Some Armenians have compared the events prior to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the Holocaust. This comparison is very far-fetched, let's consider all the details of the Holocaust and the Armenian-Ottoman ethnic conflict.

Today, many Armenian scholars argue that what happened to them during 1915 in the Ottoman Empire was a mass murder that constituted genocide. The motives they define range from jealousy to pan-Turkism. They argue that the Armenians were deported during 1915 from their homeland for simply being Armenian. Many scholars have given credence to the arguments because of the obscurity of the history of the Ottoman Empire and the lack of documents regarding the events (some of which such as in Armenia, are locked up).

Turkish scholars and Western Ottoman experts argue that Armenians were rebelling since the 1880s due to the rise of nationalism and the interferences of the European powers in Ottoman affairs that led to tensions between the local Muslims and Armenians in Eastern Anatolia. They argue that European powers mostly Russia and Britain have consistently incited rebellions in the Ottoman Empire and then creating propaganda to support armed intervention by Russia or Britain.

The Armenian scholars point to similarities between the Holocaust and what they define as the Armenian Genocide. They mention involvement of the Ottoman secret police (The Special Organization) to draw parallels between it and the Gestapo of Nazi Germany; however, there is almost no documents to support this assertion. They describe horrible conditions of Armenians in concentration camps, but fail to mention that they were actually refugee camps in which European consuls could visit anytime they wanted.

Although some of these parallels can be debated extensively, it should be noted that such comparisons can lead to incredible bias because they are completely different events and trying to equate them to each other is simply wrong. In addition, equating the suffering of Armenians (which is unfortunate) to the horrendous suffering and mass extermination of the Jews is incredibly wrong.

It is always a good method for a historian to compare events to understand them better, but to use the comparison as proof of genocide, or to create misleading or unrelated parallels between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide is wrong.

Hitler Quote a Proof of Armenian genocide?

Some Armenian Genocide proponents claim that "When Hitler was asked about what the rest of the world do about his ‘final solution’ (his attempt to exterminate the Jews) he replied that it will be forgotten, like the Armenians." Although, more usually some Armenian Genocide proponents quote Hitler as justifying the extermination of the Jews because of his expertise on Armenia:

Hitler (ANCA) wrote:
Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?
http://www.anca.org/genocide_resource/quotes.php

Adolf Hitler

This quote was from a forgery written by an unknown person on plain piece of paper and labeling it as "Hitler's second speech" even though he only gave one speech that day. http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2007/09/1931-original-documentation-for-hitler.html

Lowry, Heath W., The U.S. Congress and Adolf Hitler on the Armenians, Political Communication and Persuasion, New York, III/2 (1985), pp. 111-140. wrote:
The assertion that Hitler made a reference to the Armenians in any context whatsoever is without foundation.

Professor Justin McCarthy, Louisville University, Kentucky, U.S.A., From Proceedings of Symposium on International Terrorism wrote:
We now know that, like the infamous Hitler Quote, the so-called extermination orders of Talat Pasha were forgeries. The only relevant Ottoman documents that have come to light indicate a generally solicitous attitude toward deported Armenians.

This seems to be a part of Armenian Genocide proponents who are campaigning the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by equating it to a proven genocide, the Holocaust, because it is very well known.

The suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust is very well known throughout the world. Trying to make connections between, one of the most recognized perpetrator of genocide, Adolf Hitler, and what happened to the Armenians by claiming that Hitler used what happened to the Armenians to justify his extermination of the Jews is a prime example of world class propaganda.

The Malta Tribunals & Nuremberg Tribunals

118 Ottoman officials were imprisoned in the island of Malta for two and a half years and without lawyers because the British public demanded justice for massacres of Armenians that were always appearing in the newspapers. Though Britain knew that the media was used throughout World War I to paint an evil picture of the Central Powers and especially the Ottoman Empire, they fell victim to their own propaganda and were forced to create a military tribunal to punish the Ottomans for war crimes and try to calm the British public they themselves had enraged.

The Malta Tribunal that began on May 28, 1919 was a predecessor to the Nuremberg trials, even with all the evidence and archives of the Ottoman Empire at their fingertips they failed to find any evidence supporting the theory that the Ottomans had ordered a plan of genocide to exterminate the Armenians. The arrests continued as evidence was searched for throughout the world.

In fact, the Ottoman archives, since they were captured by the British (the occupation of Constantinople), were handed to an Armenian archivist who could read Ottoman documents, Haig Kazarian, to search for any evidence of crimes against humanity.

