NEW BOOK: DANISH WITNESS TO THE GENOCIDE

/new-book-danish-witness-to-the-genocide/
ISBN 978-87-7695-140-5

‘Danish Witnesses to the Armenian Genocide 1915’

The book 1915: Danske vidner til det armenske folkemord (1915:
Danish Witnesses to the Armenian Genocide) by author and journalist
Helle Schøler Kjær was released in November 2009 by publishing house
Vandkunsten.

Danish Witnesses, a creditable and easily readable book aimed at
educating the Danish public and government about the Armenian Genocide,
tells about the testimonies of three Danish witnesses to the massacres.

The book includes the accounts and diaries of the Danish missionary
Maria Jacobsen, who was stationed at Harpoot/Mezreh from 1907-19.

Jacobsen watched the persecution of Armenians and provided clandestine
relief up to 5,000 widows and orphans. The second Danish witness is
Karen Jeppe, who was stationed at Ourfa and later in Aleppo by the
German Orient mission. An entire chapter is devoted to her rescue and
resistance efforts. Another chapter is dedicated to the writings of
Danish envoy Carl Ellis Wandell, who wrote that the sole intention
of the deportations was to wipe out the Armenian nation from their
historic homeland.

There are a range of passages from Jacobsen´s diaries and Wandel´s
reports that describe the mass executions during the deportations-all
well organized and part of official state-sanctioned policy.

The majority of the source material for the book -valuable eye-witness
accounts and first-hand information-came from the Danish State
Archives, dutifully researched by the historian Matthias Bjørnlund.

U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s reports to the American government
are included, and correspond to the accounts of the three Danish
witnesses. Pages are displayed with photo materials and about the
background of World War I, the history of Armenia, and the trials and
few punishment of the perpetrators of this crime against humanity. The
main sources are Vahakn N. Dadrian, Taner Akcam, and Eric Zurcher,
as well as "The Turkish Military Tribunal’s Prosecution of the Authors
of the Armenian Genocide: Four Major Court-Martial Series." The last
chapter is about the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, and his acknowledgment about the crimes of the Young Turk
Party, the Committee of Union and Progress.

For more information on Danish Witnesses and
Vandkunsten, email info@forlagetvandkunsten.dk or visit