RATIONALE• The study of the Armenian Genocide

provides students with a piece of the historical context of the Holocaust. The Holocaust did not occur in a vacuum, and it is important for students to understand that world events that happened outside of Germany also influenced Hitler’s regime along with such things as the Treaty of Versailles and the failure of the Weimar Republic.

OBJECTIVE

The student will be able to identify events and people of the Armenian

Genocide, and explain the historical connection of what

happened to the Armenians to what happened to the victims of the

Holocaust.

What does the word genocide mean?

• The murder of an entire group of people

• The word was first used by Raphael Lemkin in 1943 to describe the events taking place in Europe at that time.

• It literally means genos -- race; cide --killing

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

• Carried out between 1915-1923 during WWI

• First genocide of the 20th century

• Possibly the first of its kind in history

• Direct precedent for Hitler’s genocidal policies

Just before invading Poland, Hitler referred to the Armenian genocide.

• “Who still remembers today the annihilation of the Armenians?”

What was the underlying

meaning of Hitler’s comment?

Who are the Armenians?

• The ancient inhabitants of western Asian region that today includes eastern Turkey, the Republic of Armenia, and areas of several bordering states.

By the sixteenth century most of this region was incorporated

into the Ottoman Empire.

The Armenians were a Christian minority.

The majority of the Ottomans, also known as

the Turks, were Muslim.

As a minority the Armenians

• Were allowed a great deal of freedom, but

• Victims of official discrimination

• citizens with restricted rights

Differences Between the Two Groups

• Religion

• Language

• Ethnicity

• Minority

These differences led to division.

The Muslims viewed the Armenians as inferior

and viewed themselves as superior.

TIMELINE• 1839 - 1876 Armenians recognized as

citizens, but denied rights of citizens

• 1876 - 1908 Sultan Abdul Hamid rules Ottoman Empire

• Armenians being returned to “their place”

• 1894 - 1896 estimated 300,000 were massacred

TIMELINE (2)

• 1908 - Young Turks overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid, he became constitutional monarch

• 1909 - 20,000 Armenians massacred• 1913 - a coup within the Young

Turks brings the government under the control of radical Turkish nationalists.

• What is nationalism?• What is the danger of

nationalism?

1914 - The Ottoman Empire enters WWI on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary against Britain, France, and Russia.

• Feb. 1915 - The first deportations of Armenians occur near the Russian front.

• April 23-24, 1915 - Hundreds of Armenian leaders are arrested in Constantinople. Most are deported and killed.

Reading 14: Creating Enemies of the

State:The Armenians

• Page 102

PRE-READING VOCABULARY

• Vulnerable minorities

• Tolerance

• Citizen

• Massacre

• Deportation

• Forced conversions

• Condone

• Annihilation

• scapegoat• Gendarmes: police• Harbingers: one that

indicates or foreshadows what is to come.

READING• Groups of 3• Each person will read the selection silently.• After reading silently, each person will identify a

section of the reading that made the deepest impression on him/her and explain why to the other members of the group.

• Working with the other members of the group, each person will respond in writing to the following questions.

CONNECTIONS• What factors allowed the Turks to scapegoat the

Armenians?• What does your answer suggest about what

happens to a “tolerated minority” in time of war? • What could/should the world have done?• What is the difference between a massacre and

genocide?• Was what happened to the Armenians a massacre

or a genocide? Explain the difference.• What are some of the possible consequences when

no one is held accountable for a crime?

Assessment

• Vocabulary

• Historical background; objective questions

• Connection questions

• Reflections/journals

• Further research; reading

• PBA: Create a timeline. Write a news article. ?????? ???????????? Graphic nature???

http://www.armenian-genocide.org

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS AND

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THE ARMENIAN

GENOCIDE CAN BE FOUND AT:

GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHSsome of which were taken by a

Germansoldier who reported the

atrocities to his superiors.

Turkey’s official policy is that the Armenian Genocide did not happen and the stories of a genocide are distortions. It is against Turkish law and punishable by imprisonment to refer to the Armenian Genocide as historical fact.

Legacies

• Chapter 10 of the HHB

• Reading 10 “A Living Past”

• Reading 11 “Truth: The Last Victim of Genocide

• Reading 12: “The Policies of Denial”