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Description
Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds. On Wednesday, October 30, Armenians were massacred in Erzurum and the surrounding Armenian villages. American journalist William Sachtleben happened to be in Erzurum at that time, investigating the disappearance of American cyclist Frank Lenz. During the massacre Sachtleben was in the American mission building, where over 200 Armenians fled for protection. Sachtleben witnessed the aftermath of the massacre; he took photographs of the victims in the Armenian Cemetery and wrote three lengthy and detailed letters about the massacre that were published, unsigned and attributed to an Occasional Correspondent, in the London Times on November 16, 27 and December 9. In the Nov. 16 letter he wrote: "Saturday, Nov. 2...I went with one of the cavasses of the English Legation, a soldier, my interpreter, and a photographer (Armenian) to the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery. The municipality had sent down a number of bodies, friends had brought more, and a horrible sight met my eyes. Along the wall on the north in a row 20ft. wide and 150ft. long, lay 321 dead bodies of the massacred Armenians..." In the Times Nov. 27 letter, Sachtleben wrote: "The number of houses of Armenians in Erzerum is about 2,000...Of these 2,000 houses, about 1,500 to 1,800 are completely emptied of their contents. Many families, formerly well-to-do, are now completely in poverty, having lost all their goods in the shops and all their household articles as well..." Armenian house with broken windows after the October 30th massacre in Erzurum. The house fronts the street with an adjoining wall enclosing the yard to the left.
Type
image
Format
b&w nitrate negative
Identifier
uclamss_1841_0319 ark:/21198/zz002hfsgg
Subject
Dwellings--Turkey--Erzurum Destruction & pillage Armenia--History--1801-1900 Armenian massacres, 1894-1896--Turkey--Erzurum
Source
Sachtleben (William Lewis) Papers. Collection 1841 Sachtleben (William) Images of Armenian Massacre
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