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 >> Damascus

Turkish Prision Camps



Damascus

DAMASCUS (DIMESHK): The Turks interned enemy aliens in this city during the Great War. At the beginning of the war, the VIII Army Corps headquarters were located in Damascus. This urban center was located in the Vilayet of Damascus in western Syria. It lay on the Barada River, west of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and the Syrian Desert to the east. In December 1914, the Turkish government first interned British, Indian, and Maltese civilians in Damascus. Many of these civilians departed the city in April 1915 for internment in other Turkish prison camps. Damascus also served as a transit camp for Armenian civilians in the Spring and Summer of 1915 headed for internment in Hauran. Hundreds of Armenians died every day in Damascus as a result of exhaustion and starvatioin. Australian and Arab forces captured Damascus in early October 1918.