Van 1915: Epic Account of Armenian Genocide Released in Yerevan

Gomidas Institute has just released A-Do’s epic report, Van 1915: the Great Events of Vasbouragan, at the National Library of Armenia. The original report, Մեծ Դէպքերը Վասպուրականում,1914-15 թթ., was published in Yerevan in 1917. This English translation of A.-Do’s work was presented by historian Ara Sarafian (see book details below). 

A-Do [Hovhannes Ter Martirosian] was an Armenian intellectual who went to Van when the Russians occupied that region in May 1915. A meticulous and clear-headed researcher, he collected information directly from eye-witnesses and other sources and created a definitive list of 450 Armenian-inhabited towns and villages in Van-Vasbouragan.

A-Do’s report covers the background to the Armenian Question on the eve of WWI; the Ottoman entry into the Great War; the predicament of Armenians during this period; the Russo-Turkish conflict; Armenian and Assyrian refugees; the April massacres; the defence of Van, Shadakh, Timar and other regions; the Armenian provisional government of Van; and the great exodus of Armenians to the Caucasus. A-Do’s report gives a detailed analysis of what happened and captures powerful moments in the lives of his informants, including scenes from massacres or refugees on the road to exile.

During his presentation, Sarafian stated that he probed the integrity of A-Do’s work in comparison with other independent sources, and found the report creditworthy. For example, he compared A-Do’s discussion of the Arjesh massacres with other eyewitness accounts. All the accounts attest that almost half of all men in this region were massacred in cold blood in April 1915.

Throughout his presentation, Sarafian stressed the importance of Armenian archival records, their relative absence in English-language historiographies, and the opportunities they present for serious scholarship.

BIBLIO-INFO: A-Do, Van 1915: The Great Events of Vasbouragan, Ara Sarafian (transl.), Rouben Gasparyan and Rouben Sahakyan (intro.), London: Gomidas Institute, 2017, 345 pages, maps and photos, index,ISBN 978-1-909382-37-4, pb., UK£40.00 / US$50.00. To order please contact books@gomidas.org

Nayiri Karapetyan