Armenian Genocide

If you are teaching about the genocide that took place under the cover of WWII, its essential to teach about other previous occurrences to demonstrate that this was not a freak event but a part of a tragic legacy of abuse of power and denial of basic humanity. To that end, I begin the content of this course on the Armenian Genocide. The story of the Soghomon Tehlirian assassinating Mehmed Talaat on the streets of Berlin thereby affording him the chance to publicly announce to the world that atrocities that were executed on his people is a powerful place to start. His story is personal and moving and is also the story that according to Power began Lemkin on his life long mission.

Activity 1: 

Newspaper Reporting on The Armenian Genocide

There is curriculum that was put together by the The Genocide Education Project that uses the New York Times coverage of the Armenian Genocide to focus its study of the event. I utilized the final six article and adapted the activity into group work. I gave students the definition of genocide as defined by the International Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. After reading the articles from The New York Times, students should determine if any of the conditions of genocide were met based solely on the information in the articles. Students should record the evidence from the articles.

Directions: 

Using the definition of genocide as defined by the International Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. After reading the articles from The New York Times, determine if any of the conditions of genocide were met based solely on the information in the articles.

Write quotes from the two articles that support the specific conditions for genocide.

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Reflection Questions: 

1. Is this a case of genocide according to conditions set out in the International Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide?

2. Did Armenians benefit from the New York Times’ coverage of the story? How?

3. In deciding to use the term “genocide” for the Armenian case, could The New York Times refer to articles they published in the past for sufficient support? Would this be enough? If not, what other resources could they use and why?

Activity 2: 

“Sovereignty cannot be conceived as the right to kill millions” 

Using the reading from Facing History, students become familiar with acts of vigilante justice that were attempted after WWI. They are also introduced to Lemkin and his anger at the events that came to light after Tehlirian was allowed to testify in his own trial. 

Questions:

1. What happened in Berlin on March 15, 1921? 

2. Who killed Talaat and Why? 

3. What evidence does this narrative provide to support the Allies' statement that Turkey was committing "crimes...against humanity and civilization"?

4. Based on this reading, what do you learn about the ability of nations (Turkey, France, Great Britain, Germany, etc.) to punish perpetrators of crimes against humanity? 

5. When should the international community impose laws on other countries? 

6. Lemkin wondered, “Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of a single individual?” What can be done to stop nations that turn against their own people? 

7. Lemkin was outraged when he heard that the mass murder of the Armenians went unpunished. How could he turn his moral outrage into action? What could he do? 

8. Without a court to judge the perpetrators, what options did the Armenians have after the genocide? 

Activity 3: 

Samantha Power Chapter 1: “Race Murder”

The accessibility of Power's writing depends on the age and skill level of your students. The guiding questions should be of some assistance. I taught this as part of an advanced level class, so student were more prepared for longer and higher level readings. 

Questions:

1. How did Turkey explain the “need” to deport Armenians?

2. Was the Armenian Genocide a national or international issue? Explain.

3. What did US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau do in response to the Armenian situation?

4. Why do you think the US should or should not get involved? Would Samantha Power agree or disagree with you?

5. What were the difficulties in conveying the scope of the atrocity of Armenians in Turkey?

6. What did the US do for the Armenians in the end? (Not just the government, but other American groups.)

7. Could the US afford to be isolationist after World War I?