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Other Books & Videos

U.S. Senate Unanimously Recognizes Armenian Genocide Dec. 12, 2019!

The United States Senate Votes for The Armenian Genocide October 29, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Too often, the tragic reality of the Armenian Genocide has been denied. Today, an overwhelming bipartisan vote of the House ensured that the truth will forever be etched into the Congressional Record.”

Congressman Adam Schiff

Congressman Brad Sherman

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.

Congressmen Menendez & Cruz

Remembering The Genocide Survivors

Hampartzoum’s story is one of the survivors interviewed for this documentary film.

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Days of Tragedy in Armenia

American missionary compound in Kharpert

A Problem From Hell

“A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide (2002) is a book by American Samantha Power, at that time Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, which explores the United States’s understanding of, response to, and inaction on genocides in the 20th century, from the Armenian genocide to the “ethnic cleansings” of the Kosovo War.

Photos of Armenian deportees in 1915 taken by a German Photographer

Turkish Sultans Crack Troops 1915

Armenian deportees drowned in river

Armin Wegner Photo Exhibition

Photographs documenting the eyewitness events of the Genocide and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in Anatolia during 1915 – 1916.

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History of The Armenians of Charsanjak

In the 1950’s Armenian committees around the world were retrieving historical records of their individual ancestral villages that were eradicated during the 1915 Genocide. This is an excerpt from one of the several documenting books of such villages.

Kevork Yerevanian, author of, “History of The Armenians of Charsanjak

Hampartzoum meeting Isahak, the brother of Kevork Yerevanian

original photo

Hampartzoum meeting Isahak, the brother of Kevork Yerevanian

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Notes on Charsanjack Page 2

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More notes from Hampartzoum on where his experiences match Yerevanian’s memoir.

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Hagop Holopikian’s Testimony

Hagop found Kerop (Hampartzoum’s brother) around 1917 and brought him to Dr. Mikael’s house in Mezreh where Hampartzoum happened to be working at the time. A profound reunion as Hampartzoum was sure his brother had been killed by Turks in the two years of Genocide and chaos occuring in Ottoman Turkey at that time. In this testimony he recounts being kept in the same jail Mardiros Chitjian (Hampartzoum’s father) was kept for 3 weeks with brutal beatings.

Regarding the Photo to the right:

Sara returning to the scene of the crime and standing in front of the blacksmith shop that was converted into a temporary jail where the beatings took place.

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The Gopoian Memoirs

The complete Gopoian Memoirs have been digitized and are now available.

Hampartzoum’s memoir speaks of the same incident that Gopoian wrote about in his memoir, corroborating two eyewitness accounts of events that took place during The Armenian Genocide.

(More notes and files are archived with the permanent collection located at CSUN University)

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The Gopoian Letter to Hampartzoum

There is a point in Gopoian’s memoir that references an experience for which Hampartzoum was present and is described in a virtually identical manner even though the two had not shared notes prior to writing their accounts during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The Gopoian Lineage

Miran Gopoian worked for Hampartzoum at his Paleteria ( Ice Cream Shop) in Mexico City. Miran would eventually move to Connecticut and start his family as seen in photo above.

The freedom Fighter who was Hampartzoum and Kaspar’s godfather is also mentioned in Gopoian’s memoir because they were from the same village.

Levon Gopoian by Sara

This is the page from Hampartzoum’s memoir that speaks of the same incident that Gopoian wrote about in his memoir, corroborating two eyewitness accounts of an event that took place during The Armenian Genocide

Levon Gopoian’s daughter in law sends Sara these family photos

Levon Gopoian with wife Levonia

The Gopoian Family 1930’s

The Gopoian Family in the 1950’s

Levon Gopoian’s Mother’s Immigrant ID card

Mr. Gopoian with wife Levenia and his mother Yeghseh Bajii

Gopoian Family Reunion 1960

Gopoian Family Reunion name list

Gopoian Family Reunion head count positions

Sara reflects on The Gopoian Family

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Sara reflects on The Gopoian Family

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Page from Hampartzoum’s memoir mirroring Gopoian’s experience.

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Hampartzoum reflects on The Gopoian Memoirs

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Excerpt from The Gopoian Memoir

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VIDEOS

“What is the price that keeps this silent” – Sara Chitjian

1915 AGHET – The Armenian Genocide

The Blue Book

A documentary by Gagik Karagheuzian, The Blue Book”, Political Truth of Historical Fact. Ara Sarafian (Key Historian) presents “A Hair’s Breadth from Death” at a Turkish Book Fair in Istanbul, included in this documentary.

