GRACE H. KNAPP
The Armenian-Turkish enmity was vicious to the point that each people tried to kill and exterminate the other—men women and children. The atrocities committed by the Armenians were unfortunately matched by the Turks in what is now referred to as the “Armenian Genocide”—see {51838} The armed combatants amongst Turks and Armenians were in the minority yet each side slaughtered all members of the other whenever they could. The hatred still prevails – see {588211}. And Turks and Armenians both still accuse the other of atrocities of the period and appear in denial about their own violence.
Grace H. Knapp was an American Christian missionary and teacher who served in the Ottoman Empire. During her time as a missionary, Knapp was a witness to the Armenian Genocide. During the Armenian Genocide, Knapp was stationed in Van and eventually described the events in the region in two published books describing her experiences. The first book, The Mission at Van in Turkey in War Time, describes in detail the massacres of Armenians by Turkish soldiers during the Van Resistance. Her second book, The Tragedy of Bitlis, relates the narratives of two nurses who witnessed massacres of Armenians in Bitlis. Her recounts of Bitlis are one of the few written accounts of massacres in that area.
