Armenian Genocide survivors
Encyclopedia
The Armenian Genocide survivors are the Western Armenia
ns who were not killed in the Genocide of 1915
. The total number of Armenians who survived the Genocide is 880,000. Most of the Genocide survivors (about 810,000) became refugees and migrated to other countires. Only 70,000 Armenians remained in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul.
Muslims and Minorities book.
According to the US State Department, there were 817,873 Armenian refugees from Turkey in 1922. The figures were based upon information furnished by the British Embassy, Constantinople, and by the agents of the Near East Relief Society, in 1921. The total given does not include able-bodied Armenians, who are retained by the Kemalists, nor the women and children, - approximately 95,000, - according to the League of Nations – who have been forced to embrace Islam.
According to the same source there were 231,000 Armenians left in Turkey in 1921: 150,000 In Constantinople (Istanbul) and 131,000 in Asia Minor.
government's responsibility. This proved an insurmountable humanitarian issue. Typhus was a major sickness, because of its effect on children. Conditions in the outlying regions, not necessarily consisting of refugees, weren't any better. The Ottoman governing structure and Russian army had already withdrawn from the region. The Armenian government had neither time nor resources to rebuild the infrastructure. The 393,700 refugees were under their jurisdiction as follows:
The government of Hovhannes Kachaznuni was faced with a most sobering reality in the winter of 1918-19. The newly formed government was responsible for over half a million Armenian refugees in the Caucasus. It was a long and harsh winter. The homeless masses, lacking food, clothing and medicine, had to endure the elements. Many who survived the exposure and famine succumbed to the ravaging diseases. By the spring of 1919, the typhus epidemic had run its course, the weather improved and the first American Committee for Relief in the Near East shipment of wheat reached Batum. The British army transported the aid to Yerevan. Yet by that time some 150,000 of the refugees had perished. Vratsian puts this figure at around 180,000, or nearly 20% of the entire nascent Republic. A report in early 1919 noted that 65% of the population of Sardarabad, 40% of the population of eight villages near Etchmiadzin and 25% of the population of Ashtarak had died.
Western Armenia
Western Armenia is a term, primarily used by Armenians, to refer to Armenian-inhabited areas of the Armenian Highland that were part of the Ottoman Empire and now are part of the Republic of Turkey....
ns who were not killed in the Genocide of 1915
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. The total number of Armenians who survived the Genocide is 880,000. Most of the Genocide survivors (about 810,000) became refugees and migrated to other countires. Only 70,000 Armenians remained in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul.
Distribution
The following table shows the distribution of Armenian refugees from Turkey according to Justin McCarthy'sJustin McCarthy (American historian)
Justin A. McCarthy is an American demographer, professor of history at the University of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky. He holds an honorary doctorate from Boğaziçi University, Turkey, and is a board member of the Institute of Turkish Studies...
Muslims and Minorities book.
| Country/region | Number of Armenian refugees | Main destination centers |
|---|---|---|
| Russian Empire | ||
 Russian EmpireRussian Empire The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union... |
400,000 | Eastern Armenia, Caucasus, Black Sea coast |
| Middle East | ||
 Syria |
100,000 | Aleppo, Deir ez Zor |
 Lebanon |
50,000 | Beirut |
 Iran |
50,000 | Tehran |
 Egypt |
40,000 | Cairo, Alexandria |
 Iraq |
25,000 | Baghdad, Mosul, etc. |
 Israel and  Jordan |
10,000 | |
| Middle East | 175,000 | |
| Europe | ||
 Greece |
45,000 | Athens |
 Early Modern France |
30,000 | Marseilles |
 Kingdom of Bulgaria |
20,000 | Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas |
 Cyprus |
2,500 | Nicosia, Larnaca |
| Other Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an countries |
2,000 | Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom |
| Europe | 99,500 | |
| Other countires | ||
 / North AmericaNorth America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... |
35,380 | |
| Others countries | 1,000 | Japan, China, India, Latin America |
| Other countries | 36,380 | |
| TOTAL | 810,000 | |
According to the US State Department, there were 817,873 Armenian refugees from Turkey in 1922. The figures were based upon information furnished by the British Embassy, Constantinople, and by the agents of the Near East Relief Society, in 1921. The total given does not include able-bodied Armenians, who are retained by the Kemalists, nor the women and children, - approximately 95,000, - according to the League of Nations – who have been forced to embrace Islam.
According to the same source there were 231,000 Armenians left in Turkey in 1921: 150,000 In Constantinople (Istanbul) and 131,000 in Asia Minor.