This documentary film is currently available for viewing thru Amazon Prime:

Professor Chomsky Lecture with MIT Armenian Society

Killing Orders: Talat Pasha’s Telegrams & the Armenian Genocide

Taner Akcam presents new found official Turkish documents providing further evidence to the truth of history.

Armenian as an International Language?

Margaret Mead, the renowned anthropologist, proposed Armenian could serve as an international language. Her daughter speaks with Salpi Ghazarian of CivilNet on the anniversary of Margaret Mead’s birthday.

Architects of Denial

Though both the historical and modern-day persecution of Armenians and other Christians is relatively uncovered in the mainstream media and not on the radar of many average Americans, it is a subject that has gotten far more attention in recent years. It was during and after World War I that the Ottoman Empire carried out the systematic mass murder of what is estimated by many to be 1.5 million Christian citizens, most of them Armenian, but also Greek and Assyrian Christians. To this day, the Armenian people are persecuted in the Middle East for their beliefs – and many are kept from their true home. Turkey, which is the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, still denies the extent and the systematic nature of the atrocities and doesn’t use the word genocide for these well-documented events. Other governments officially deny the Armenian Genocide as well because of political pressure by their ally Turkey. “Architects of Denial” not only digs into the persecution of Armenians and other Christians in the Middle East, both past and present, but it also sheds light on those politicians who refuse to acknowledge an event scholars accept as a sad reality and historical fact.

ChunKush – A small Village Between Kharpert and Dikranagert

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The Akabi memoir

Wedding Photo

Sara reflects on The Akabi Memoirs

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Ottoman Armenians, Life, Culture, Society

Written by Vahé Tachjian

Vahé Tachjian: Born in Lebanon, he earned his Ph.D. in History and Civilization at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. He is now the chief editor of the houshamdyan website (www.houshamadyan.org, based in Berlin), a scientific project, whose aim is to reconstruct the Ottoman Armenians’ local history and the memory of their lives.

An email to Sara from Vahé Tachjian

Houshamadyan’s (Vahé Tachjian) first publication to the public.The most practical and constructive way to study the history of the Ottoman Empire-a multi-ethnic empire whose people spoke more than one language-is through a multi-disciplinary approach. It is only natural that alongside official Ottoman-Turkish material, the empire’s history can be studied through other, multilingual sources. Here, no primary sources can be classified as central or trivial, for each enriches and compliments the other. Recognition of this diversity and collaboration between different disciplines will open new vistas for researching the Ottoman Empire. The aim is to show the importance and necessity of using Armenian-language primary sources to study and understand Armenian (and non-Armenian) life in the Ottoman Empire. In fact, this is one of the common denominators that run through the articles in this book. The authors have based their work largely on Armenian primary sources-living proof of their importance and richness. Houshamadyan aims to examine and understand this local milieu in order to research the daily life of the Ottoman-Armenian. There are many sides to the Ottoman-Armenian that remain unknown to us. By basing our scientific research mainly on Armenian sources, they strive to provide a familiar face and character to these “”unknown”” Armenians, to reveal their multifaceted nature, and to reconstruct their rich and diverse legacy. The book includes 5 articles. It also features around 250 illustrations (photographs, drawings) related to Ottoman-Armenian life.

HOUSHAMADYAN.ORG

A web project to reconstruct Ottoman Armenian town and village life.

by Vahé Tachjian

Lest They Perish

This depiction of an Armenian mother and child created by W.B. King for the American committee for relief in the Near East, 1917.

Armenian orphans showing their appreciation in this photo that was created to say thank you to the Americans who sent donations to help them.

Dikranagerd Armenian Dialect Dictionary

Dikranagerd Armenian Dialect Dictionary

To view the full book for free Click Here.

The Book Chapters

The Solution To The Hittite Question by Peter Jensen

This book by Peter Jensen proposes that the Armenian language is the closest language to the Hittite language and Armenians themselves are descendants of Hittites. The material has been out of print for many years and provides invaluable information for researchers and scholars alike.

[archiveorg hittiterundarmen00jens width=560 height=384 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]

An Immigrant’s Courageous Letter to Her President

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Hilmar Kaiser

Hilmar Kaiser visited with Sara Chitjian on numerous occasions. He is a German American historian who has written numerous papers and books and given many lectures on the topic of the Armenian Genocide.

Hilmar Kaiser Reflects on The Armenian Genocide

Research on the Armenian Genocide has experienced a remarkable growth in recent years. Survivors’ memoirs, editions of diplomatic documents, eyewitness accounts by missionaries and others, case studies, and monographic research on various aspects of the Genocide provide informed insights into the nature of the crime.

