Library Subject Guides
Hi! I'm Fedor, I am a Postgraduate Public History student. My research interests lie in the history of commemoration, visual and sensory history, as well as the long 20th century history.
In my undergraduate third year, I wanted to include the topic of Armenian Genocide in one of my essays, but I could not find enough literature in the University Library on such a niche topic, and I had to do my own research and locate readings and resources.
With a major part of my family coming from Armenia, the topic of the Genocide of 1915-23 is incredibly important and personal to me. I created this research and resource guide to help researchers like me with more resources, as well as to raise awareness on the topic of the Genocide, that is not as well known outside of Academia.
Image: Public Domain, CC0
In 1918, Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian wrote an autobiographical book describing her experiences of the Genocide. It became of the first literary works on the Genocide available in the West. A year later, a film by the name "Auction of Souls" was made, Mardiganian starring as herself. In a later interview in the 1970s, Mardiganian addressed some inaccuracies in the film - her account had to be toned down, as the violence she witnessed and recorded was too much to be shown on screen, notably the execution of Armenian women by impalement was replaced with crucifixion. While Aurora's story was exploited by filmmakers, the funds raised from the release of the film helped many children orphaned by the genocide.
Unfortunately, the film was not preserved properly, and did not survive in its entirety however a recently-discovered restored 20-minute fragment can be watched here, or via the link at the bottom of this section.
System Of A Down, a famous rock band is comprised of Armenian-Americans, who trace their ancestry to Western Armenia and whose grandparents survived the Genocide. They are outspoken about their support for the acknowledging of the Genocide by the nations of the world - particularly in this interview. Their 2005 song "Holy Mountains" is dedicated to the souls of massacred Armenians returning to the mountains of their homeland.
Almost a century later, many Armenians embark on long journeys to follow the deportation routes of their ancestors, and to visit their abandoned ancestral homelands. A podcast from Kerning Cultures available above follows one of many families in search for answers.
The stela of the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial (above, photo by author) reflects the scattering of Armenian people around the world. Only a third of the people today live in Armenia, the remaining two thirds, split by the divide that was the Genocide settled elsewhere - from the USA to the Middle East.
As of 2024, most countries in the world have officially acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, and commemorative events are held all over the world. In some countries, the Armenian diaspora continues the struggle for the acknowledgement of the Genocide, and inclusion of it into teaching curriculums.
Despite available evidence, including photographic, and eyewitness testimonies, Armenian genocide is a contested history. Denialists claim that the genocide never happened, or that the death of many Armenians, while unfortunate, were just a feature of the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, noting that many people died at that time generally. Allegations of islamophobia are also common among genocide denialists, who claim that the genocide allegations are used to discredit Muslims around the world.
The Armenian Genocide is the name attributed to mass deportations and massacres of ethnic Armenian in the Ottoman Empire. Although most commonly attributed to the events of 1915-1923, the oppression of Armenians have been a constant factor in the Ottoman Empire throughout its existence, Armenians not being treated as equals because of their faith, among other ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, like Greeks and Assyrians.
The Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is observed yearly on April 24 - the day when wealthy Armenians, Armenian thinkers, teachers and artists were arrested en masse and sent to their deaths, seen as the opening act of the all-out Genocide. The photo collage below shows just some of the hundreds of Armenians arrested on the night of 24 April 1915.
Image: Public Domain, CC0
The symbol of the remembrance day is a purple forget-me-not, the official motto of the day is "I remember and Demand," which refers to the demand to the world to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
Image: © Hayordi (Հայորդի)/ CC-BY-SA-4.0
A common form of commemoration is a traditional march to the memorial to the victims of the Genocide in Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan and the laying of flowers. Memorials to the Armenian Genocide exist in many countries, like the United States, Russia and Bulgaria.
The primary organisation concerned with the research and education on the topic of the Genocide is the Armenian Genocide Memorial-Institute in Yerevan, that publishes academic journals, hosts temporary and permanent exhibitions and events. Some of their publications are included in the reading list attached to this guide, but their website holds much more and can be accessed through a link below.
Other non-commercial organisations deal with genocide education at schools and raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide. These organisations are particularly prominent in the United States, as the country has one of the largest Armenian diasporas in the world.
In the United Kingdom, the Armenian National Committee of the UK is the most prominent grassroots organisation, raising awareness of the Genocide and organising events.
This curation has explored a difficult topic that also is a contested history - the Genocide is not recognised by some countries, while other, recognising the horror of the events of 1915-23 refuse to recognise it as Genocide, because the definition for what constitutes Genocide did not exist in the early 20th century.
