“From the Dardanelles to Palestine” – Memoirs of Sarkis Torossian

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute announced Sarkis Torrosian’s (1891 – August 17, 1954) book “From the Dardanelles to Palestine” as the Book of the Month.

The memoirs of Sarkis Torossian, an Armenian, an officer of the Ottoman army, are of exceptional importance. They have been translated into several languages, including Turkish.

The memoirs represent the odyssey of an Armenian officer of the Ottoman army who went through the chaos of WWI. The unexpected changes in events and people in the narrative of Sarkis Torossian present the history of the Armenian Genocide from a completely different perspective and make the memoirs interesting and exciting, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

The memoirs of Sarkis Torossian are not just the memoirs of an Armenian officer but a unique written monument and living evidence of the Armenian Genocide.

As a participant of the famous Battle of the Dardanelles, one of the bloodiest battles of WWI, Sarkis Torossian was awarded by the Ottoman government for his service. But at the same time, his relatives were deported and brutally killed by the same government.

The author was not an eyewitness to the Armenian Genocide, but he was the victim of one of the greatest crimes against humanity organized by the Ottoman government.

Recall that former president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in his response letter to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mentioned the personality and memoirs of Sarkis Torossian. In particular, he wrote:

“One of the participants in the Gallipoli battle was also an Armenian – an artilleryman in the Ottoman army captain Sarkis Torossian, an officer who faithfully defended and ensured the security of the empire and was awarded Ottoman military awards for his faithful service and deeds.

Meanwhile, the peak of the wave of mass pogroms and forced deportations planned and carried out by the Ottoman government against the Armenian people in the same year did not leave untouched even Sarkis Torossian.

Among the one and a half million Armenians who fell victim to the Genocide were his parents who were brutally murdered, and his sister died in the Syrian desert.”