Assyrian Holocaust

Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, religious, political, or ethnic group.  The word, from the Greek genos, meaning “race,” “nation,” or “tribe,” and the Latin cide, meaning “killing,” originated from the tragic events in the Middle East during the end of the Ottoman empire from 1910 to 1933, which called for a legal concept to describe the deliberate destruction of large groups.

Holocaust is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction by fire of a racial, religious, political, or ethnic group.  The word derives from the Greek holos, meaning “whole” and kaustos, meaning “burnt”.

From 1843 to 1945, the Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Persians committed genocides against the Assyrian nation and other Christian peoples in Asia Minor [Middle East].  These international human rights violations were crimes against humanity and served as examples for future atrocities of this manner against the Jewish people in Europe.  In these genocides, 750,000 indigenous Christian Assyrians living in their ancestral homelands (known today as the republics of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran), including 1½ million Christian Armenians and 300,000 Hellenes were burned, slaughtered, and shot systematically.  Defenseless men, women, children, and the elderly became victims of these genocides.

Assyria, the land of the indigenous Assyrians ["Our Smallest Ally"], was partitioned after World War I by the victorious Allies, and is currently under occupation by Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Persians.

The Assyrians are a stateless people and continue to be religiously and ethnically persecuted in the Middle East due to Islamic fundamentalism, Arabization and Kurdification policies, leading to land expropriations and forced emigration to the West.
 Survivors Genocide_News

 Survivors and Eyewitnesses

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† 1917: Ben S. Benjamin - The Story of a Survivor
† 1916: Urmia, Salmas, and Hakkiari : Fuller Statement by Mr. Paul Shimmon
† 1916: Azerbaijan: Statement by Mr. M. Philips Price, War Correspondent For Various British and American Newspapers on the Caucasian Front
† 1916: Urmia District : Report on the Distribution of Relief, Covering The Period 1st June to 31st December, 1915
† 1916: Second Exodus From Urmia : Narrative of the Wife of the Rev. David Jacob, of Urmia
† 1916: Bohtan: Letter from the Rev. E. W. McDowell, of the Urmia Mission Station
† 1916: Hakkiari: Refugees From Hakkiari: Letter From Surma, the Sister of Mar Shimun, to Mrs. D. S. Margoliouth, of Oxford.
† 1916: Statement by Rev. R. M. Labaree
† 1916: Letter from a missionary written from Urmia in January
† 1915: Letter from Ashur S. Yousouf in Prison
† 1915: First Exodus From Urmi: Narrative of Mr. J. D. Barnard
† 1915: The Second Exodus from Urmia: Letter from Mr. Rugo A. Muller (Treasurer of the American Mission Station at Urmia)
† 1915: Hakkiari: A Letter From a Relative of Mar Shimun, the Patriarch
† 1915: Hakkiari: Refugees from the Hakkiari District: A Series of Extracts From Letters by Members of the American Mission Station at Urmia
† 1915: Hakkiari: Further Statement by Mr. Paul Shimmon
† 1915: Urmia: Rev. Father Dakras' Eyewitness Account of Burning Massacres
† 1915: Urmia, Salmas and Hakkiari : Statement by Mr. Paul Shimmon
† 1915: The Letter of Rev. E.T. Allen of Urmia, Describing the Massacre at Ismail Agha's Kala
† 1915: Urmia: Extracts From the Annual Report (For the Year 1915) Presented by the Medical Department at Urmia
† 1915: Urmia: Narrative of Dr. Jacob Sargis
† 1915: Urmia: Letter From the Rev. Y. M. Nisan to the Rev. F. N. Heazell
† 1915: Urmia: Letter from Mrs. J. P. Cochran to Friends in the United States
† 1915: Urmia During the Turco-Kurdish Occupation: The Diary of a Missionary
† 1915: Tabriz: Letter From The REV. F. N. Jessup
† 1915: Salmas: Letter of Rev. Labaree to the Presbyterian Missions Board, New York
† 1915: Urmia: Letter of Rev. Labaree to the Presbyterian Missions Board, New York
† 1915: Urmia: Letter from Rev. Labaree to Mr. Speer
† 1915: Letter of Rev. Labaree to His Mother
† 1915: First Exodus From Urmia
† 1915: Urmia : Statement By The Rev. William A. Shedd, D.D., of The American (Presbyterian) Mission Station at Urmia ; Communicated by The Board of Foreign Missions of The Presbyterian Church in The U.S.A.
† 1915: Letter from Mr. Rugo A. Muller (Treasurer of the American Mission Station at Urmia), May 26.
† 1914: Mrs. Suria David - Gulpashan, Urmia.
† 1850-1914: Mereyam Basmajy: A Story of a Great Lady

Historical timeline from 1915 to the 1958 Iraqi Revolution detailing the plight and suffering of the Assyrians

Resources:  Interview Guide | Campaign Posters | Information

Do you have any documents, photos, or other related information?  Please email them.
Please record our elders' eyewitness accounts during the Assyrian Holocaust.

