Raʾs al-ʿAin concentration camp

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The concentration camps Raʾs al-ʿAin ( Armenian Ռաս ուլ-Այնի կայանատեղի , also written Resülayn , Ras el-Ain , Ras-ul-Ain or Ras ul-Ayn ) were concentration camps in the city of Raʾs al-ʿAin , which are now part of the Syrian Turkish border lies. Numerous Christian Armenians were deported there and killed en masse during the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians . The site became "synonymous with Armenian suffering".

history

Raʾs al-ʿAin was one of the most important collection points for the Christians who were abducted under the deportation law . In September 1915 the refugees (who consisted only of women and children because the men had already been killed) arrived after the exhausting death marches . Of 1,500 poorly dressed Armenians who went barefoot and who were deported mainly from Sivas in September 1915 , 200 were so exhausted that they died practically immediately after their arrival. The remainder were killed within the next few days by soldiers who came from the Deir ez-Zor concentration camp for this task . A total of about 70,000 Christians were deported to Raʾs al-ʿAin, the maximum population of the camp at a time was 40,000. The inmates were then divided into four groups, two of which were sent on to Deir ez-Zor and two to Mosul . As early as April 1916, the German consul reported "renewed massacres in Ras ul Ain: 300 to 500 deportees were dragged out of the concentration camp every day and slaughtered at a distance of 10 km from Ras ul Ain." In the summer of 1916 the Turkish government introduced new ones Rounds of massacres in the areas of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Raʾs al-ʿAin. In the whole of 1916, 80,000 of the Armenians were slaughtered in Ras ul-Ain.

"While we were marching the Turkish soldiers with drawn swords suddenly made their way through the crowd, and, like beasts let loose in a flock of sheep, killed and wounded many. The rest still dragged on under the influence of the bloody swords until Ras-ul-Ain. Desert was reached. This place was especially noted for the carrying of their butchery, for all that were sent to these parts were sent there to die. "

“While we were marching, the Turkish soldiers suddenly made their way through the crowd with swords drawn, killing many and wounding many, like beasts unleashed on a flock of sheep. The rest, under the influence of the bloody swords, dragged on to Ras-ul-Ain. The desert has been reached. This place was especially known for their blood baths; all who were sent to these areas were sent there to die. "

- " Armenian Tells Of Death Pilgrimage ", New York Times , July 27, 1919

Message from Johannes Lepsius :

“On April 6, 1916, 12,000 of the 14,000 deportees were slaughtered in the Ras ul Ain concentration camp; the rest of 2000 also later eliminated. On April 16, the Armenians "settled in Maarra and the surrounding villages" were sent to the Arabian desert; On April 19, 9,000 Armenians (the rest of 24,000) from Marasch followed them to Der es Zor. The starvation in the concentration camps ensured that there was always room. "

- Wilhelm Litten : Persian honeymoon. Berlin 1925, p. 312

Entire camps in Raʾs al-ʿAin were liquidated several times in order to pursue the typhus epidemics. For the US ambassador at the time, Henry Morgenthau , the existence of “these wretched” Armenian travelers on the way to Raʾs al-ʿAin was “a single constant horror”.

Known deportees

  • Aram Andonian , author of the Andonian Telegrams
  • Hovhannes Kımpetyan (1894–1915), poet and teacher, died of starvation during deportation in Raʾs al-ʿAin at the age of 21.

See also

bibliography

  • David Gaunt: Massacres, resistance, protectors. Muslim-Christian relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Gorgias Press, Piscataway NJ 2006
  • Donald E. Miller, Lorna Touryan Miller: Survivors. An Oral History Of The Armenian Genocide. University of California Press, Los Angeles 1999, ISBN 0-520-21956-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence Sondhaus: World War One. The global revolution. Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 390.
  2. ↑ Adam Jones: Genocide. A Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge, Oxford / New York 2006, p. 110.
  3. ↑ Gaunt: Massacres, Resistance, Protectors. 2006, p. 249
  4. ^ Vahakn N. Dadrian : Documentation of the Armenian Genocide. In: The Widening Circle of Genocide. Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem 1994, p. 103.
  5. ↑ Encyclopedia of Genocide: IY: Volume 2 - Page 95, 1999
  6. ↑ Vahram L. Shemmassian: The League of Nations and the Reclamation of Armenian Genocide Survivors. In: Looking Backward, Moving Forward. Confronting the Armenian Genocide. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick NJ 2003, p. 99.
  7. ↑ Gaunt: Massacres, Resistance, Protectors. 2006, p. 301.
  8. ^ Henry Morgenthau: Ambassador Morgenthau's Story. A Personal Account of the Armenian Genocide. 1918, reprint, Cosimo, New York 2010, p. 219
  9. ↑ Professor Fatma Müge Göçek's word during the April 24, 1915 commemoration, by Fatma Muge Gocek, Date: April 22, 2007, University of Michigan ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.azad-hye.net