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Jakob Künzler (March 8, 1871 – January 15, 1949) was a
Swiss who resided in an
oriental mission in
Urfa
Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...
and who
witnessed the Armenian genocide.
Born in
Hundwil
Hundwil is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland.
History
Hundwil is first mentioned in 921 as ''Huntwilare''.
Geography
Hundwil has an area, , of . Of this area, 58.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while ...
,
Switzerland, he worked in the canton
Appenzell and made a living as a carpenter. Afterwards he was trained in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
as an evangelist deacon (''Krankenpfleger''). In 1899 he traveled to
Urfa
Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...
in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, where he found his own place to work. He continued to study medicine until he became an independent operating surgeon, and later in 1905 he married Elizabeth Bender, daughter of a Christian missionary and granddaughter of an Ethiopian princess.
From 1915 to 1917 Künzler became an eyewitness to the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
, the subject of his 1921 book ''In the Land of Blood and Tears''. Despite mortal danger he helped provide, when he could, for thousands of Armenian orphans and resumed his hospital enterprise in Urfa.
He was a Swiss pharmacist who had remained in Turkey serving the sick and wounded, non-Muslims and
Muslims alike, in a hospital in Urfa who documented accounts of massacres of various Armenian labor battalion companies.
[America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, by Jay Murray Winter – p. 66]
In October 1922 he closed his hospital he worked in and moved his family to Ghazir, near
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, where later he opened a center for orphans. Later he established a settlement for
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
widows in Beirut and a lung sanatorium in Azounieh.
Jakob Künzler observed in August 1915:
Künzler also witnessed the
deportations of Kurds, of which he wrote:
He died in
Ghazir
Ghazir ( ar, غزير) is a town and municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is located north of Beirut. It has an average elevation of 380 meters above sea level and a total land area of . The tow ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
. He was buried and remains interred in the French Protestant Cemetery of Beirut.
Prizes and honors
* 1947 award by the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
* 1959 memorial in Hundwil
* 1971 earnings/service medals of the Lebanese government
* 1971 memorial in Hundwil and
Walzenhausen
Walzenhausen is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland.
History
The farm ''Walzenhausen'' was mentioned first in 1320. The church was built in 1638 in as little as nine months. This was the establishment of Walzenhau ...
, Switzerland (1971).
Literature
* 1929: ''In the Land of Blood and Tears''
* 1959: ''Jakob, the Resource in the Service of Life''
See also
*
Witnesses and testimonies of the Armenian genocide
Witnesses and testimony provide an important and valuable insight into the events which occurred both during and after the Armenian genocide. The Armenian genocide was prepared and carried out by the Ottoman government in 1915 as well as in the ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunzler, Jakob
Swiss surgeons
1871 births
1949 deaths
Witnesses of the Armenian genocide