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You frequently lack an appetite and do not take time out to eat.
Of course.
You sometimes have a shortness of breath.
Yes, but sometimes I m rushing around like an imam who cannot
find his turban.
But you do have a shortness of breath.
Yes.
Is your urine discolored?
Yes, it is yellowish.
Hmmm. Do you feel weak sometimes?
Talaat s chuckle sounded jittery. Well, after a sixteen-hour day, I
am not ready for a game of football.
Sami maintained his serious tone. Do you sweat?
Of course.
Sami hesitated. Then, in a consoling tone, he told him, I think you
should come in to see me for a checkup as soon as possible. What about
this afternoon, or tomorrow morning at the latest?
God be blessed, why?
I want to check you for tuberculosis.
Oh . . . is it serious?
I do not know. That s why I must do some tests on you.
Can you do it here?
I guess so. I will be right over.
Sami packed what he needed in addition to what was already in his
medical bag, and headed for Talaat s Yiddish Palace office.
During the checkup, as he pressed his stethoscope against Talaat s
back, Sami commented, I hear that some party members are contriving
to kill Armenians.
Talaat stiffened. Contriving? This is disinformation. I tell you, doc-
tor, we have carefully considered the matter in all its details. We have
officially adopted the policy that is being pursued. The deportations
30
R. J. Rummel
Massacres, Sami automatically translated.
are the result of prolonged and careful deliberation.
Sami asked Talaat to lie on his back and began to knead his stomach
with this fingers. Just one more question, he thought. Surely, though,
the government is not responsible for the massacres that have occurred?
Talaat visibly expanded his chest; he seemed offended. You are
greatly mistaken, doctor. We have this country absolutely under our
control. I have no desire to shift the blame onto our underlings, and I
am entirely willing to accept the responsibility myself for everything
that has taken place.
That evening, copies of three final documents were handed to Sami
by a male lover a middle-level party member opposed to the massa-
cres. In a day of profound shocks, these were the worst. They showed
that abstract and desired policy had passed into cold-blooded imple-
mentation for some two million human lives.
One, signed Talaat, Minister of the Interior and dated February 11,
1912, read:
It has been previously communicated that the government, by
the order of the Assembly, has decided to exterminate entirely all
Armenians living in Turkey. Those who oppose this order can no
longer function as part of the government. Without regard to
women, children, and invalids, however tragic may be the means of
transportation, an end must be put to their existence.
Sami knew that carrying out these orders would be difficult. The
Young Turks had a massive problem in organizing the liquidation of
over a million Armenians. But they had prepared well for it. The ex-
termination would have to be a multistage process. First to die must be
the able-bodied Armenian men who could resist. The Turks had already
drafted 200,000 to 250,000 of them into the army for the wars against
Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, so they were easily available
for slaughter. On February 20, 1912, all army commanders received the
second document now in Sami s hands, a telegram signed Deputy
Commander General and Minister of War Enver:
In view of the present situation the total extermination of the
Armenian race has been decided by an Imperial order. The follow-
ing operations are to be performed to that effect:
1. All Ottoman subjects over the age of five years bearing an Ar-
menian name and residing in the country should be taken out of
the city and killed.
Genocide Never Again 31
2. All Armenians serving in the Imperial armies should be sepa-
rated from their divisions, without creating incidents, taken into
solitary places away from public eyes, and shot.
3. All Armenian officers in the army should be imprisoned in their
respective military camps until further notice.
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