ANI Announces Digital Display of Armenian Genocide Poster Exhibit
http://massispost.com/archives/8189
Updated: March 14, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC ' The Armenian National Institute (ANI), the Armenian
Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), and the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) issued a joint statement upon the release of WITNESS TO
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: Photographs by the Perpetrators' German and
Austro-Hungarian Allies, a digital exhibit that the three
organizations are making available for display without charge.
The newly-created digital display instructional posters are being
released in advance of the month of April as a public service to
educational institutions and the worldwide Armenian community. The
poster set may be downloaded from the ANI, AGMA, and AAA websites and
printed in any size suitable for instructional, exhibit, classroom,
and public education purposes. Designed to be printed in a full-size
poster format of 24³ by 36³ or bigger, the publication is also legible
and usable at the 8.5³ by 11³ standard letter-size format in booklet
or flyer mode.
The ten-poster set includes an introductory page, a detailed timeline,
a color-coded map geographically matching the photographs with their
location, and seven pages displaying 34 captioned historic
photographs. The color-coded map in the exhibit is based on the
previously-published ANI map of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire illustrating the three prevailing aspects of the
Genocide: the deportations, the massacres, and the concentration
camps.
Photographic evidence on the Armenian Genocide is extremely rare.
Although Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire were military allies
during World War I, the Ottoman Turkish authorities responsible for
the Armenian Genocide prohibited taking pictures and closely watched
anyone suspected of owning a camera. Despite the threat of a court
martial, several German civilians and other German military officials
assigned to the Ottoman Empire during the war disregarded the ban and
secretly photographed the mistreatment of the Armenian population.
The exhibit is the product of years of research in European archives
conducted by Dr. Hilmar Kaiser. Many of the photographs in the exhibit
were uncovered for the first time after decades of neglect. The
photographs showing Armenian deportees are matched with diary entries,
reports, and memoirs of the photographers and in so doing documenting
their authenticity. The photographers represented include Hellmuth von
Mücke at Der Zor, Victor Pietschmann who witnessed the deportation of
Armenians from Sushehri, Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, the German
Vice-Consul in Erzerum, and Armin T. Wegner in Aleppo and surrounding
refugee camps.
As part of their ongoing program to promote the teaching of genocide
and human rights and the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, ANI and
AGMA recommend utilizing the poster set in conjunction with the
recently-released fourth edition of Centuries of Genocide: Essays and
Eyewitness Accounts, by Samuel Totten and William S. Parsons, a
textbook widely used in college and high school courses, that includes
an extensive chapter on the Armenian Genocide.
As part of its continuing service to educators and to coincide with
the release of the poster set and Centuries of Genocide, ANI
previously announced the launch of its expanded Resource Guide and
other sections of the Education component of the ANI website. Dozens
of resources selected for their instructional value are listed for the
benefit of students and teachers. Educators interested in teaching
about the role of American humanitarianism and involvement in
responding to the Armenian crisis can also benefit from the recently
issued fact sheet summarizing The United States Record on the Armenian
Genocide: A Proud Chapter in American History, prepared by the
Armenian Assembly of America.
As a preview to the digital exhibit, the introduction to the posters
is reproduced below:
The German Military Mission to the Ottoman Empire was established in
1913. German officers served on the Ottoman General Staff in
Constantinople, and some were in leading positions with the Ottoman
armies on various fronts during World War I. These men became
eye-witnesses to the Armenian Genocide.
As a rule, German officers followed a policy of non-interference in
what was claimed to be an internal affair of the Ottoman Empire. On
the other hand, numerous officers tried to mitigate Ottoman policies
and a few, in defiance of military regulations, even took part in
clandestine activities to help the victims. Together, these officers,
German consular staff, missionaries, and administrators of the
Deutsche Bank-owned Anatolian and Baghdad Railways played a critical
role in the creation of a humanitarian resistance network that
included American missionaries and diplomats, surviving Armenians, and
even some Ottoman officials.
Ottoman Martial Law prohibited taking photographs of the Armenian
deportees. Thus, documenting the crime by photographing the reality of
the deportations became an act of resistance. Many photographs were
lost due to the interception of Ottoman intelligence services at the
time and later destruction in Germany during World War II. Many of
these photographs had been forgotten for decades and remained hidden
in dusty drawers, files, and private collections.
The Armenian Genocide was a planned campaign by the Young Turk
government to annihilate the Christian Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire. Embarked upon in 1915, during WWI, the deportation and
decimation of the Armenians across Anatolia, modern-day Turkey,
continued until 1923. The campaign resulted in the complete
destruction of Armenian society across the region and in the greater
part of its historic homeland.
