International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies Volume 5, No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE STUDIES VOLUME 5, NO. 1, 2020 International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies Published by Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute Foundation Editor in Chief: Dr. Harutyun Marutyan, Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation, Armenia [email protected] Associate Editor: Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation, Armenia [email protected] Editorial Board Dr., Prof. Rouben Paul Adalian, Armenian National Institute, Washington, D.C., USA [email protected] Dr., Prof. Peter Balakian, Colgate University, New York, USA [email protected] Dr. Matthias Bjørnlund, Kristeligt Dagblads Forlag, Denmark [email protected] Dr., Associate prof. Lerna Ekmekçioglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA [email protected] Dr. Donna-Lee Frieze, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia [email protected] Dr., Prof. Sévane Garibian, University of Geneva, Switzerland [email protected] Dr. Elke Hartmann, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany [email protected] Dr., Prof. Raymond Kevorkian, Foreign Member of National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, France [email protected] Dr. Prof., Hans-Lukas Kieser, University of Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] Dr. Suren Manukyan, Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation, Armenia [email protected] Dr. Armen Marsoobian, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USA [email protected] Dr., Prof. Rubina Peroomian, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA [email protected] Dr., Prof. Vahram Shemmassian, California State University, Northridge, USA [email protected] Dr. Vahé Tachjian, Houshamadyan Project, Germany [email protected] Dr., Prof. Henry Theriault, Worcester State University, USA [email protected] Dr. Vladimir Vardanyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly, Armenia [email protected] Book Review Editor: Dr., Prof. Bedross Der Matossian, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA [email protected] International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies (ISSN 1829-4405) is a peer-reviewed journal published bi-annually by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation since 2014 (8/8 Tstitsernakaberd highway, 0028 Yerevan, Republic of Armenia (+374 10) 39 09 81, www.genocide- museum.am). International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies (IJAGS) publishes articles and reviews related to genocide studies with a special focus on the Armenian Genocide. Articles dealing with research and theory from various disciplines and fields, including anthropology, law, education, gender studies, history, arts and literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies and sociology are being accepted. Articles, reviews and other materials published in the IJAGS reflect the opinion of the authors and may not necessarily coincide with the approaches of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation cannot accept any legal responsibility for the errors and omissions made by the authors. Submissions should be addressed to Dr. Harutyun Marutyan at [email protected] Those interested in submitting books for review, should contact the Book Review Editor, Dr. Bedross Der Matossian at [email protected] All other submissions and editorial inquiries should be addressed to gzoyan.edita@genocide- museum.am © Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute Foundation For more information on International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies, please visit: https:// agmipublications.asnet.am/en/international-journal-of-armenian-genocide-studies/ ISSN 1829-4405 Volume 5, No. 1, 2020 International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies 5:1 CONTENT Jiří Cukr, Marek Jandák Karel Hansa: the Czechoslovak Traveller in Syria and Lebanon in 1922 and His Work for the Benefit of Armenian Genocide Survivors ........................................................7 Lidia Prisac Armenian Genocide Survivors: The Strunga Orphanage in Romania ..............................33 Robert Tatoyan WWI Armenian Refugees Census Data as a Source for Ottoman Armenian Population Numbers on the Eve of the Armenian Genocide ............................55 Tessa Hofmann A Hundred Years Ago: The Assassination of Mehmet Talaat (15 March 1921) and the Berlin Criminal Proceedings against Soghomon Tehlirian (2/3 June 1921): Background, Context, Effect ...................................................................67 Hasmik Tigranyan Edita Gzoyan ECHR Retroactive Jurisdiction and the Possibility of Compensations for the Armenian Properties Confiscated during and after the Armenian Genocide: A Brief Analysis.................................................................................................................91 BOOK REVIEWS Heghar Zeitlian Watenpaugh, The Missing Pages: The Modern Life of a Medieval Manuscript from Genocide to Justice, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2019, 436 pp. Reviewed by Sato Moughalian........................................................................................102 Carolyn J. Dean, The Moral Witness: Trials and Testimony after Genocide, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019, 198 pp. Reviewed by Asya Darbinyan..........................................................................................107 5 PhD Jiří Cukr is an archivist, a chronicler and a local historian in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. He wrote a number of books and articles on historical and regional themes. Email: [email protected] Mgr. Marek Jandák is a historian and a PhD student at the Charles Uni- versity in Prague. He is a member of The Centre for the Transdisci- plinary Research of Violence, Trauma and Justice at the same institu- tion. He published a monograph in 2018 on the Armenian Genocide and its reflection in the Bohemian lands. Email: [email protected] 6 KAREL HANSA: THE CZECHOSLOVAK TRAVELLER IN SYRIA AND LEBANON IN 1922 AND HIS WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVORS1 Jiří Cukr, Marek Jandák In 1922, the Czechoslovak traveller Karel Hansa visited the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, where he became acquainted with the lamentable living conditions and pitiful experiences of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide. He was deeply impressed by the work of Western humanitarian organizations, especially the American Near East Relief. This experience led Hansa to decide to wri- te, lecture and try to organise humanitarian aid for Armenian orphans in Czechoslovakia, although his humanitarian efforts had only limited success. Key words: Karel Hansa, Armenian Genocide, survivors, humanitarianism, Czechoslovakia, Syria, Lebanon. Introduction In interwar Czechoslovakia, Karel Hansa was the only person who systematically dealt with the subject of the Armenian Genocide. Of significant historical value are his testimonies on the humanitarian situation of the survivors in Syria and Lebanon in 1922, where Hansa documents predominantly the transports of Armenian children from the territories occupied by Turkish nationalists. After his return to Czechoslovakia, Hansa attempted to organise hu- manitarian aid for Armenian orphans in Czechoslovakia. This transfer of the social practice of modern humanitarian work, as Hansa observed it in the Middle East, to Czechoslovakia did not go without the necessary adaptation to the different local environment. We follow the method with which Hansa tried to inform and mobilise the Czechoslovak public and the ways in which he tried to establish cooperation with Czechoslovak and foreign humanitar- ian organizations. Karel Hansa achieved some success in the interwar period as a writer and lecturer, but he was never amongst the prominent figures of the public life in Czechoslovakia. By the second half of the 20th century he was already a forgotten persona.2 This began to change 1 The article was received on 20.08.2020 and was accepted for publication on 03.10.2020. This article was created with support of The Centre for the Transdisciplinary Research of Violence, Trauma and Justice at Charles University (UNCE/HUM/009). Translated by Terézia Klasová. For the purpose of this arti- cle, we have studied documents at the following institutions: National Archives of the Czech Republic, Prague (Národní archiv České republiky, NA); Prague City Archives (Archiv hlavního města Prahy, AMHP); the Rese- arch Library of South Bohemia (Jihočeská vědecká knihovna, JVK); State District Archives České Budějovice (Státní okresní archiv České Budějovice, SOkA ČB); State District Archives Písek (Státní okresní archiv Písek, SOkA Písek); State Regional Archives Třeboň (Státní oblastní archiv v Třeboni, SOA Třeboň) and State Region- al Archives Prague (Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, SOA Prague). 2 For example, his name is absent in most of the historical and contemporary biographical dictionaries. An ex- 7 International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies: Volume 5, No. 1, 2020 https://doi.org/10.51442/ijags.0006 over the last 15 years in connection with the increased interest of the Czech public in the topic of the Armenian Genocide, and also thanks to the activities of the Armenian commu- nity in the Czech Republic, which has grown significantly in numbers since the 1990s. Current research on the life and work of Karel Hansa has its roots around 2006, when Hansa’s book Horrors of the East was published in a reprint. Members of the Prague