3535) Armenian Genocide - German Guilt?

Witness or accomplice? At a congress in Berlin, historians have been debating Germany’s role in the genocide of Armenians 100 years ago. New findings show that Germany’s complicity is greater than previously assumed.

Richard Fuchs / gro

Armenien Völkermord ARCHIV

In the German Reichstag on September 29, 1916, the diplomat Gottlieb von Jagow had to give parliament an account of the terrible events in Turkey, then the Ottoman Empire.

It was about mass displacement and executions taking place in the eastern region of Anatolia. The German Empire was a colonial power there at the time and also an ally of the Ottoman government, which had previously initiated a mass persecution of Christian Armenians before the onset of World War I. "We did everything we could," stated Jagow in defense of Germany's passivity. . . .


This silent acquiescence toward the mass murders has been the subject of the International Historians Congress in Berlin.

Historians see the German Empire's involvement in the deportation of Armenians as a proven fact. However, the part the Germans played is still not clear. Were they mere witnesses, or were they actually accomplices?

Depending on estimates, 300,000 to 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Turks. Armenians call this catastrophe "aghet" and refer to it as genocide. Yet in modern-day Turkey, the state that replaced the Ottoman Empire, the human suffering of that era is still officially seen as "a war–related dislocation and security measure." The number of victims is still a matter of dispute in Turkey, making reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia difficult.

Germany knew and turned a blind eye
Ashot Hayruni

Armenians view the Germans as accomplices, says historian Ashot Hayruni

The 160 historians in Berlin were focused on Germany's complicity in the Armenians' suffering. According to the Armenian historian Ashot Hayruni from the State University of Yerevan, the Germans are seen as accomplices because of their silence and cold indifference.

The German government just stood by and watched as the young Turkish government expelled Armenians from Turkey to the deserts of Mesopotamia, a region now in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria. And Germans claimed that they did not want to interfere, even though they were very well-informed.

Historian Christin Pschichholz from the University of Potsam has no doubts. After having read files at the German Foreign Ministry, she concludes that, "the German government had extensive information about the destructive policies regarding the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. Death marches, executions and forced labor: German diplomats painstakingly took note of everything happening around them at that time.

Historical witnesses were quite aware of the atrocities, as illustrated by a dispatch sent on July 7, 1915 by the German Ambassador in Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the Imperial Chancellor. It said, "it is the declared intention of the government [meaning the Turkish government] to destroy the Armenian race in the Turkish Empire."

Deutsche Militärmission auf dem Weg in die Türkei 1913

A German military mission was posted to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the genocide

Historian Rolf Holsfeld at Lepsiushaus, a highly regarded research institute in Potsdam, says, "the statement that genocide took place on Ottoman territory in 1915 and 1916 has been officially known to the German government for over 100 years. "

The way Germany handles the subject of the Armenian genocide does not directly reflect on Germany's complicity at that time. German government officials have always avoided using the word genocide when speaking of Armenia. Instead, they speak of massacre and dislocation.

In February 2015, the Linkspartei, German's far-left party, asked parliament about the use of terms regarding the persecuted Armenians in Turkey and the government decided to continue using the same terminology. The reason given was that it did not want to jeopardize Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. The German government's policy: categorizations should be left to academia.

Armenia, together with more than 20 other countries, and the majority of the historians at the Berlin convention have classified the events as genocide, in accordance with the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.

About a year ago, the former Premier and now President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdog(an, broke the decade-old silence of Turkish officials on this subject. He apologized to the victims and their descendants and spoke of the "inhuman consequences" of the Armenians' expulsion. He did not speak of genocide.

Inglorious role
Recep Tayyip Erdogan Türkei Porträt

President Erdogan apologized in the name of present-day Turkey

Former East German civil rights activist and former member of parliament for the Social Democrats, Markus Meckel, was in the Bundestag when the Armenian issue was first discussed 10 years ago.

Even then, no resolution regarding Turkey could be adopted if it contained the word genocide. After a great deal of discussion, an ensuing paper stated that the Germans apologized for the "inglorious role" of the German Empire. It was not possible to say more. Even in communism, said Meckel, history was defined by politics.

Yet Germany could send an important political signal by recognizing the suffering of the Armenian people as genocide. He says, "Anyone who does not use this term is basically giving the suffering and the catastrophe a lesser meaning."

Historian Ashot Hayruni from the State University of Yerevan thinks it is the German government's obligation and says, "It is important that the German government adopts a decision in which the genocide is recognized and condemned as such."

To Yerevan with a small German delegation

Armenien Völkermord ARCHIV

Historical photograph of Armenian refugees

According to DW sources, the German parliament plans to remember the victims of the Armenian genocide with a debate. But there is little cause to believe that anything will change in an argument about remembrance culture.

