Armenian National Archive Publishes the Testimonies of Genocide Survivors

Alisa Gevorgyan

 

The Armenian National Archive published a three-volume collection entitled “Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkey: Testimonies of the Survivors.” The series presents eyewitness accounts of the Genocide, valuable archive documents, maps and photos.

In 1916 the Baku Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation set up a fact-finding team to collect information about the organization and perpetration of the massacre of the Armenian population in Western Armenia. Members of the fact-finding team were Zabel Yesayan, Stepan Zoryan, Vahan Totovents, General Andranik and others. The testimonies of the survivors, comprising 602 documents, remained mostly (424 documents) unpublished. The whole collection has been included in the three volumes, whose publication has been underwritten by "Van" non-governmental organization.

“The fact that the eyewitness testimonies were collected just one year following the massacres ensures the authenticity and validity of the information, therefore strengthening their importance in the process of the comprehensive study of the Armenian Genocide,” Amatuni Virabyan, editor-in-chief of the publication and Director of the Armenian National Archive told reporters in a press conference on November 28, 2012.

The documents present the concrete programs and actions aimed at the annihilation of the Armenian population, including the actual names of the organizers and perpetrators. The archival documents also tell about the material losses of the Armenian population, their self-defense struggle, the migration of survivors, and the losses incurred on their way.

The proceeds of the sale of the edition, with a first run of 1,000 copies, will be spend on its translation into Turkish, Russian, and English. The electronic version of the publication will also be available.

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the National Archive plans to publish another book, which will include thousands of documents on the economic losses suffered by the Armenian nation during the genocide.

Public Radio of Armenia (www.armradio.am), November 28, 2012