Eastern Armenia
There was also an Armenian settlement problem that brought conflict with other ethnic residents. In all, there were over 300,000 embittered and impatient Armenian refugees escaping from the Ottoman Empire which were now the DRADemocratic Republic of Armenia
The Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian state...
government's responsibility. This proved an insurmountable humanitarian issue. Typhus was a major sickness, because of its effect on children. Conditions in the outlying regions, not necessarily consisting of refugees, weren't any better. The Ottoman governing structure and Russian army had already withdrawn from the region. The Armenian government had neither time nor resources to rebuild the infrastructure. The 393,700 refugees were under their jurisdiction as follows:
| Districts | Number of refugees |
|---|---|
| Yerevan Yerevan Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country... |
75,000 |
| Ejmiatsin | 70,000 |
| Novo-Bayazit Gavar Gavar , is a city and the provincial capital of the Armenian province of Gegharkunik. It was known as Nor Bayezet or Novyi Bayazet until 1959, then Kamo until 1996... (Gavar) |
38,000 |
| Daralagyaz Vayots Dzor Vayots Dzor is a province of Armenia. It lies in the south-east of the country, bordering the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan in the west and the Azerbaijan in the east. It covers an area of 2,308 km². With a population of only 53,230 , it is the most sparsely populated province in the country... (Vayots Dzor) |
36,000 |
| Bash-Abaran Aparan Aparan is a town in Armenia, located in the Aragatsotn province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of Yerevan... (Aparan) |
35,000 |
| Ashtarak Ashtarak Ashtarak is an industrial city in Armenia, on the left bank of Kasagh River along the gorge, approximately 20 km north-west of the capital Yerevan, at a height of 1110 meters above sea level. It is the administrative capital of Aragatsotn province... |
30,000 |
| Akhta - Yelenovka (Hrazdan - Sevan) | 22,000 |
| Bash-Garni Garni Garni is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia, situated approximately 28 km southeast from Yerevan.- History :... (Garni) |
15,000 |
| Karakilisa Vanadzor -Industry:Vanadzor is dominated by large chemical plants which include: "Prometey-Khimprom", "Vanadzor Chemical Plant", "Vanadzor Khimprom" and "Vanadzor Chemical Fiber Plant". Another big enterprise is the "Vanadzor Thermal Power Plant.... |
16,000 |
| Dilijan Dilijan Dilijan is a spa town in Armenia, located in the northern Armenian province of Tavush. It is one of the most important resorts of Armenia, situated in Dilijan National Park. The forested and reclusive city is home to numerous Armenian artists, composers, and filmmakers and features some... |
13,000 |
| Armenia | 350,000 |
The government of Hovhannes Kachaznuni was faced with a most sobering reality in the winter of 1918-19. The newly formed government was responsible for over half a million Armenian refugees in the Caucasus. It was a long and harsh winter. The homeless masses, lacking food, clothing and medicine, had to endure the elements. Many who survived the exposure and famine succumbed to the ravaging diseases. By the spring of 1919, the typhus epidemic had run its course, the weather improved and the first American Committee for Relief in the Near East shipment of wheat reached Batum. The British army transported the aid to Yerevan. Yet by that time some 150,000 of the refugees had perished. Vratsian puts this figure at around 180,000, or nearly 20% of the entire nascent Republic. A report in early 1919 noted that 65% of the population of Sardarabad, 40% of the population of eight villages near Etchmiadzin and 25% of the population of Ashtarak had died.
Notable survivors
- Hrachia AcharianHrachia AcharianHrachia Hakobi Acharian was a prominent Armenian linguist, etymologist and philologist, Professor, Academic of Armenian Academy of Sciences, a member of French Linguistic Association and Czechoslovakian Institute of Oriental studies.He studied at...
- Vahram AlazanVahram AlazanVahram Alazan was an Armenian poet, writer and public activist, the First Secretary of the Writers Union of Armenia from 1933 to 1936....
- Soghomon TehlirianSoghomon TehlirianSoghomon Tehlirian was a native of Yerznka, an Armenian Evangelical survivor...
- Aurora MardiganianAurora MardiganianAurora Mardiganian was an Armenian American actress and a survivor of the Armenian Genocide.-Biography:...
- J. Michael HagopianJ. Michael HagopianJakob Michael Hagopian , was an Armenian-American Emmy-nominated filmmaker and Armenian Genocide survivor.-Biography:Hagopian was born to an Armenian family on 20 October 1913, in Kharpert, Ottoman Empire...
- Nairi ZarianNairi ZarianNairi Zarian was a Soviet Armenian poet and writer, the chairman of Armenian SSR Committee for the Defense of Peace....
- Hambarsoom GrigorianHambarsoom GrigorianHambarsoom Grigorian was a composer and the founder and director of the “Komitas” choir. He was born in 1893 in Tabriz, Iran. After graduating school in 1913, he was invited to teach at the Ghazvin Armenian School....
- Simon SimonianSimon SimonianSimon Simonian was an Armenian intellectual, writer, public activist and teacher, founder of the Spurk Journal....
- Arshile GorkyArshile GorkyArshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
- Gourgen YanikianGourgen YanikianGourgen Mkrtich Yanikian was an American-Armenian author, engineer and an Armenian Genocide survivor, who assassinated two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973....
- John MirakJohn MirakJohn Mirak, was an Armenian-American businessman who owned several car dealerships and automotive businesses in Massachusetts. He and his family are widely known for their contributions to Armenian society in both the diaspora and the republic....
- Pailadzo CaptanianPailadzo CaptanianPailadzo Captanian was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and an author. She is also credited with inspiring the creation of Rice-A-Roni which is based on her own recipe of Armenian pilaf....
- Gurgen MahariGurgen MahariGurgen Mahari was an Armenian writer and poet.- Biography :In 1915 during the Armenian genocide Gurgen's family emigrated to Russia. His first book, Titanic was published in 1924...
See also
- Heghine Abrahamyan, a survivor, tells her story.