Assyrian Genocide

The Assyrian genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s and the First World War, in conjunction with the Armenian and Greek genocides.

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The St. Stepanos Armenian Church located in the Basmane district served the Armenian community of Smyrna. It was set on fire by Turkish troops during the Great Fire of Smyrna.

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Առորա Մարտիկանեան Aurora Mardiganian Armenian girl at the age of fourteen saw her entire family get slaughtered as she was made to watch. After that she forced to march over 1,400 miles, during which she was kidnapped and sold into the slave markets, Aurora ended in the hands of Ottoman Officers and  was brutally raped and tortured by Turkish, Kurdish and German officers for two years. Besides being raped , she was physically tortured because she did not renounce her Christian faith. This was not a unique story as it is shared by tens of thousands of other Armenian, Assyrian and Greek women during the Armenian Genocide. but was is unique is what happened next. She stayed strong and managed to escape and eventually end up in USA. 

Knowing her fight was not over, In 1918, the book “Ravished Armenia” based on her story was published in USA, written by her with the help of Harvey Gates. Then, by the plot of this book, the first film about the Armenian Genocide was produced in Hollywood, where she came up as a screenwriter and actress. The entire revenue of the film, 30 million American dollars was provided to 60 thousand Armenian orphans suffering from the Genocide.

Mardiganian was referred to in the press as the Joan of Arc of Armenia, describing her role as the spokesperson for the victims of the horrors that were then taking place in Turkey and the catalyst for the humanist movement in America. She is just one of the many millions of victims of the Armenian Genocide. A Genocide that claimed 1,5 million Armenians, 750 thousand Assyrians and 900 thousand Greeks. And left millions of others scared for life.

She died in 1994, she endured hardships and tragedy left an lasting mark on her soul. 

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