Quite the contrary: now there is a dispute as to who will represent Germany at the main memorial service in Armenia on the 100th anniversary of the genocide on April 24 this year. The expulsion of the ethnic group began at Istanbul's Haydarpasa station on April 24, 2015.

Until now, the German Foreign Ministry claims that it is still checking to see who will officially represent Germany in the Armenian capital.

Insiders are expecting that Germany's reticence on this issue will be underscored by the absence of high-level politicians. It is possible that only the German ambassador will attend the service, whereas France will be represented by the president himself, Francois Hollande. Historian Jürgen Gottschlich has called this 'scandalous.'


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Comment by Sukru Aya

Armenian genocide - German guilt?

Witness or accomplice? At a congress in Berlin, historians have been debating Germany’s role in the genocide of Armenians 100 years ago. New findings show that Germany’s complicity is greater than previously assumed.

In the German Reichstag on September 29, 1916, the diplomat Gottlieb von Jagow had to give parliament an account of the terrible events in Turkey, then the Ottoman Empire. It was about mass displacement and executions taking place in the eastern region of Anatolia. The German Empire was a colonial power there at the time and also an ally of the Ottoman government, which had previously initiated a mass persecution of Christian Armenians before the onset of World War I. "We did everything we could," stated Jagow in defense of Germany's passivity. This silent acquiescence toward the mass murders has been the subject of the International Historians Congress in Berlin.

General Liman von Sanders was the overall commander of all Ottoman Army, empowered by a secret agreement dated Aug.2, 1914 between Germany and Ottomans. You cannot drop out the cause of relocation. The Entente Armies had landed at Gallipoli on April 24, 1915 to get the straits and occupy the Capital. Armenians of Van had revolted, out of 110.000 Muslims only about 2000 were left the rest was murdered or exiled in early April and the city delivered to the incoming Russian Army. Acts of sabotages occupied some 20.000 troops urgently needed at Gallipoli front where boys aged 15 – 16 years were drafted as soldiers. The demand order came from General von Sanders, the solution was either to push the people in War zones towards the enemy (the Russian way) or temporarily resettle them in other parts where there was no war and was within the country. Despite failures and deprivations the action was a military success; the Armenian volunteers had no homes left to hide and feed them. The rest is duplicity, Liman von Sanders was the highest Commander and General Bronsart von Schellendorf, General Staff Commander and deputy of War Minister Enver Pasha. What else do you need?

Historians see the German Empire's involvement in the deportation of Armenians as a proven fact. However, the part the Germans played is still not clear. Were they mere witnesses, or were they actually accomplices? There were about 10.000 German officers/soldiers helping artillery etc in critical war fronts. Their food ration was quite different than what Turkish soldiers were given!

Depending on estimates, 300,000 to 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Turks. Armenians call this catastrophe "aghet" and refer to it as genocide. Yet in modern-day Turkey, the state that replaced the Ottoman Empire, the human suffering of that era is still officially seen as "a war–related dislocation and security measure." The number of victims is still a matter of dispute in Turkey, making reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia difficult. Germany knew and turned a blind eye.

Total Armenian population within the Ottoman Empire was less than 1.3 million. Over 200.000 immigrated themselves to Russia when their armies pulled back. About 700.000 were resettled, some travelled by trains with no casualties. League of Nations Document March 1, 1920 confirms that the Turkish Governments were not involved in any way with the several groups of bandits. The Army was not involved in general in acts of retaliation of Armenian volunteers’ killings. Total “Turkish Armenian losses for all reasons for 1914-1922 are estimated by Prof. McCarthy as 584.000. This figure matches with other USA French etc. official figures… If we deduct 195.000 perished by hunger + 200.000 “martyrs who died in fights”, the “total deaths is about 250.000” versus 508.000 Muslims killed by Armenian volunteers

Armenians view the Germans as accomplices, says historian Ashot Hayruni
The 160 historians in Berlin were focused on Germany's complicity in the Armenians' suffering. According to the Armenian historian Ashot Hayruni from the State University of Yerevan, the Germans are seen as accomplices because of their silence and cold indifference. The German government just stood by and watched as the young Turkish government expelled Armenians from Turkey to the deserts of Mesopotamia, a region now in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria. And Germans claimed that they did not want to interfere, even though they were very well-informed.