The British Foreign Office contacted the U.S. State Department and requested documents that might be used as evidence to prove the guilt of Ottoman leaders. The US State Department replied that it only had documents of testimonies and massacres but absolutely no document that would link any of the leaders to any crimes. [1]

On November 8th, 1920, Harry Lamb who made most of the recommendations for the arrest of Ottoman leaders, wrote:

Harry Lamb, British High Commission Office wrote:

[Not one of the Malta prisoners] was arrested on any evidence of the legal sense. It is safe to say that very few 'dossiers' as they now stand would not be marked 'no case' by a practical lawyer.
[2]

The infamous "Talat Pasha telegrams" inside Aram Andonian's book, in which the Minister of Interior of the Ottoman Empire ordered the extermination of the Armenians, were flat out rejected by Harry Lamb where he noted the lack of official documents that ordered genocide of the Armenians. [3]

All the news articles describing the suffering of Armenians, the Armenian testimonies of attacks, and the forgeries in Aram Andonian's books were all ignored as propaganda by the British High Commission office in charge of the Malta Tribunals.

The Ottoman officials were released, only to be killed later in other nations by Armenian terrorists in "Operation Nemesis". In contrast, the Nuremberg trials however, did find the Nazi officials guilty with overwhelming evidence and documentation of their crimes.

Armenian scholars have argued that they were only released because the British needed to trade 118 Ottoman high officials for British prisoners of war (of which there were only about 30 of them) in the hands of nationalist Turks (who rejected the Sevres Treaty and the leadership of the Ottoman government). However, it makes little sense for the British to trade 118 high class officials for only 30 British men, especially since the nationalist Turks had no respect for the Ottoman government and thus would probably not care too much about Ottoman prisoners.

Holocaust is Well-Documented without Forgeries

The Holocaust was well documented, with Allied soldiers witnessing the horrors of death camps and finding millions of Nazi prisoners who were obviously tortured. In addition, they had video footage of mass graves and piles of bodies, with truckloads of photos.

Many photographs that are attributed to the Armenian Genocide have unidentified bodies, in many cases the perpetrators in the picture have no relation to the Ottomans. Some images were doctored others were paintings edited to look like photos of horrible massacres, but most seem to be unrelated images of suffering that do not relate to the Armenians or Turks. One of the images that is frequently used is of the Lebanese Famine.

Mass graves relating to an Armenian Genocide have not been uncovered. Armenian scholars argue that the Turkish government is covering up the mass graves, and the Turkish government counters that if that were true, there would be many mass graves in Syria or Iraq which are no longer Turkish territories (but it is the location that many Armenians were exiled to).

In contrast, the Nazi documentation and archives are an indisputable and the Allies found thousands of documents of orders from high commanders ordering mass killings, the building of gas chambers, and the use of bodies in an industrial fashion as raw materials as expressed in the Final Solution of Hitler.

In fact, many Nazi officials and soldiers admitted to the atrocities and as a defense said they had to do what they were ordered to do. Nazi Germany admitted genocide because of the fact that it was well documented and proven. The Turkish government denies the Armenian Genocide, and some observers believe that this is somehow an admission of guilt but they forget that in a murder trial both the innocent and the guilty deny their crimes.

Many historians who have heard of this comparison note that the Armenians had rebelled before 1915 numerous times, and yet the Jews of Nazi Germany had never rebelled. The rebellions of Armenians explain why Armenians died in large numbers, as authorities and local inhabitants took revenge for massacres initiated by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Mein Kampf by Hitler

Adolf Hitler, has written in his book Mein Kampf that he wanted to get rid of the Jews. He explicitly threatened Jews in public speeches and many Nazi soldiers have received orders from him and his commanders to exterminate Jews. There are many audio recordings and videos that prove the Nazi era hate and extermination of the Jews. So far no book by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire was ever uncovered explaining a desire to exterminate Armenians. In fact, the Committee of Union and Progress gained power by working with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to overthrow Sultan AbdulHamid II since they both hated him but for different reasons.

It seems that the Ottoman government had no ill-intention towards the Armenians until the rebellions began to damage the Ottoman war effort against Russia.

No historian of Turkish or Ottoman origin has ever found documents that prove the Armenian Genocide though many non-historians have had a variety of opinions.

Accusations of genocide need to be proven without a doubt otherwise it should be assumed that the government accused of genocide is innocent until proven guilty. The Turks themselves would have no problem pointing their fingers at Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, and other Turkish generals because they had caused great failures for the Turkish people. Especially since the Turkish nation fought against the Ottoman leadership and established modern Turkey in opposition to the Ottoman Empire.

