Robert F. Melson - Revolution and Genocide

On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust

By Alan Whitehorn

As we approach the 100th memorial year of the 1915 state-sponsored mass slaughter of Armeni- ans in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians all over the world will be reflecting in an ever more somber fashion about the deadly fate of so many ancestors. As Armenians continue to seek to fully un-

derstand the causes for the horrific crime of genocide, non- Armenians will also become more aware of the Genocide. With far less background on the history and the region, many will in- evitably ask their Armenian friends and colleagues: ‘Which are the most helpful introductory books on the Armenian Genocide?’. This is not always an easy question to answer, but as we ap- proach 2015, it becomes an increasingly pressing and germane question. This is not only so for non-Armenians, but even for a younger generation of diaspora Armenians. Five quite different books come to mind as suggestions:

Facing History, Crimes Against Humanity and Civiliza- tion: The Genocide of the Armenians (Brookline, Massachu- setts, 2004, ISBN: 0-9754125-0-7; 198 pages) (Also available in electronic format from www.facinghistory.org/resources/publications).

Facing History, based in Brookline Massachusetts, is the pre-eminent educational organization preparing high school in- structors on how to teach about difficult topics such as the Holo- caust, genocide, racism and intolerance and how to foster human rights and democracy.