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Parliament of NSW Legislative Council recognition of the Arm...
Parliament of NSW Legislative Council recognized the Armenia...
International Conference on the Ottoman Turkish Genocides of...
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Working Together with Ancient Neighbors
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Turkish EU minister compares the Genocide of 1915 to masturb...
A Cathedral on the Verge of Collapse: The Campaign to Save M...
Urgent Call to Defend Righteous Azeris
Turkey Claims Non-Turkish Antiquities by Intimidating Foreig...
My Mother’s Voice: A Genocide Survivor’s Story
Akçam Says Turkish Archives Show Genocide Planning By Centra...
Genocide and Humanity
Photograph links Germans to 1915 Armenia genocide
Misinformation at the New York Times
Film Screening: Smyrna: The Destruction of a Cosmopolitan Ci...

Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives

2011-2007: Assyria Council of Europe: Report Papers
2010-2003: Assyrians face Persecution and Genocide
2008: No equal rights - Victims of injustice (fact-finding mission)
2008: Religious Cleansing in Iraq - Report of Working Visit
2008: Genocide of the Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire (video)
1958-1915: Assyria, the Province of Nineveh and the League of Nations
1947: The Middle East in the Post-War World - National and Religious Minorities: The Assyrians by David Perley, J.S.D.
1943: Whither Christian Missions?  Reflections on the works of a Missionary and On the Assyrian Case by David Perley, J.S.D.
1946: Australian and British Governments on Assyrian Christians - Mr. Garnett to Mr. Strahan.
1946: Australian and British Governments on Assyrian Christians - Reply of Mr. Strahan to Mr. Garnett.
1945: Assyrian National Petition presented at the United Nations
1937: The Assyrians: A Debt of Honour
1935: League of Nations — The Settlement of the Assyrians, a Work of Humanity and Appeasement
1934: ANNEMASSE: The Assyrian Tragedy
1924: Massacres and Deportation of Assyrians in Northern Mesopotamia: Ethnic Cleansing by Turkey 1924-1925
1923: Agha Petros and the Lausanne Telegraphs
1920: Shall This Nation Die? by Joseph Naayem
1918: Our Smallest Ally: A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation during the Great War by Dr. William A. Wigram
1916: Death of a Nation by Abraham Yohannan
1916: The Pitiful Plight of the Assyrian Christians by William Rockwell
1915: Sayfo and Resistance against Kurds and Turks in Ayn-Wardo in 1915, in Turabdin, northern Assyria. (west Syriac text)
1915: Righteous Muslims during the Genocide of 1915
1915: The Deportation of the Assyrians in Ottoman Documents
1915: Ottoman Bystanders
1914-15: An Ottoman report related to incidents in Turco-Persian borders in 1914-15
1913-16: U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau's Story
1834-1847: Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians by Laurie Thomas
1843: The Nestorians: Identity, Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies by Asahel Grant MD
† 1831-1937 — Sayfo (Assyrian Genocide, in Arabic)
Assyrian Villages and Monasteries
The Assyrian Statehood: Yesterday’s Denial and Today’s Moral Obligation
Assyrians after Assyria
Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today
Who Are The Assyrians?
Native Christians Massacred": The Ottoman Genocide of the Assyrians during World War I
The Assyrians in the Christian Asia Minor Holocaust
Holy War Made in Germany: New Light on the Holocaust Against the Christian Assyrians during World War I
Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnic Identity
From Survival to Revival: In the Aftermath of the Assyrian Genocide
Turkey: Author of Genocide - the Destruction of the Assyrian Nation
Assyrians in Turkey: Disappearance of a Culture?
Indigenous Peoples Under the Rule of Islam, Part II, III, IV, V, VI and VII
‘Lies in Turkish’: Turkish Denial of Genocide
Assyrians in Turkey: Ethnic and Religious Recognition Revisited
The Assyrian Genocide and Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code: the case of an Assyrian Priest in Turkey (1)
Negotiating Assyrian Identity in Iraq, 1919-1933
The Assyrian Christians' Dilemma in Iraq: Outlook and Solution
The British Betrayal of the Assyrians (in Arabic)

