Remembering the Armenian Genocide

A blog series in commemoration of the centennial.

Armenians are marched to a prison by Turkish soldiers, April 1915. Public domain.

On April 24^th, 1915—one hundred years ago this Friday—the Ottoman government arrested hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders living in Constantinople and, save a few exceptions, gradually deported and assassinated them. This blow to the Armenian community came after years of social strife and nationalist propaganda presenting the Armenians as a threat to the empire’s security. Driven by nationalist impulses, the Ottoman government persecuted the Armenian minority within its borders by way of conscription, deportation, massacres, and death marches—events that coalesced into what is widely regarded today as the first genocide of the 20^th century.

April 24^th, the date that the Armenian notables were arrested, serves as the formal start date of the Armenian Genocide and is commemorated today as Genocide Remembrance Day by Armenians the world over. This week the Stanford Press blog presents reflections on this harrowing chapter of history, and introduces Goodbye, Antoura—the memoir of one young Armenian boy who lived through it all.