A considerable number of the available studies on the subject have involved the denial of this genocide. Deniers allege that the Ottoman government never persecuted systematically or attempted to exterminate the empire’s Armenian population. On the contrary, one is asked to believe that it was the Armenians who killed a substantial part of the Muslim population in what is presented as a “civil war”. Moreover Armenians are blamed for having started this civil war in order to assist the Russian army’s advance on the Eastern front and to bring down the Ottoman government. Deniers maintain that relatively few Armenians died in connection with what they claim to have been a legitimate act of Ottoman government self-defense.

Denial of genocide is not unique to the Armenian case. As with other crimes, perpetrators try to avoid punishment by obstructing investigation and research. Those engaged in denial employ a multitude of techniques. These methods cover a wide range of activities, from simply ignoring the established historical record to the intimidation of scholars.

Denial of both the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide was initiated by the perpetrators immediately upon commencement of the extermination of their targeted victims. However, denial of the Armenian Genocide differs significantly from that of the Holocaust. Whereas the Nazi Germans were permanently crippled by their defeat in World War II, the Ottoman government was able to reorganize itself following defeat. With slightly altered personnel, the government that had been the “Committee of Union and Progress” (CUP), which was responsible for the Armenian Genocide, was able to reemerge by way of the nationalist movement, ostensibly led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Thus, the CUP cadres managed to keep control to Turkish politics for many years to come and were able to perpetuate their denial propaganda as the official Turkish historical thesis on the Armenian Genocide. This denial was, and today still is, formulated in official Turkish government publications and distributed worldwide.

Hilmar Kaiser
German research scholar and historian from
the European University Institute in Florence, Italy

Some Hilmar Kaiser Lectures & Books

Hilmar Kairser Lectures

The Extermination of Armenians in The Diarbekir Region.

A German officer during The Armenian Genocide

At The Cross Roads of Der Zor

The Books from Gomidas Institute

The Gomidas Institute is an independent academic organization dedicated to modern Armenian and regional studies. Established at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1992, it began with the publication of books and evolved into a major institution undertaking research, lectures, conferences and exhibitions.

For more info: http://www.gomidas.org/

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Life in Turkey circa 1915

Black & White Images from the Oberlin College Archives

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Rare Photographs of The Armenian Genocide

Gertrude Bell (1868-1926)

Gertrude Bell was highly respected and played a major role in the establishment of Middle East Relations who was present and witness to the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

Provided by Wikipedia

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell,(14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her knowledge and contacts, built up through extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped support the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq.

She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilising her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and exerted an immense amount of power. She has been described as “one of the few representatives of His Majesty’s Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection”.

Turkish atrocities: Armenian massacres

While in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell became a witness to the Armenian Genocide. Contrasting them with previous massacres, she wrote that the massacres of preceding years “were not comparable to the massacres carried out in 1915 and the succeeding years.”Bell also reported that in Damascus, “Turks sold Armenian women openly in the public market.”In an intelligence report, Bell wrote:

The battalion left Aleppo on 3 February and reached Ras al-Ain in twelve hours….some 12,000 Armenians were concentrated under the guardianship of some hundred Kurds…These Kurds were called gendarmes, but in reality mere butchers; bands of them were publicly ordered to take parties of Armenians, of both sexes, to various destinations, but had secret instructions to destroy the males, children and old women…One of these gendarmes confessed to killing 100 Armenian men himself…the empty desert cisterns and caves were also filled with corpses…No man can ever think of a woman’s body except as a matter of horror, instead of attraction, after Ras al-Ain.”

Karen Jeppe (1876-1935)

Sara Chitjian admired the work of Karen Jeppe, the Danish missionary and social worker who devoted profound effort in helping Armenian refugees and Genocide survivors (widows and orphans)

Karen Jeppe

Painting of Karen Jeppe by Dr. Krin Markides

Memorial to K. Jeppe in her hometown of Gylling, the inscription says: Karen Jeppe; Mother of the Armenians.

From Wikipedia: Karen Jeppe (1 July 1876 – 7 July 1935) was a Danish missionary and social worker, known for her work aid worker with Ottoman Armenian refugees and survivors of the Armenian Genocide, mainly widows and orphans, from 1903 until her death in Syria in 1935.^[1] She was a member of Johannes Lepsius‘ Deutsche Orient-Mission (German Orient Mission)^[2] and assumed responsibility (in 1903^[3]) for the Armenian children in the Millet Khan German Refugee Orphanage after the 1895 Urfa massacres.^[4]

David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991)

was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and ancient Bulgarian history.

