Tens of thousands of Armenian children became victims of the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Turkish government. The surviving children were orphaned, and some of them, having lost touch with their native environment, lost their Armenian identity.
The state shelters created by the Turkish government were used for enforcing and Islamizing Armenian orphans. After the Armenian Genocide, many Armenian and international organizations, as well as individuals began to rescue the surviving Armenian children.
Thus, an unprecedented rescue mission began, the purpose of which was to save thousands of Turkish-born and Islamized Armenian children and women. The American Committee for Relief in the Near East (Amerkom) played a leading role in this matter.
The presented 17 photographs were recently discovered by the efforts of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in the possession of a Yerevan family. These photos represent the activities of Amerkom in Alexandropol (now Gyumri), Palestine, and Lebanon. The photos have a rightful place in the world chronicle of humanitarian activities.
