The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1916. The killing of the Armenian people was accompanied by a systematic destruction of churches. schools. libraries. treasures of art and of history in an attempt to eliminate all traces of a noble civilization. What Ambassador Morgenthau wrote in the years following the great tragedy was consonant with his reporting at the time the events took place. for on July 16 of the first year of the massacres in .1915 he sent the following message by telegraph to the Secretary of State: Deportation of and excesses against peaceful Armenians is increasing and from harrowing reports of eyewitnesses it appears that a campaign of race extermination Is in progress under pretext of reprisal against rebellion. Reports to Ambassador Morgenthau by consul generals in the field. consular dispatches substantiated the Ambassadors report of what was taking place with respect to the massacre of the Armenians. Perhaps Elie Wiesel expressed most eloquently for us the critical importance of recognizing Armenian genocide when in April 1991 he spoke at a holocaust memorial service.
Keywords matched
Deportation