The Legacy Events Index

Armenian Genocide

The atrocities committed against the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire during W.W.I are called the Armenian Genocide. Genocide is the organized killing of a people for the express purpose of putting an end to their collective existence. Because of its scope, genocide requires central planning and a machinery to implement it. This makes genocide the quintessential state crime as only a government has the resources to carry out such a scheme of destruction.

The Armenian Genocide was centrally planned and administered by the Turkish government against the entire Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. It was carried out during WWI between the years 1915 and 1918. The Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation. The great bulk of the Armenian population was forcibly removed from Armenia and Anatolia to Syria, where the vast majority was sent into the desert to die of thirst and hunger. Large numbers of Armenians were methodically massacred throughout the Ottoman Empire. Women and children were abducted and horribly abused. The entire wealth of the Armenian people was expropriated. After only a little more than a year of calm at the end of WWI, the atrocities were renewed between 1920 and 1923, and the remaining Armenians were subjected to further massacres and expulsions. In 1915, thirty-three years before UN Genocide Convention was adopted, the Armenian Genocide was condemned by the international community as a crime against humanity. Click here for more information from The Armenian National Institute.

Related Visual Art

Grandfather and Grandmother in Their Tenement Apartment, Jacques Aslanian, France
Immemorial Musicians, Jacques Aslanian, France
Pret a porter - Jeunes filles au travail, Jacques Aslanian, France
Deportation: On the Road to Der-Zor, Minas Avetissian, Armenia
And if...(Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
Ashfall (Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
Demitasse (Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
My Father's Mother Remembered (Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
Passage (Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
The Promise (Ashfall installation), Robert Barsamian, United States
Untitled, Vahe Barsoumian, France / Lebanon
Untitled, Vahe Barsoumian, France / Lebanon
Untitled, Vahe Barsoumian, France / Lebanon
Untitled, Vahe Barsoumian, France / Lebanon
After the Challenge of the Prince in White, Alex Berlian, France
The Challenge of the Prince in White, Alex Berlian, France
The Oath, Alex Berlian, France
Lost World, Jean Carzou, France
The Forgotten City, Jean Carzou, France
Deportation, Vahé Gasparyan, Armenia
Nighttime, Enigma, and Nostalgia, Arshile Gorky, Armenia / United States
The Artist and His Mother, Arshile Gorky, Armenia / United States
Crucifixion, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Der Zor (Genocide), Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Dream, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Escape, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Exile, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Genocide Series, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Genocide: Desert of Der Zor Series, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Mourning, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
The Prism of Memory, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Waiting, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Women in Absence, Paul Guiragossian, Lebanon
Figure Sobbing, Annette Gurdjian, United States
Starving Armenian, Annette Gurdjian, United States
The Captured, Hagop Hagopian, Armenia
On The Way to The Motherland, Ashot Hovhannesyan, Armenia
At the Photo Exhibit, Sergey Hovsepyan, Armenia
Children's World, Sergey Hovsepyan, Armenia
Refugee Orphans, Sargis Khachaturyan, Armenia
The Refugees in Arazat Valley, Sargis Khachaturyan, Armenia
Crucifixion, Hagop Khoubesserian, Canada
Genocide, April 24, 1915, Hagop Khoubesserian, Canada
The Act, Hagop Khoubesserian, Canada
Risks Involved, Seta Manoukian, United States / Lebanon
Today and Tomorrow, Seta Manoukian, United States / Lebanon
Broken Dreams (When My Father Was Young), Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
Golgotha. I Miss Them All, Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
Komitas, Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
Triptych, Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
Triptych (Back to the Future), Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
Victims of Genocide, Krikor Momdjian, The Netherlands / Lebanon
The Last Night, Sargis Muradyan, Armenia
Untitled, Armenia, Simon Norfolk, England
Genocide, Gerardo Orakian, Italy / Turkey
Orphans, Gerardo Orakian, Italy / Turkey
After the Massacre, Vardges Soureniants, Armenia / Russia
Profanation of the Shrine, Vardges Soureniants, Armenia / Russia
The Abandoned, Vardges Soureniants, Armenia / Russia
Moonlit Night on the Shores of Beirut: Refugees, Eghishe Tadevossian, Armenia
Bread series (99, 126, 137 and 140), Apo Torosyan, United States / Turkey
Untitled (Still Life on Balcony), Leon Tutundjian, France / Turkey
Untitled (Yellow Mask), Leon Tutundjian, France / Turkey
And thus Spoke the Common Survivor (Drawing no. 1314), Herman Vahramian, Italy / Iran
Color Images of a Founder (Drawing no. 1674), Herman Vahramian, Italy / Iran
Lost Unhappiness and Happiness Unfound (Sculpture no. 1673), Herman Vahramian, Italy / Iran
Mirroring Himself over the Golden Sheet of Memoirs (Drawing no. 1279), Herman Vahramian, Italy / Iran
The Genocide Series (Number 7, 14, 20 and 22), Barbara Yeterian, United States

Related Literature

Double Vision, Ben H. Bagdikian
For Grandmother, Coming Back, Peter Balakian
What My Grandmother Said When It Rained, Peter Balakian
To Arshile Gorky, Peter Balakian
Black Dog of Fate, Peter Balakian
Rise the Euphrates, Carol Edgarian
Rise the Euphrates (II), Carol Edgarian
Rise the Euphrates (II), Carol Edgarian
The Dance, Siamento