WITNESS TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
From: A. Papazian
http://massispost.com/archives/8189
Updated: March 14, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC ' The Armenian National Institute (ANI), the Armenian
Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), and the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) issued a joint statement upon the release of WITNESS TO
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: Photographs by the Perpetrators' German and
Austro-Hungarian Allies, a digital exhibit that the three
organizations are making available for display without charge.
The newly-created digital display instructional posters are being
released in advance of the month of April as a public service to
educational institutions and the worldwide Armenian community. The
poster set may be downloaded from the ANI, AGMA, and AAA websites and
printed in any size suitable for instructional, exhibit, classroom,
and public education purposes. Designed to be printed in a full-size
poster format of 24³ by 36³ or bigger, the publication is also legible
and usable at the 8.5³ by 11³ standard letter-size format in booklet
or flyer mode.
The ten-poster set includes an introductory page, a detailed timeline,
a color-coded map geographically matching the photographs with their
location, and seven pages displaying 34 captioned historic
photographs. The color-coded map in the exhibit is based on the
previously-published ANI map of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire illustrating the three prevailing aspects of the
Genocide: the deportations, the massacres, and the concentration
camps.
Photographic evidence on the Armenian Genocide is extremely rare.
Although Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire were military allies
during World War I, the Ottoman Turkish authorities responsible for
the Armenian Genocide prohibited taking pictures and closely watched
anyone suspected of owning a camera. Despite the threat of a court
martial, several German civilians and other German military officials
assigned to the Ottoman Empire during the war disregarded the ban and
secretly photographed the mistreatment of the Armenian population.
The exhibit is the product of years of research in European archives
conducted by Dr. Hilmar Kaiser. Many of the photographs in the exhibit
were uncovered for the first time after decades of neglect. The
photographs showing Armenian deportees are matched with diary entries,
reports, and memoirs of the photographers and in so doing documenting
their authenticity. The photographers represented include Hellmuth von
Mücke at Der Zor, Victor Pietschmann who witnessed the deportation of
Armenians from Sushehri, Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, the German
Vice-Consul in Erzerum, and Armin T. Wegner in Aleppo and surrounding
refugee camps.
As part of their ongoing program to promote the teaching of genocide
and human rights and the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, ANI and
AGMA recommend utilizing the poster set in conjunction with the
recently-released fourth edition of Centuries of Genocide: Essays and
Eyewitness Accounts, by Samuel Totten and William S. Parsons, a
textbook widely used in college and high school courses, that includes
an extensive chapter on the Armenian Genocide.
As part of its continuing service to educators and to coincide with
the release of the poster set and Centuries of Genocide, ANI
previously announced the launch of its expanded Resource Guide and
other sections of the Education component of the ANI website. Dozens
of resources selected for their instructional value are listed for the
benefit of students and teachers. Educators interested in teaching
about the role of American humanitarianism and involvement in
responding to the Armenian crisis can also benefit from the recently
issued fact sheet summarizing The United States Record on the Armenian
Genocide: A Proud Chapter in American History, prepared by the
Armenian Assembly of America.
As a preview to the digital exhibit, the introduction to the posters
is reproduced below:
The German Military Mission to the Ottoman Empire was established in
1913. German officers served on the Ottoman General Staff in
Constantinople, and some were in leading positions with the Ottoman
armies on various fronts during World War I. These men became
eye-witnesses to the Armenian Genocide.
As a rule, German officers followed a policy of non-interference in
what was claimed to be an internal affair of the Ottoman Empire. On
the other hand, numerous officers tried to mitigate Ottoman policies
and a few, in defiance of military regulations, even took part in
clandestine activities to help the victims. Together, these officers,
German consular staff, missionaries, and administrators of the
Deutsche Bank-owned Anatolian and Baghdad Railways played a critical
role in the creation of a humanitarian resistance network that
included American missionaries and diplomats, surviving Armenians, and
even some Ottoman officials.
Ottoman Martial Law prohibited taking photographs of the Armenian
deportees. Thus, documenting the crime by photographing the reality of
the deportations became an act of resistance. Many photographs were
lost due to the interception of Ottoman intelligence services at the
time and later destruction in Germany during World War II. Many of
these photographs had been forgotten for decades and remained hidden
in dusty drawers, files, and private collections.
The Armenian Genocide was a planned campaign by the Young Turk
government to annihilate the Christian Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire. Embarked upon in 1915, during WWI, the deportation and
decimation of the Armenians across Anatolia, modern-day Turkey,
continued until 1923. The campaign resulted in the complete
destruction of Armenian society across the region and in the greater
part of its historic homeland.
WITNESS TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
From: A. Papazian