“There are few countries which have made, for their size, such an outstanding contribution to civilization as has Armenia, while remaining virtually unknown to the western world. Most of us have a vivid picture of Noah’s Ark landing on Mt. Ararat, Armenia’s highest and most hallowed point. Yet our knowledge of the Armenian people, both ancient and modern is very sketchy.”

Starvation and it’s Political Use in the Armenian Genocide

by George N. Shirinian

Shirinian-Starvation and Its Political Use in the Armenian Genocide

From The Jacobsen Photographic Diaries

The Ayvazian Family

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Documentary Films by J. Michael Hagopian

Ararat Beckons

The River Ran Red by Michael Hagopian

Ovsanna & Hampartzoum Chitjian interviewed

More Memoirs from Armenian Genocide Survivors

Yessisian Memoirs

The Yessisian Memoir

Mkhitarian book on Kharpert

Kude Mkhitarian Memoir

Ara Sarafian’s Interview in Istanbul on Armenian Genocide

Interview Translated Into English

Ara Sarafian’s interview in Istanbul on Armenian Genocide

Interviewer: First of all, thank you for coming. If you don’t mind, we will go straight to the main topic. Please tell us about your scientific work and what you’re going to present to the Turkish audience.

Ara Sarafian: We have published a new scientific work about Talaat Pasha’s report. Another similar work was published a few years ago by Murat Bardakçı. That work caused a stir among the audience but that was not enough, in my opinion. It didn’t create a real boom. Over the last few years I have been using Ottoman archives. I reviewed that work again and expressed some doubts about it. I decided to publish my own work covering this topic. My goal was to bring up this issue again so that professionals of the field could also join the discussion. This book was published in English. Now, for the first time, it’s being translated into Turkish. The main goal is to turn this topic into a matter of debate as, in my opinion, this is one of the most important works on Armenian Genocide which is based on official Turkish sources.

Interviewer: You said that you had worked with official Turkish documents. I would like to emphasize the fact that you have been studying this issue over the last 30 years. Please tell us about the position of Turkish archives on this matter.

Ara Sarafian: Turkish archives started providing documents on the Armenian issue since 1990s. Of course, there was only a small number of documents there (as it may often happen in different archives) but the ones that we found were quite interesting to study. Lack of information is no excuse not to discuss something. And certainly, I expressed my viewpoint only after thoroughly studying these documents. Another interesting thing I found in Turkish archives was the Turkish Government’s viewpoint on this matter which means that this topic can also become a subject for discussion. So here I’m talking not only about Talaat Pasha’s and Murat Bardakçı’s works but also the documents that are available in Turkish archives. This means that the viewpoints of Yusuf Halaçoğlu or Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey can no longer be defended by Turkish archives.

Interviewer: That’s right. A few years ago Yusuf Halaçoğlu didn’t want to work with you but then you announced that you wanted to work together.

Ara Sarafian: Here is the thing. We came here to participate in Hrant Dink’s funeral. I was asked why I didn’t work with Turkish officials or historians. I said that two years ago there were some cooperation plans but I didn’t receive any offer from Turkey so I decided to take the first step myself. I called on the Turkish side to start working together and Yusuf Halaçoğlu was quick to reply. I suggested not taking the entire topic for discussion and choosing only one location instead, for example Kharpert. According to the Turkish theory, the displacement of the Armenian people was carried out legally (people’s names were registered along with their properties) and these Armenians settled in other locations. I asked him to provide documents confirming this hypothesis so that I could seriously study them. The same way I promised to show him Armenian sources that confirm the Armenian Genocide (taking Kharpert as an example). That was my offer and Yusuf Halaçoğlu accepted it. However, I think he accepted my offer only because he was approached by journalists and was asked whether he would agree to work with Ara Sarafian. He said, ‘’yes’’ but soon he just disappeared without bringing any official reasons for that. Later, on CNN Turkey he said ‘’Ara

Sarafian is well aware that there are no such documents in Turkish sources’’. Yes, he is right, there are no such documents there but the reason for that is not that these documents never existed: they are either publicly unavailable or they are just destroyed. I expected him to give a detailed explanation for this matter but of course he didn’t.

Interviewer: Another question. A few weeks ago Murat Bardakçı wrote an article in his newspaper talking about your scientific work. My question is what’s the likelihood of successful cooperation with Turkish historians on this matter?

