Concentration Camps of the Armenian Genocide

Bedross Der Matossian is Professor of Modern Middle East history and the Hymen Rosenberg Professor in Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of seven books, including Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire (2014) and The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century (2022). He serves on the editorial board of journals, including the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES).Dr. Edita Gzoyan is a genocide studies scholar specializing in the legal and historical dimensions of the Armenian Genocide. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies and teaches at the American University of Armenia. Her research focuses on gendered violence, forced child transfer, and international criminal law, including the edited volume The Silenced Crime: Forcible Child Transfer During the Armenian Genocide (2025).

• INTRODUCTION Bedross Der Matossian (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Edita Gzoyan(Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)PART I: From the Global History of Concentration CampsChapter 1-Concentration Camps Dan Stone (University of London)Chapter 2-Concentration Camps during the Armenian Genocide in a Global Historical Context Khatchig Mouradian (Columbia University)Chapter 3- Concentration Camps during the Armenian Genocide: Turning a Universal Idea into Action Regina Galustyan and Mihran Minassian (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)PART II- Concentrations Camps as a Method of Destruction: From the Decision to Implementation Chapter 4-The Young Turk Regime and the Decision to Liquidate the Last Deportees on Syria and MesopotamiaRaymond H. KévorkianChapter 5-The Humanitarian Perversion Hatice Ayse Polat (Columbia University)PAT III-Documenting the Atrocities in Concentration CampsChapter 6-Aram Andonian’s Collection of Testimonies on the Concentration Camps of Armenian Deportees in Syria Mihran A. Minassian (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 7-“Rescue” as Genocide and Attempts of Self-RescueHarutyun Marutyan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 8-Archeology of the Armenian Genocide on the Source Study and Discovery of Massacre and Mass Burial PlacesShushan Khachatryan and Hayk Hakobyan(Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI and Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Armenia)PART IV-Destination Nowhere: Reconstructing Deportation Routes and Concentration Camps Through the Survivors’ MemoirsChapter 9- From Keghi to the Desert: The Ordeal of Armenians Through Transit Camps and Forced MarchesAnna Kazaryan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 10- From Medz Nor Kiwgh to Ras ul-Ain: The Deportation Journey of Yervant SharabkhanianGohar Khanumyan(Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 11- Chronicling the Extreme: Father Nerses Tavukjian’s Genocide Diary*Vahe Tachjian (Houshamadyan Organization)Chapter 12-Zepyur Metspahkian’s Memoires on Exile and Salvation Lusine Abrahamyan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)PART V-Life-and-Death Struggle: “Life” in Concentration CampsChapter 13-Exile in a Transit Camp: 'Life' of Armenian Deportees in Akçakoyunlu Railroad Station in 1915-1916 Ümit Kurt (The University of New Castle)Chapter 14- Experiencing Refugeedom in Katma Concentration Camp during the Armenian GenocideAntranik Dakessian (Haygazian University)Chapter 15- Concentration Camps in Smyrna as Reported in Eyewitness AccountsTehmine Martoyan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)PART VI-Resisting Death in Concentration CampsChapter 16 - Armed Resistance Attempt by Deported Zeitun-Armenians in Deir al-Zor Desert Robert Tatoyan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 17-Children at Concentration Camps during the Armenian Genocide: Suffering and Survival Aram Mirzoyan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)PART VII: Acting and Reacting: Foreign Intervention and Help Chapter 18-German Missionary Stations and the Armenian Genocide:Issues of Continuity of Financial Flows from Europe and Their DistributionHayk Martirosyan (Lepsiushaus, Potsdam)Chapter 19-The Attitudes of Bedouin Arabs Towards Armenian Refugees in the Concentration Camps Narine V. Margaryan (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)Chapter 20- “Managing the Undesirables:” Humanitarian Encampment in Post-WWI Aleppo Melanie Tanielian (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)ConclusionDeportations, Camps, and Massacres.The Ottoman State During the Armenian GenocideHilmar Kaiser (Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, AGMI)

Armenian Genocide studies has avoided or neglected the topic of concentration camps. Therefore, this book provides a new lens through which to understand the horrors of 1915–1916. The period of what has become known as the second phase of the genocide — roughly after 1915, once the majority of Armenian victims had been deported to the Syrian deserts and incarcerated in camps — has not been investigated as thoroughly as in this work. As someone who has written a book on the Armenian Genocide, I learned enormous amounts and was saddened, not only by the tragic stories in this collection of excellent essays, but by the fact that I did not have this work to use in my 2015 book.