The Armenian Genocide Unit

Today we recognize that the mass murder committed against the Armenians by people at all levels of society in the Ottoman Empire in 1915–1916 constitutes genocide. It is important to note that the word genocide did not exist in 1915 and 1916. Therefore, the people in those years who experienced, participated in, witnessed, or read about what was happening to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire could not have applied the word or concept to those events. The word genocide does not appear in this unit’s primary source documents from that time, and we have avoided using it in our descriptions of the perspectives and understanding of those who lived at that time. Instead, we most often use words such as atrocity or massacre.

It is important to help students develop the understanding over the course of the unit that, while genocide certainly involves atrocities and massacres, the word itself connotes something more than that. Coined in 1944 by lawyer Raphael Lemkin, whose own thinking about the concept was deeply influenced by what happened to the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, genocide is defined as the attempt to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, or religious group. As students will learn in this unit, atrocities and massacres, unconscionable as they are, do not necessarily involve the attempt by the perpetrator to annihilate the targeted group, as such. This distinction is important, even as the moral depravity of all of these categories of violent injustice is without question.

For more about Lemkin and his role in both coining the term genocide and establishing the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, see the following Facing History & Ourselves resources:

• Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention: A three-lesson mini-unit that focuses on Lemkin’s life and impact on international law
• Raphael Lemkin: Watcher of the Sky (Introduction): A 12-minute video that tells the story of how Lemkin developed the term genocide
• Raphael Lemkin: Watcher of the Sky (Genocide Convention): A 12 minute video that focuses on Lemkin’s efforts to develop an international law to prevent and punish genocide

Although many of the measures taken by leaders of the Ottoman Empire described in this unit were directed specifically at Armenians, other non-Muslim minority populations within the empire, including Assyrians and Greeks, also faced deportation and murder before, during, and after World War I. Many of the choices and circumstances that led to the genocide of Armenians also contributed to the atrocities against Assyrians and Greeks. All three groups were Christian minorities that had lived for 2,000 years in the region before it was colonized by Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. By the turn of the 20th century, they had lived for centuries in a multireligious, multiethnic empire that was in decline and undergoing a transformation into a society dominated by one group, Turkish Muslims. At the same time, the histories of these three groups, their relationships to the Ottoman Empire and to surrounding lands, and the particular events and circumstances of their members’ deportation and murder are distinct. While this unit specifically focuses on the genocide of Armenians, we recognize the similar experiences and fates of Ottoman Assyrians and Greeks, and we honor the memory and legacy of lives from the groups that were lost or displaced.

The Armenian Genocide unit offers an honest account of events during this period, including depictions of terror and individual and collective acts of violence. Some students may find the historical descriptions and firsthand accounts emotionally challenging: we can’t emphasize enough the importance of previewing the readings and videos in this curriculum to make sure they are appropriate for your students.

We urge teachers to create space for students to have a range of reactions and emotions as they engage with the content of this unit. This might include time for silent reflection or writing in journals, as well as structured discussions to help students process content together. Some students will not want to share their reactions to emotionally challenging content in class, and teachers should respect that in class discussions. For their learning and emotional growth, it is crucial to allow for a variety of student responses, or none at all, to emotionally challenging content.

It is also important to note that our experience suggests it is often problematic to use graphic images or films without context or preparation or to attempt to use simulations to help students understand aspects of this history. Such resources and activities can traumatize some students, desensitize others, or trivialize the history; therefore, we recommend that educators not engage in these types of activities.

One way to help classroom communities establish shared norms is by discussing them openly through a process called contracting. Some teachers already customarily create classroom contracts with their students at the start of each course. If you do not typically do so, we recommend that before beginning your class’s journey through this Facing History unit, you engage the students in the process of creating one. Contracts typically include several clearly defined rules or expectations for participation, and consequences for those who do not fulfill their obligations as members of the learning community. Any contract created collaboratively by students and the teacher together should be consistent with the classroom rules already established by the teacher.

We encourage you to frequently remind your students that, regardless of the classroom strategy you are using or the topic you are addressing, it is essential that their participation honors the contract they helped create and follows your own classroom rules. In addition, we strongly recommend that you post the contract in a prominent location in your classroom and that when students stray from the guidelines set forth in the contract you refer to the specific language in the contract when you redirect them. You might find that when one student strays from the guidelines of the contract, other students will respond by citing the specific expectations listed in the contract.

As you support students in learning about the Armenian Genocide, it is important to guide them to distinguish between what is particular and what is universal about this moment in the past. While historical events are all products of their unique times, places, and circumstances, they also often connect to universal themes and patterns in history and human behavior. Identifying these connections can help students reach a deeper understanding of themselves, their experiences, and the world they live in today.

Distinguishing between the particular and the universal can also help students avoid making oversimplified comparisons between historical events. The history of the Armenian Genocide does not provide a template for understanding how another genocide or atrocity occurred in history, even as certain universal human behaviors may play roles in both.

Finally, it is also crucial to help students avoid using this history to make generalizations about specific religious and national groups. In other words, students should be strongly discouraged from seeing the history of the Armenian Genocide as a lesson about all Turks, all Muslims, all Armenians, or all Americans.

Maps are an invaluable tool for teaching about the Armenian Genocide since many students may not be familiar with the geography of the part of the world (including parts of modern-day Türkiye, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran) where events took place. If possible, we recommend displaying a map of this part of the world in your classroom for easy reference.

The teacher-facing handout, Mapping the Armenian Genocide: Geography, Borders, and Movement, outlines the geography referenced throughout the unit. The materials for this unit include three maps that you can project or share digitally with the class to help them visualize key locations referenced in the lessons. 

• Map #1: Regional Overview: The Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus 
• Map #2: Map of the Balkan Peninsula and Western Anatolia
• Map #3: Map of Eastern Anatolia, the Southern Caucasus, and the Syrian Desert

Several individual lessons include Teaching Notes that list the relevant specific geographic locations and link to the maps (from the list above) that students can use to find them.