World Recognition without Debate

In addition, the Holocaust is widely recognized throughout the world except maybe in Iran. The Armenian Genocide is widely viewed by neutral positions as an on-going controversy and debate that historians still need to solve (archives related to it are still to be found). The Armenian archives that detail the involvement of the Dashnaks, Hunchaks, and Armenakan rebel organizations and their deals with European governments is yet to be unlocked!

There are only a handful of countries that actually recognize the Armenian Genocide, each has a large majority of Armenians and organizations with lobbyists and voters pressuring politicians to pass such bills. These countries include but are not limited to, are France, Switzerland, Russia, Lebanon, and Argentina. Notice though if you were to research the Armenian Diaspora, you would find large populations of Armenians (the Armenian Diaspora) in all those countries that recognize the events as genocide. These parliaments however, are stealing the role of a judiciary system rather than behaving as legislative bodies.

One would only have to imagine how Americans would feel if some governments at random moments in time recognized a "Japanese Genocide" (because of imprisonment of Japanese-Americans or use of Nuclear Weapons), or a "Native Indian Genocide".

Jews and Armenians Live Differently

During World War II and before, many Jews lived in Ghettos and were classified as second class citizens. During the Nazi regime, many Jews were taken out of German schools, were forced to wear a yellow Star of David indicating the person is Jewish and were not even allowed in public places.

Armenians were not labeled by any symbol on their clothes; Turks and Armenians have lived together in peace for centuries. There was no hatred against Armenians until Armenian rebellions in the East. Nonetheless, the Western Armenians remained unharmed and untouched throughout World War I.

Most of the Armenians knew Turkish and could easily blend in if they wanted. Only cities of known Armenian populations were relocated to Syria in order to stop the rebellion and ethnic war that was rampant in the region. The Armenians had their own schools, churches, and lived alongside many Turkish, Greek, Kurdish, Jewish, and Azerbaijani communities.

If the suffering of Armenians was directed by the Turkish government with the motive of ethnic superiority, then the Kurds, Greeks, and Azerbaijanis would also be subjected to the Relocation laws (Tehcir law) just like the Armenians. If there was a religious motivation, then the Jews would be relocated as well. However, only the Armenians were relocated, not even the Christian Nestorians (Assyrians) were relocated. It seems more plausible that Armenians were relocated in order to hastily disrupt the Armenian rebellions that were damaging the Ottoman war effort during World War I.

Nazi Germany and the Ottoman Empire

When Nazi Germany began exterminating the Jews they were at the peak of their power, the Kristallnacht was in 1938 and other antisemitic laws were passed before the final solution. Hitler believed the world would fall under Nazi power in a short time. They had the money, time, and manpower to exterminate the Jews and even engineer their bodies into raw materials.

However, the Ottoman Empire ever since the 1700s was declining and was labeled the Sick Man of Europe. It had to fight at least three rebellions in the last 10 years, and was at war in several fronts against the Allies at a time when the Central Powers were loosing and the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse (which it did a couple of years after 1915). One should think critically that at a time when the Ottomans had limited arms, money, and soldiers there would be no motive to exterminate a small minority of Armenians.

The government was losing precious soldiers on Armenian rebellions within its territory when such soldiers were needed at the front. The Armenian rebels were cutting vital telegraph lines to disrupt military communication and had created guerrilla warfare in the Middle East. The Ottoman government found that the only way to disrupt the rebellion quickly before they became even stronger was to distribute the Armenian populations to within 10% of the Muslim population of any region thereby ceasing the Armenian rebel activities. The Turkish national guard was used to relocate Armenians on May 27th 1915 as a response to the Armenian rebellion in Van of April 1915. The Ottoman government would not have punished its own officials (court-martial of 1,637 Ottoman officials) for mistreating exiled Armenians if it was attempting extermination.