† 1919: The Assyrian Monument in Baquba, Iraq
† 1915: Assyrian War Song

Assyrian History Timeline: 1900's | 1800's
 (historical documents, letters and articles)
 United Nations

1935: League of Nations — The Settlement of the Assyrians, a Work of Humanity and Appeasement
Assyrians at the League of Nations (United Nations)
Assyrian National Petition

Microform Collections: United Nations and United States documents
1924: Straits Treaty
1923: The Treaty of Lausanne
1921: Trade Agreement Between His Brittanic Majesty's Government and the Government of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic
1920: The Treaty of Sèvres
1919: The King-Crane Commission Report
1919: The King-Crane Commission Report — Confidential Appendix
1919: The Peace Treaty of Versailles
1918: Report on War Guilt by the 'Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War'
1917: Balfour Declaration
1916: The Sykes-Picot Agreement
1915: The Husain-McMahon Letters
1914: Treaty of Alliance between Germany and Turkey
1907: The Anglo-Russian Entente (concerning Persia)
Newspapers

London Times Articles

New York Times Articles

Newspapers and Periodicals

Atour Projects and Development Forum

History Forum

 Current Tragedies

To know your past, is to know yourself. The Persian Moslems began to plunder the Syrian (Assyrian) Christians. They broke open the houses, carried off the doors and windows, and emptied the buildings. No one was killed, however, although some shots were fired to intimidate the people. The Syrians (Assyrians) exercised great restraint, as they feared a general massacre if they opposed the Moslems who came against them. The elders of the village, while this was going on, sent to the city to ask for protection. The messengers returned with a Turkish and Persian flag and a few soldiers, thinking this would be security for them; but they were deceived, for almost at once the Kurds attacked the village from all points. They stripped every man they found, took his money, and then killed him. As the others fled to the vineyards, they were followed by the Moslems, who killed them there. It is said that one Persian Moslem had killed twenty-five persons, and said: "I am not satisfied yet." — Mr. Paul Shimmon (Assyrian Holocaust Survivor)  Assyrian Holocaust | History Timeline

Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Assyrian History Timeline: 1900's | 1800's (historical documents, letters and articles)

To know your past... is to know yourself.

† 2010-2003 — Assyrians face Persecution and Genocide
† 1933: The Simele Genocide
† 1914-18: World War I - The Ottoman Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and Persians
† 1895: Kurds Attack Urfa
† 1860: Massacres in Lebanon
† 1842: Massacres by Kurdish Chief Badr Khan Bey
† 1840-1860: The Khilafah Massacres
† 1829: Kurdish Leader Rwandez attacks Alqush
† 1578: Kurdish Attack on Urmi
† 1369-1400: The Massacres of Timurlane & The Escape to Hakkari
† 1361: The Martyrdom of Mar Gregorius Bit Qinaya
† 1324: The Attack on Qaraqosh
† 1310: The Capture of Arbela
† 1297: The Capture of Amedia
† 1295: The Destruction of Churches by the Mongols
† 1289: The Attack of the Kurds
† 1285: The Arab & Kurdish Attack on Arbela
† 1268: Antioch Seized by the Sultan of Egypt
† 1261: The Coming of the Kurds
† 1258: Hulaku Khan Slaughters the Assyrians of Tikreet
† 1231: The Martyrdom of Mar Denosios bar Saliba II
† 987: The Destruction of Mart Maryam Church at Baghdad
† 852: The Persecution of Assyrians Under Caliph Mutawakkil
† 873: The Martyrdom of Hunayn Bar Iskhaq
† 884: The Attack on the Monastery of Dakil Ishu
† 737: The Persecution of Christians in Halab
† 762: The Islamic Caliphate Moves to Baghdad
7th Century: The Message of Prophet Mohammed
† 661: The Persecution of Christians by Ummayad Caliph Muawiyyah
† 686: Caliph Abd al-Malik Imprisons and Tortures the Patriarch
† 650: The Massacre of Monks at Ra's Ayn
† 615-628: The Massacres by Khusraw Parviz
† 519: Jewish Persecution of Christians in Yemen Continues
† 519: King Yusuf As'ar of Yemen Begins a Brutal Massacre of the Assyrians
† 448: The Massacre of Kirkuk
† 339: The Persecution Under King Shapur
† 107: Parthian king Xosroes Murders Second Bishop of Arbela