The Role of Armenian Women During the Genocide

The history of the humanitarian relief effort in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide is closely connected with the stories of women who played a crucial role in saving thousands from illness and starvation by establishing orphanages, shelters and hospitals and caring for survivors during one of the darkest chapters in Armenian history. Here, Dr. Khatchig Mouradian examines the stories of just a few of these women, shining a light on one of the most important but understudied aspects of the Armenian Genocide.

Inspired by the AGBU WebTalks video "The Role of Armenian Women During the Genocide", The Shoah Foundation created this lesson plan for the students to study Armenian women’s vital contributions during the Armenian Genocide. Through selecting testimony clips, creating found poems, and making video essays, students explore the roles of Armenian women in relief efforts, resistance, and cultural preservation, deepening their understanding of this historical period.

Originally published avril 2017.

About the speaker

Khatchig Mouradian

Dr. Khatchig Mouradian is a visiting professor at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) at Columbia University. He has taught courses on imperialism, mass violence, human rights, concentration camps, urban space and conflict in the Middle East, and collective memory at Rutgers University, Worcester State University, and California State University-Fresno. He is the author of several articles and book chapters, including, most recently, “The Meskeneh Concentration Camp, 1915-1917: A case study of power, collaboration, and humanitarian resistance during the Armenian Genocide,” Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies, Vol. 24 (2015); and “Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916,” Études arméniennes contemporaines, Vol. 7 (2016).

Khatchig Mouradian