Ottoman War Effort - Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I

This information added 2/4/08
The Battle of Galipoli was raging in 1915, beginning April 25th 1915, against the British, French and Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) in Western Turkey, the Dardanelles, in which the Turks won but with heavy casualties. There were many battles in the Mesopotamian Campaign and the Caucasus Campaign, since October 29th 1914, the Ottomans were deep in war, and the Ottoman Empire suffering a crushing defeat at the Battle of Sarikamis (losing about 75,000 experienced soldiers to winter cold in the East) in December, 1914. It seems that propagandists want everyone to believe that the empire dropped everything to exterminate a minority for simply being a minority. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Eastern_theatre_of_World_War_I

Study the image below, the red areas are major areas of battles of the Ottoman Empire. Notice how Armenia and the lands surrounding it was engulfed in war, starvation, and disease, a major factor in the large death tolls of Armenians. The fact that hundreds of thousands of Armenian revolutionaries joined the Russian's in the war, and many joined the French legions in Syria:
Wars in Ottoman Empire, World War I

One must note that in such a desperate time, the Ottoman Empire would be too busy fighting a world war on several fronts to commit soldiers, time, and money to kill Armenians.

Minorities

The Jews in Europe were a large minority, but the Armenians were a small minority that is smaller than some of the other non-Muslim minorities of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire is a diverse empire that allows local governors to have their own laws as long as they pay taxes and express their allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. In fact, it is one of the few empires who allowed religious freedom with the exception of a tax on non-Muslim populations. However, churches, synagogues, and other religious temples still remain in tact from the Ottoman era, so there was no religious hate against Armenians. In fact, some of the Armenian Church's religious leaders inside Turkey today display their disbelief in an Armenian Genocide.

Ottoman Archives have Become Easily Accessible

All German archives have been open to the public that clearly contain evidence of genocide. The Ottoman/Turkish archives are also open to the public, and have invited historians around the world to study their archives. The Armenian archives are closed because many Armenians claim that the Armenian Genocide is not debated and therefore unnecessary to open Armenian archives to the public.

Many wonder what the Armenian government has to hide. Armenian historians and Armenian Genocide supporters also refuse public debate that Turkey and pro-Turkish historians always initiate. They claim that the debate would cast doubt on the Armenian Genocide and is therefore unacceptable. However, educated individuals know that debate is a method for which we can use to reach the truth.

A Summary of Differences between the Armenian Genocide thesis and the proven Holocaust

  • There were no hate speeches in the Ottoman Empire against Armenians; There were in Nazi Germany.
  • Armenians target Turks as a whole when the blame-train comes by, not differentiating between generations, and saying the Turks are just as guilty for denying the genocide. Jews blame Nazi Germany at the time, and the party leadership, and the followers who committed the genocide.
  • Jews were identified by the Star of David before the Holocaust so that the Nazis can identify them easily when the genocide comes and they were able to be racist towards Jews more easily. Armenians could not be identified unless you follow them into their church.
  • Jews were separated into communities isolated into Ghettos. Armenians were not separated but some villages were known to be mostly Armenians.
  • Jews were the continuous target of prejudice and racism by Germans which was well documented. While Armenians were never a target of hate for the 600 years they were ruled over, they ruled their own region with their own local government.
  • Jews were hated and prejudiced against before the Nazi regime, Hitler acted on these age old prejudices, however there is no such history of that with Armenians and Turks.
  • Jews did not rebel against the Nazis. Armenians rebelled many times before 1915, and even during 1890s when their rebel organizations first formed.
  • There were no Jewish generals, no Jewish soldiers, rebels, or rebel organizations that fought against the Nazis. In contrast, Armenian organizations, generals who committed many massacres of Muslims were abundant.
  • Jews did not own weapons, they did not have mass storage of armaments. Armenians had thousands of arms, easily brought to the Ottoman Empire through Iran or Russia by the smugglers. Some scholars argue that Armenians gathered weapons for self-defense, but they were not lightly distributed amongst individuals but gathered in strategic locations to be used where they were hidden as a garrison of rebellion. Barricades and trenches were created during the Van Rebellion of April 1915 as well as in 1896.

Armenians in World War II?

As expressed in Samuel A. Weems's book, the Armenians were declared as Aryan pure in 1943 by Hitler because of the on-going support in Armenia and abroad by Armenians support of racism against Jews and support of the Nazi Regime.

Armenian newspapers supported the Nazi regime throughout World War II:
Hitler Armenia
Armenians themselves in many Hye (Armenia) forums:
Nazi SS Armenians marching:
Aryan SS Armenian Nazis marching
Armenians denying the Holocaust:
Armenians denying Holocaust
Armenian Anti-Semite website:
Jewish Racism site by Armenians
Armenians discussing about Aryan-hood.
Armenians denying Holocaust


Sources

  1. ^ The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey by Guenter Lewy (2005), p. 122-125
  2. ^ The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey by Guenter Lewy (2005), p. 124
  3. ^ The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey by Guenter Lewy (2005), p. 124