and the Greek quarter of Ayios Georgios and through it with that of Ayia
Photini. As time went by, the flames died purple the sky of Smyrna. From
that same quarter, as hours passed by, more dense shootings could be heard. Suspect subjects
bearing Turkish flags and fully armed were running across the streets heading towards
the Armenian quarter, in which new hearths of fire were continuously breaking out.
According to Turkish allegations, inside the Armenian metropolis of Ayios Stephanos
and in the courtyard armed Armenian thugs and guerilla fighters had gathered
and when Turkish policemen and soldiers have arrived to arrest the thugs they
have been shot and were forced to shoot back with the result that a real
battle took place, a fire broke out, that turned Smyrna to a firework. But this is
a monstrous lie. Smyrna has been burned by Nureddin, and an unimaginable tragedy
ensued.
From the morning of 31 August the plan of Nureddin has been put into practice. The flames
of the fire sprang in one quarter after the other, so that they formed
a real chain from which few loops would escape. Only the spots and the buildings that the
soldiers and the other instruments of Nureddin wanted to save, have been saved. There Turkish
detachments proceeded to demolitions and were forming a gap. In this way the massive building of the
Italian school has been saved, which was the pride of the Italians and the centre of their propaganda.
In the same way the Turks saved the new building of the Evangelical School
and the Central Girls' School, which remain to this day their main shcools along
with the building of the University and the renovated by the Greeks from scratch
government house.
On the contrary the old but impressive building of the Omireion Girls' School
was destroyed by throwing pots of gas and oil to accelerate the fire. They did the same with
all large buildings to wipe out the form of the city, Ghiaour Izmir, that has been a Greek
city ever since antiquity -from the time it has been rebuilt by Alexander the Great.
They surrendered the British Consulate to fire, as well as many luxurious
buildings belonging to Levantines so that the proverb, treachery has been cherished by many but not the
traitor, has been fulfilled once more.
During the night a spectacle equal to that enjoyed by Nero after he had set fire to Rome
could be seen from the warship decks."
Ch. Angelomatis, Chronikon Megalis Tragodias, Bookshop of Estia,
n.d., pp. 247-248.
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