As Part of Daily Life at the Camps, Many Armenians Were Massacred and Tortured on a Daily Basis

Torture and Massacre

At the beginning of the deportations, large numbers of Armenian men would be arrested and tied together with rope and taken to the outskirts of their town and shot or stabbed to death by Turkish death squads. After this, Turkish forces would return to the cities and towns and round up the women, children and elderly and begin marching them to camps. They were told at first that they were being relocated to a non-military zone for their own safety. Caravans of deportees were formed. These caravans usually consisted of thousands of people. Turkish forces escorted them on their march. Roving units of the Army often came upon these caravans and were allowed to rape women and murder anyone they pleased, as their Turkish ‘escorts’ did nothing. Other ‘butcher battalions’ of released criminals were organized by the government into killing units. As part of daily life, many Armenians were massacred and tortured. Children were frequently abused and women raped.

Those that were massacred at the camps or along the way to them were buried in mass graves. The Ottoman government did this to hide any evidence of their atrocities. Christian leaders of the Armenian people were often publicly executed as a way to intimidate refugees and to break their spirit. Women were forced to watch their husbands be executed, children were subjected to seeing their mothers abused and the elderly were usually treated with open hostility and violence.

World War I ended in November 1918 with a defeat for Germany and the Central Powers including Turkey. Officials in the Turkish government who were responsible for organizing the Armenian Genocide fled to Germany where they were offered asylum (safety from criminal charges). A new, more moderate government was formed in Turkey after World War I. This new government pleaded with the international community to turn over those who escaped so they could be charged with their crimes. All requests were ignored. By 1920, the new government was failing and was overthrown by a more radical, nationalistic Muslim government. From 1920-1923, this government authorized the massacre of thousands more (as high as 200,000) Armenians in their territory in a final attempt to purge their country of Armenian citizens and culture.