh and Balmesch — Muslims reportedly converted to Christianity under threats.
- Christian women who had previously converted to Islam — reportedly forcibly rebaptized, while their husbands were allegedly killed in front of them.
- Serres Sanjak — the article claims that approximately 20,000 Muslims were killed out of a Muslim population of about 184,000.
Cited from a German newspaper in 1913:
“Bulgarian and Serbian atrocities.
The correspondent of the “Cologne Gazette” in Thessaloniki reports on unspeakable atrocities committed by Bulgarians and Serbs against Muslims:
For some time now, there have been reports of atrocities in the Doiran area (this district has a Muslim population of approximately 20,000). The Bulgarian and Serbian authorities have wisely refrained from making any official statements, and so it has been unclear for quite some time what was actually happening there, especially since passenger service on the Thessaloniki-Dedeatgach railway line only resumed a few days ago. A very respectable Turkish merchant who has arrived here has now submitted a report to the appropriate authorities, from which the following can be gleaned:
Doiran was occupied by 200 Serbian cavalry and 500 infantry, as well as numerous Bulgarian bandits. The Turkish offices were immediately seized, and then a series of extortions began. Those who refused to hand over money were threatened with death. At night, houses were broken into, with a preference for the homes of Turkish officers, where the women were raped.
Sixty-four Berjonians [Dorians], who had set out for Thessaloniki without any weapons, were killed near Madenjeri. The seven most prominent Muslims, 59 in number, were killed after brutal torture. All the houses of the Muslims were plundered, and the same fate befell the houses of the Turks in the surrounding area.
The villages of Ürgandichilar, Popova, Taljali, Bujuklü, Tschillu, Gensetschelü, and Surlova were burned down, and the Muslim population slaughtered. The Muslims of the villages of Kirbach Bala and Skirbach Sir, as well as those of Sinenikcheh and Balmesch, who had also been threatened with death, converted to Christianity.
When the Greek troops arrived there, the atrocities against the population ceased. On the road between Doiran and Gewegelü, 16 Muslims were killed by gunfire. From Ürgandichilar, it is reported that 90 Muslims were bound together neck to neck with shackles and then stabbed with bayonets. All the Christian women who had previously converted to Islam were rebaptized, and their husbands were killed before their eyes. Wealthy people died of hunger, as all their food and possessions were taken from them. Grain was taken away.
The merchant, whose name is well known here, claims to have been guilty of slight exaggeration; moreover, these sad events are also being reported to local consulates from other sources. In the Sanjak of Serres, some 20,000 men from a Muslim population of approximately 184,000 are said to have been killed. The Bulgarian rural population was particularly involved in the extermination work of the Moham Medaners, as were the Bulgarian gangs who loaded themselves with rich plunder everywhere.”
Source
Schlesische Zeitung. 1913 Jg.172. Verlag von Wilh. Gottl. Jahrgang. Dir. 25. Breslau. Sonnabend, den 11. Januar. Brifung. 1913. (Schlesische Zeitung. Published by Wilh. Gottl. Korn. 172nd Year. No. 25. Breslau. Saturday, January 11, 1913.)