Historian Christin Pschichholz from the University of Potsam has no doubts. After having read files at the German Foreign Ministry, she concludes that, "the German government had extensive information about the destructive policies regarding the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. Death marches, executions and forced labor: German diplomats painstakingly took note of everything happening around them at that time.
Suggest Mr. Hayruni views:

Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2010/06/3099-if-armenians-fight-with-us-against.html

And admit or refute that 200.000 Armenians died in fights against their home country in cooperation with enemies on all fronts. He should also know the “Revolyutsionniy Vostok” (Revolutionist East) No. 2-3 of 1936

Can you refute these deaths because of epidemics and starvation in Armenian under Armenian government?
Historical witnesses were quite aware of the atrocities, as illustrated by a dispatch sent on July 7, 1915 by the German Ambassador in Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the Imperial Chancellor. It said, "it is the declared intention of the government [meaning the Turkish government] to destroy the Armenian race in the Turkish Empire." I would like to see the document I never heard of. Ambassador Wangenheim was the person who signed the Treaty in early July the deportations had just started there was no time or means for any such news, nor any reason that he should complain to Berlin!

A German military mission was posted to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the genocide
Historian Rolf Holsfeld at Lepsiushaus, a highly regarded research institute in Potsdam, says, "the statement that genocide took place on Ottoman territory in 1915 and 1916 has been officially known to the German government for over 100 years. " “Genocide” is a “specific crime defined by U.M. regulations and must be attested by verdict of tribunal inn the country of origin or an authorized international tribunal. Nay Turkish celebrities detained in Malta for over 2 years were released because “not even one document could be found in the Ottoman-British-French-USA archives” for indictment. There is no document, no trial, no verdicts, no neutral eye witness, no material evidence but a “gossip” which is not supported by logic, or any evidence. A lynching process in absentia!

The way Germany handles the subject of the Armenian genocide does not directly reflect on Germany's complicity at that time. German government officials have always avoided using the word genocide when speaking of Armenia. Instead, they speak of massacre and dislocation.

In February 2015, the Linkspartei, German's far-left party, asked parliament about the use of terms regarding the persecuted Armenians in Turkey and the government decided to continue using the same terminology. The reason given was that it did not want to jeopardize Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. The German government's policy: categorizations should be left to academia. Apparenntly German are not even aware of the Armenian Legion Nazi Battalion of 22.000 men, 4.800 of them SS troops and their dedication to Hitler up to March 1945, before he committed suicide. Likewise Germans never heard of Armenian General Dro (Butcher Kanajan) who escaped to USA when Russians wanted him.

Armenia, together with more than 20 other countries, and the majority of the historians at the Berlin convention have classified the events as genocide, in accordance with the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.

About a year ago, the former Premier and now President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, broke the decade-old silence of Turkish officials on this subject. He apologized to the victims and their descendants and spoke of the "inhuman consequences" of the Armenians' expulsion. He did not speak of genocide. Inglorious role this is a scholarly discussion, no need for politics…

President Erdogan apologized in the name of present-day Turkey

Former East German civil rights activist and former member of parliament for the Social Democrats, Markus Meckel, was in the Bundestag when the Armenian issue was first discussed 10 years ago.

Even then, no resolution regarding Turkey could be adopted if it contained the word genocide. After a great deal of discussion, an ensuing paper stated that the Germans apologized for the "inglorious role" of the German Empire. It was not possible to say more. Even in communism, said Meckel, history was defined by politics.

Yet Germany could send an important political signal by recognizing the suffering of the Armenian people as genocide. He says, "Anyone who does not use this term is basically giving the suffering and the catastrophe a lesser meaning."

Historian Ashot Hayruni from the State University of Yerevan thinks it is the German government's obligation and says, "It is important that the German government adopts a decision in which the genocide is recognized and condemned as such."

According to DW sources, the German parliament plans to remember the victims of the Armenian genocide with a debate. But there is little cause to believe that anything will change in an argument about remembrance culture. Tell the German Parliament to read the Nazi History abd braveries of the Armenian Legion and General Kanajan. Let the go to Armenian as explained by the “Dunning Kruger effect”. It is all explained medically and scientifically; for those who want to learn.

Quite the contrary: now there is a dispute as to who will represent Germany at the main memorial service in Armenia on the 100th anniversary of the genocide on April 24 this year. The expulsion of the ethnic group began at Istanbul's Haydarpasa station on April 24, 2015. The year should be 1915, 235 Tashnak leaders were rounded a night before landings and sent inland to disrupt cooperation.

Until now, the German Foreign Ministry claims that it is still checking to see who will officially represent Germany in the Armenian capital. There is plenty reading in books available on internet such as
Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2014/01/3432-free-e-book-genocide-of-truth.html
and

Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/04/2429-new-e-book-genocide-of-truth-based.html or
at least watch
Armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2012/07/3363-video-brief-hopscotch-scroll-in.html.

Please pare an hour and see evidences scanned from tens of thousands of pages of research!.

Insiders are expecting that Germany's reticence on this issue will be underscored by the absence of high-level politicians. It is possible that only the German ambassador will attend the service, whereas France will be represented by the president himself, Francois Hollande. Historian Jürgen Gottschlich has called this 'scandalous.'


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