Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Survived the Great Massacres

II have been reading a lot about the Armenian Genocide in the hope of getting my mind around this awful event. This is one of the few accessible first hand accounts of the events. The story behind the book is interesting. It is by a refugee girl and was actually made into a silent film (only 20 or so minutes survive today). The gruesome details of the genocide are realistically documented, to the degree that it is hard to understand how anyone can be as inhumane as the perpetrators. My only complaint is that she seems to butter up the United States, maybe a bit too much. We may have saved a survivor or two but did little to prevent or stop the genocide. Part of my research was watching films on the internet and I need to comment on one which linked the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. The slogan is it was the first genocide of the twentieth century. That seems true but similarities to Hitler's atrocities seem a stretch. The Germans were much more organized, and the Turks simply wrote out orders with little thought to implementation. More important, I don't detect the same level of sexual violence in the German case. I know that women were persecuted but (with exception) the Germans failed to exhibit the schizophrenic misogyny of the Turks, Kurds and Chechens that is described in the book. The latter seemed to be hyper-sexual on one hand, but also seemed to hate the women they violated. To be frank, it reminded me more of ISIS than Nazi Germany.

This first person narrative is filled with horror. The bestial behaviors of the many, unleashed upon those perceived as undesirable, confirm that man, is, at heart, evil, capable of unspeakable cruelty. Racial or religious hatred unrestrained by law and order is all it takes for innocent lives to be engulfed in terror and death. The young author of this narrative was 14 years old when her happy existence in a large, prosperous Armenian family residing in Turkey was shattered by massacre, exile and brutality. She was forced to join hundreds of thousands of other Armenians on death marches that few survived, and was among thousands of other young girls torn from their families to be raped until they died or to be imprisoned in harems. As Christians surrounded by Muslims, Armenians were at times given the choice to convert to Islam or face terrible consequences. The terrible consequences often occurred whether or not Christians were willing to renounce their faith, which many refused to do, even when horrible death was the result. In the case of the Armenians, it was the Muslims who were the murderous oppressors. However, history is replete with examples of vicious hatred directed towards minorities no matter the religious practices of those whose lives are deemed worthless. And thus, infants can be impaled on bayonets, women and children can be bound together and burned alive or thrown into rivers or dashed to pieces off precipices, the starving and ill can be stabbed to death when they fall behind, and deadly sport can be made with little girls and young women. These are all scenes witnessed over and over by the young narrator, whose family was butchered in front of her eyes. When groups of people within a society become prey, and when the surprisingly fragile bands of civilization are weakened, then the most terrible part of man's nature is given full reign. This book is highly recommended. The future can only be ensured when the lessons of the past have been well learned.

Heart breaking but such valuable reading, freedom is not free, the blight of the Armenians and what they suffered should never be forgotten.

What a fantastic book. It should be required reading in high schools.

This book made me ashamed to be a human being. There were many times that I wanted to put the book down and just crawl into a hole. I can't even imagine going through half as much pain and suffering as Aurora did and still survive with any part my mind still intact. Thank you for informing and reminding the world of mans' inhumanity to man. Lest we forget!

Interesting book

Most have never heard of this brutal attempt by hate filled radical Muslims to eradicate an entire Nation simply because most were non-Muslim, Believers in Christ. 1.5 Million brutalized and annihilated. The book would make an epic movie...so sad, but so true. My heart was greatly moved in behalf of the Armenian people!

My 90 year old Armenian mom loved it! Read it cover to cover in less than a week. Her parents were orphaned during the genocide and says she now knows how they lived and suffered.

This story is almost unbelievable it's so horrendous...but I couldn't put it down and after googling many of the people and incidents in the story the book is factually correct. It's not an exceptionally well written book however that is its charm and you feel like you are talking to Aurora about her harrowing experiences.

Timely to read! It shows the TRUE face of Islam.

A must if you visit Armenia, a sad tale of man's inhumanity. Today this scenario is still happening in parts of the world such as Gaza and Mayanmar.

Rather a gruelling read , but pleased that I did as I had just returned from a holiday in Armenia & had seen this book in the Museum about the Armenian Holacaust

Amazing story