Surviving the Forgotten Genocide: An Armenian Memoir

A rare and poignant testimony of a survivor of the Armenian genocide. The twentieth century was an era of genocide, which started with the Turkish destruction of more than one million Armenian men, women, and children—a modern process of total, violent erasure that began in 1895 and exploded under the cover of the First World War. John Minassian lived through this as a young man, witnessing the murder of his kin, concealing his identity as an orphan and laborer in Syria, and eventually immigrating to the United States to start his life anew. A rare testimony of a survivor of the Armenian genocide, one of just a handful of accounts in English, Minassian’s memoir is breathtaking in its vivid portraits of Armenian life and culture and poignant in its sensitive recollections of the many people who harmed and helped him. As well as a searing testimony, his memoir documents the wartime policies and behavior of Ottoman officials and their collaborators; the roles played by foreign armies and American missionaries; and the ultimate collapse of the empire. The author’s journey, and his powerful story of perseverance, despair, and survival, will resonate with readers today.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: Memories of My Grandfather Roderic Ai Camp Introduction Anoush Baghdassarian and Wendy Lower Preface 1 Sivas 2 Gurun 3 Many Hills Yet to Climb 4 The Reverend of Aleppo 5 Escape 6 The Return 7 Constantinople Appendix Notes Index

About the Author :
John Minassian, a young man when the Armenian genocide occurred, was one of only two survivors in his family. He ultimately was able to immigrate to the United States, where he lived until his death in 1991. His grandson, Roderic Ai Camp,isMcKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim at Claremont McKenna College. His books include The Metamorphosis of Leadership in a Democratic Mexico. Wendy Lower, co-author of the introduction, is director of the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights, John K. Roth Professor of History, and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. Her book Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields was a National Book Award finalist. Anoush Baghdassarian, coauthor of the introduction, completed her BA at Claremont McKenna College and MA from Columbia University in Human Rights Studies. She is enrolled at Harvard Law School focusing on international criminal law, and she is the author of Found, a play that honors the history of those who suffered in the Turkish genocide of the Armenians.

Review :
Memoirs of the Armenian genocide are sometimes painful to read. They bring us face to face with the most vile features of human beings—their cruelty, venality, and violence. But in this story of a survivor, we meet people who suffered and succeeded, who endured the unendurable and were able later to make meaningful lives for themselves. In his deeply felt and beautifully written account, John Minassian provides the thick texture of the everyday experience. Genocide is no abstraction; here it is a palpable reality. We are more than a century past the beginning of the Armenian genocide. Our survivors are no longer with us—but their eyewitness accounts of how they overcame insurmountable suffering are as important now as ever before. John Minassian's gripping story will take you inside the day-to-day journey of a young man from Gurun, witnessing the unthinkable.