This curations comes out at a time, when xenophobia, blaming certain population groups for the global problems and scapegoating are on the rise. There are dozens of military conflicts all over the world, that claim thousands of human lives a day, and ethnic cleansing, destruction of culture and genocide are once again words that are spoken about the present time, not the past.
As such, the study of history of Armenian Genocide, just like the study of the genocide in general is a sad, but necessary relevance in the 2020s. This work is dedicated to all victims of genocides and xenophobia worldwide, acknowledged or not.
Image: Public Domain, CC0
Visit the See Yourself on the Shelf page to find out more about our student library curator work.
If you have any questions regarding Armenian Genocide: A History Forgotten? please contact the library at lib-enquiry@york.ac.uk
'See Yourself on the Shelf' used with permission from the University of Kent.
Image: Public Domain, CC0
Between 1919-1920, the organisers of the Armenian Genocide, immediate perpetrators and Young Turk politicians and members of the Ittihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress) were put on international trial. No international system of justice existed at the time, which allowed some of the most prominent perpetrators of the genocide and its organisers - Djemal-Pasha, Enver-Pasha and Talaat-Pasha escaped the country.
As a result of the trials, many of the perpetrators were sentenced to death, including Djemal, Enver and Talaat, who were charged in absentia. Others received prison sentences. However, in 1923, the new Kemalist government of Turkish Republic issued a pardon to all convicted in the trials.
The trials are a contested history moment in the discourse of the Armenian Genocide. Those who deny the Genocide claim that the trials were illegitimate, as the statuses of of the Ottoman Empire and the victorious allies were unequal, effectively pointing out that the trial was a reprisal organised by the victors. Critics of this outlook, namely Taner Akcam point out, that this formula can also be attributed to the Nuremberg Trials and any war crime tribunal to undermine it.
Image collage: Public Domain, CC0
Following the end of the trials and unsatisfied with their outcome, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation ordered to assassinate those who avoided punishment for their involvement in the Genocide. The volunteer avengers who carried out the task were all born in the Armenian vilayets in the Ottoman Empire, and were all witnesses of the Genocide. Talaat, Djemal and Enver were assasinated between 1921-22, Talaat and Cemal killed openly in the street and Enver shot in a firefight in Tajikistan by and Armenian Red Army soldier. The assassins of Talaat and Djemal made no attempt to hide or flee, patiently awaiting their arrest. Soghomon Tehlirian, the assassin of Talaat, was acquitted in Berlin after evidence of Talaat's role in the Genocide was presented in court. Misak Torlakian, the assassin of the former interior minister of Azerbaijan, Bihbud Khan Jivanshi, responsible for the massacres of Armeninan in Baku, was tried by the British occupational authorities in Constantinople, and was found "guilty, but not responsible." Among the "condemned" asssassinated was Hartyun Mkrtchian, an Armenian who spied and ultimately gave out the clergymen and thinkers to the Ottoman forces on April 24 1915.
Despite the agreement that the Triumvirate - Talaat, Enver and Djemal were convicted war criminals, the assassination campaign and the blurring of the limits of justice have attracted criticism. Particularly controversial are the assassinations of Azerbaijani politicians claimed responsible for the Baku Armenian massacres. An opinion exists that the harshness of the Armenian Revolutionary Front's assassination campaign is linked to the A.R.F. supporting the Young Turks' revolution in 1909, and a bitterness stemming from the Young Turks' "betrayal."
Image: Public Domain, CC0
A significant number of the inhabitants of former Western Armenia, now Türkiye, can trace their Armenian ancestry. However, in the environment of xenophobia that followed the genocide, many chose to conceal their identities, were forcibly converted to Islam or were adopted in infancy by Turkish families.
A notable crypto-Armenian of the 21st century was Hrant Dink - a Turkish-Armenian intellectual and an advocate for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, who was both critical of the genocide denialism in Türkiye and the militancy of Armenian campaigns for international recognition of the Genocide. He was convicted of "Offending the Turkish Nation" several times for his activities. In 2007, he was assassinated in the street of Istanbul outside of the office of the newspaper that he was the editor of, the assassin shouting "I shot the Infidel!" before fleeing the scene. Dink's death sparked a manifestation - at his funeral, thousands of people chanted "we all are Armenians."
All images (unless otherwise attributed) used in this curation are public domain images, as they were created over a century ago. The decorative elements used in this guide are taken from an Armenian Bible created in Cilicia in 1256, an object of Armenian National Heritage.