PRESENTATION OUTLINE
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: VERONIKA BERBERYAN
What it is:
The killing of millions of Armenians, a Christian minority of the Ottomon empire in Turkey. The genocide occurred from 1915-1918.
History:
-Armenians treated poorly in the Ottomon Empire
- They thrived
-Homes were raided and thousands were killed from 1894-1896
-The Young Turks took over Turkey in 1908
-They wanted to rid the country of all non-Turks
-The Armenians got involved in WWI affairs
Motives:
The genocide of the Armenian people was started by the Ottomon Empire's political parties. They wanted to liquidate Turkey of all Armenians.
What Happened to the Armenians:
-They were moved
-They were abused, starved, slaughtered, drowned, burned, poisoned, and injected
-People were thrown off cliffs and sent on walks across deserts
-Children were also kidnapped, converted into Islam, and given away to Turkish families
-Women were raped and forced to serve as slaves.
-Armenians had their property stolen
Her family Life/Background:
-She lived in a village at her grandparents house, next to her parents house
-Her family worked in agriculture
-Veronika's grandpa was a well known persist
- She had a 20 year old uncle who was a lawyer and a 15 year old uncle
-She was born in 1907 and was young at the time of the genocide (about 8)
Her Family Life/Background:
-The Turks' property was dirty unlike the Armenian's area
-The Armenians worked mostly in the trade business
- She noticed the Turks were poor
- They lived in a church district full of Armenians
-Church was a big part of her life
-The Turks and Armenians got on fine during her childhood
- The Armenians lived in harmony. They all married, and grew up happily
What She Saw:
- The Turks beat the Fedayis when they found their location
-There was a prison under the government building
-After 50 days, (March 1916) the government ordered all Armenians to be killed
-“Not a kilogram of Armenian flesh will remain alive: you will butcher all of them.”
-The government killed the villages that were all- Armenian first
- 2 Armenian girls that she knew committed suicide with poison
What She Saw:
-Veronika's grandma had a vision that Veronika's dad brought home bones of the dead to be found for a museum later in history
-The Turkish government separated the town's men to be recruited for the army
-The Armenians brought to serve in the army were slaughtered at night
What She Saw:
- Veronika's grandfather had his head chopped off
-The guards played soccer with his head
- They also piled up the heads of the dead
- Armenians were taken from their homes and brought to prison
- Anyone who had an Armenian in their house was brought to prison too
- Women were beaten daily
What She Saw:
- The Armenians that escaped went to villages near Veronkia
- The Turks drove away the families without men
- Some people tried to give up their daughters to the Turks save their lives
- The Turks kidnapped the pretty children
What She Saw:
- Her uncle realized there was no escape from the geoncide, he and his wife drank poison and killed themselves
- Her uncle "saved" 25 people from a terrible life of being forced to be a Turk
- Her grandma's cousin was killed
What She Saw:
- Veronika's mother and her sister saw people being deported, all of them screaming and wailing
- Her grandmother was killed
- She heard about many mothers having to marry Turkish men to save their own lives as well as their families lives
What She Experienced:
-Her father was recruited into the army in 1912
(He didn't want to slaughter Armenians, so he was able to escape)
-The Turks took away their sheds and such
What She Experienced:
- They had to burn many of their books
-Her family was forced to hide in tunnels/ in their house for months
What She Experienced:
-They only got a chance to breathe at night
- They hid for 50 days
- The Turks convinced some people to come out
- They helped hold a kidnapped Armenian girl in their home and saved her from the Turks
What She Experienced:
- They got on bad terms with the Turks
-The Turks forced them to leave their house
- They went to another Turk's house, they were taken good care of
- In 1924 Veronika and her family were sent off to Russia and had to live in tents, they finally reunited with her father until he died a year later
Afterwards:
- Turkish officials were punished for their deeds after the armistice in 1924
- Veronkia moved to Yerevan
- She met an orphan boy
- In 1927 they got married and built a house
- The Turks had remained the same in that village
- They had happy, yet sorrowful lives