Ara Sarafian: First, I would like to say that we’re already working with Turkish historians. There are a lot of great specialists among them. I have learnt and I’m still learning a lot of things from them. That’s the reason I want to discuss this issue with these people. That’s for sure. However, I should say that there are also nationalists among them. I haven’t criticized Murat Bardakçı up to this day: I hoped he would express his viewpoint and I would express mine and we would have a great discussion together. However, for some reasons he exploded in anger and expressed ideas based on chauvinistic principles. He didn’t attack me—he attacked the Armenian nation (saying ‘’Armenian Diaspora’’). I hope that was, as Armenians say, just a psychological moment he went through and he will act more prudent in future. If one day he changes his mind and wants to discuss this issue, I will have no objections to that; however, I have nothing to talk to him as there are a lot of other specialists who I can discuss this issue with.

Interviewer: OK, let’s come back to the report. What to expect from your new scientific work on Talaat Pasha’s report?

Ara Sarafian: I’d like to explain why I attach so much importance to this report. First of all, this report belonged to Talaat Pasha, which means that it is definitely related to him. We can’t ignore this fact. Secondly, the information he provides there is specific and very interesting. Some historians may say that this information may be inaccurate. However, I trust the data given in the report as the numbers mentioned there are based on the population census conducted in 1917 by Talaat Pasha. Of course, it won’t give answers to all our questions but at least we may find answers to the most important ones. We may find some information about Syria—the number of Armenians in Syria (Hama, Homs) and the places they came from (Adana, Ayntap, Konya). These numbers were categorized according to vilayets and were sent to Talaat Pasha. This data was then used by Talaat Pasha in his report so the connection is obvious.

So these are not just numbers that came out of nowhere—they are based on official documents some of which are not publicly available (but may become available in future). Anyway, the information we have is enough for us to discuss the issue and find connections. The numbers we find in Talaat Pasha’s report, in my opinion, are based on official sources, hence the report reveals the Government viewpoint in this regard. These numbers show that in the period from 1914-1917 the number of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire decreased by 1.000.000. Some of these people could have fled borderline regions but this can’t be true for all regions. For example, the Armenians living in Izmir and Bursa had nowhere to go and they didn’t pose a threat to the Government. However, according to Government data, these people (who were under their control at that time) disappeared. For me, this is a very important proof of the perpetration of the Genocide.

I tried to find these Armenians in other sources but in vain. That’s the reason why Yusuf Halaçoğlu was in rage: he knows that if he is asked about these missing people he won’t be able to explain where all of them disappeared.

Interviewer: Do you agree that Turkish historians may explain Talaat Pasha’s report differently?

Ara Sarafian: No, I don’t think so. Turkish people are not stupid. Of course, Bardakçı’s comments are just hilarious. He says the Armenians emigrated from the Ottoman Empire. Where could so many Armenians emigrate to, especially from Izmir and Bursa (considering a war was going on)? That’s just funny. Anyway, I always give credit to him for having the courage to bring up the original documents. Bravo! I always say that his comments are not accurate but his courage to express his viewpoint in written form is worthy of applause. My duty, as an opponent, is to express my own viewpoint on this problem in written form so that we can have a debate. Ultimately, he may agree with my arguments or a third party may interfere in our debate and announce that we are both mistaken. That’s also possible.

So if we want to discuss this matter with Turkey and give resolution to the main issues, we need to have the courage to continue working in this direction wisely and decently. This is my approach. Criticizing and refusing to talk to each other will not do the work.

Interviewer: And my final question. What steps must be taken in order to give a resolution to this historical problem?

Ara Sarafian: I’m optimistic. Turkey is going through transformation now. This is a very chaotic period of time—some people have backward ideas and some are gradually changing their viewpoints. I think that Halaçoğlu’s dismissal from his post has something to do with his viewpoint on the Armenian issue. Ali Birnici and many others are gradually changing their viewpoints on this matter. Only open and transparent discussions can result in the resolution of this problem. People are very smart—they will understand who brings reasonable arguments and who doesn’t. As intellectuals we need to publicly discuss this issue and be ready to accept criticism. If Bardakçı says, ‘’Ara, your argument is quite interesting. I will think about that’’, I will say, ‘’Bravo’’. I’m also comfortable with criticism. For example, they may say, ‘’Ara, some of your arguments are good but there are other issues we need to discuss (e.g. ‘’Was the number of Armenians estimated accurately? Weren’t there Armenians who were disguised as Turks when they left the country?). All these things are possible. It’s not the end of the discussion—we’re still in the process. Anyway, I should say that we are on the right track as we don’t try to close the issue: on the contrary, we want to open it, we accept criticism and we even give reasons to people to do that.