Pursuit of an 'Unparalleled Opportunity'
The American YMCA and Prisoner of War Diplomacy among the Central Power Nations
during World War I, 1914-1923.
by Kenneth Steuer

Table of Contents


Introduction
Chapter 1"Evangelizing the World" Chapter 2The American YMCA Mobilizes Chapter 3The U.S. and POW Responsibilities Chapter 4American YMCA POW Diplomacy Chapter 5Association Diplomacy Extends Chapter 6American Secretaries in Germany Chapter 7Expanding WPA Work in Germany Chapter 8"Keeping Body and Soul Together" Chapter 9Operations in Austria-Hungary Chapter 10Phildius Relief Work in Bulgaria Chapter 11Political Prisoners, Labor Detachments Chapter 12The United States Enters the War Chapter 13The Arrival of Neutral Secretaries Chapter 14POWs in Germany Chapter 15Allied Relief in the Ottoman Empire Chapter 16Armistice and Restoration of Service Chapter 17Post-War WPA Operations Chapter 18Countering the Bolshevik Threat Chapter 19Conclusion
Glossary Maps

Appendix A

Prison Camps

Media Index >> Appendix A: Prison Camps >> Turkey >> Aleppo

Turkish Prision Camps



Aleppo

ALEPPO (APEP or HALEB): The Turks incarcerated both interned civilians and British prisoners of war in this city during the war. Aleppo was located in the Vilayet of Aleppo in Syria, sixty miles east-southeast of Iskenderon (Alexandretta), on the Nahr el Haleb River as well as the strategic Constantinople to Baghdad Railway line. The Turks incarcerated Allied prisoners, primarily interned Indian POW's from the Mesopotamian Front, in the Citadel in the city. British prisoners of war worked in labor detachments on the construction of the railway east of the city towards Ras el-Ain. The Turks also used Aleppo as a transit camp for Armenian civilians from Sivas en route to Damascus in 1915. The Ottomans housed Armenians in houses, khans, and Armenian churches and the internees suffered from typhus and dysentery during their incarceration in the city. By August 1915, approximately 5,000 Armenians reached the city and lived in abysmal conditions (about one hundred died every day from exhaustion and starvation, according to neutral observers). British, under General Sir Edmund Allenby, and Arab forces captured Aleppo in late September 1918.