Félix Sartiaux

In 1913, he traveled to Asia Minor commissioned by the French state to carry out archaeological excavations at the ancient town of Old Phocaea.

[1] During his second mission to Phocaea in 1914, he and his excavation team [1] witnessed the violent looting and massacre of the town by Ottoman Turk irregulars.

Sartiaux and his three assistants, hoisted French flags on their homes and provided shelter to fleeing Greeks.

Between 1919 and 1920, following the end of WWI, many Phocaeans including Sartiaux, returned to Phocaea but were expelled once again in 1922 after the burning of Smyrna.

Sartiaux published documents and photos of his archaeological work including the events of the massacre in French.