THE GERMAN LEGACY: FOREIGN OFFICE DOCUMENTS CONFIRM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Arshag Kazanjian
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
rman-legacy-foreign-office-documents-r458892.htm
F eb 27 2008
Austria
2008-02-27 09:53:05 – Wolfgang Gust, a former editor of the respected
German news magazine Der Spiegel, has over the last years published
many important documents from Foreign Office archives.
These documents in the original German version and in English appear
on their internet page
Over the last ten years, he and his wife Sigrid, have made a
significant contribution to the collation of historical evidence
regarding the Armenian Genocide. Although their work is not yet
complete it is already viewed as the most authoritative source
concerning the Genocide during the Ottoman Empire epoch. In recognition
of his contribution to the History of the Armenian Genocide, Karekin II
the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos awarded him the Surp Sahak-Mesorp
medal in 2004. He also received the Dennis Papazian prize in 2006.
Unfortunately, the work of Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust is not generally
known within Germany nor within the international community. Not only
do the published documents clearly expose the extent of the murderous
Turkish policy but also the responsibility of the German Empire for
the Armenian Genocide. This chapter of German history is unknown to
most of the German population.
Wolfgang Gust was born in Hannover in 1935. He studied in Freiburg,
Bonn, Hamburg and Toulouse.
>From 1965 to 1966 he was Economic Editor then Political Editor of the
News magazine ‘Der Spiegel’. He ran Spiegel’s office in Paris from
1970 to 1976 and it was here that Gust learnt about the tragic fate
of the Armenians for the first time. In 1992 a three part article
appeared in the Spiegel magazine written by Wolfgang Gust about the
war in Mountainous Karabakh and the Armenian Genocide. For the first
time ever, an authoritative German magazine had reported in detail
the events of the Armenian Genocide. This sensational article aroused
angry protest within the Turkish community in Germany and protests
took place outside the Hamburg editorial offices of Spiegel. Despite
countless threats from fanatical Turkish nationalists Wolfgang Gust
intensified his work to find out the truth surrounding the History
of the Armenian Genocide. In 1993 his first book was published: ‘The
Armenian Genocide – The Tragedy of the Oldest Christian Nation’. It
was voted as one of the best ten books of the month and in 2002. The
Armenian translation was published in Yerevan.
After Wolfgang Gust went into retirement in 1993 he continued his
assessment of the German documents and correspondence concerning the
Genocide. In many important articles published in leading Journals
and Quarterly’s, Gust examined the extent of German responsibility for
the Armenian Genocide. Due to Wolfangs Gust research the manipulation
of the documents published by Joannes Lipius in his work ‘Germany
and Armenian ‘in 1919 were discovered. By referring to the original
documents he was able to deliver evidence which showed that the
German Government by the end of the First World War had tried to
cover up their responsibility for the crimes committed. From the 444
German Foreign Office documents published by Lepsius just after the
end of the war in 1919, it is clear that Genocide had indeed taken
place. However, documents which could have placed responsibility on
Germany were either manipulated or not published.
Thanks to the work of Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust these German Documents
were made accessible to Historians and the general public. Prof.
Vahakn N. Dadrian wrote about the significance of these documents as
follows: "As I keep emphasizing in my writings and lectures over and
over again, noc corupus od documents, including the holdings of U.S.
National Archives can be compared in terms of substantiveness,
authenticity an overall value to that associated with the holdings
of the German state archives." A large number of the documents have
already been translated into English.
>From the beginning Wolfgang Gust´s goal was to ensure the widest
possible access to the documents and to raise public awareness. This
has been possible through the internet. The publication of
these documents is seen by Gust as the first part of a long-term
comprehensive documentation project. ‘Our long-term goal is to complete
in time for the 100th Anniversary of the Genocide that is 24th April
2015, the publication on our internet platform of all the important
State files regarding the Armenian Genocide.’
–Boundary_(ID_C0NhJPFlB8dqCfr9nRYFpw) —