Many were drafted into the Turkish Army and gave their lives upon battle fields and in the deserts and plains of Ana" tolia. And when tle war was in progress tie most merciless warfare was waged against them. German military authorities not only connived at but encouraged the ruthless persecution of all Armenian people in Asiatic Turkey. Perhaps it will never be known how many were butchered by the Turks and by the roving bands of Kurds who invaded Turkish territory occupied by the Armenians. Tens of thousands of men. women. and children were driven from their homes into the deserts. where they were subjected to the most brutal treatment. and where they miserably perished at the hands of cruel guards and fanatical Turks and roving bands of Kurds. and as a result of the privations to which they were subjected.