Categories: History

Repressions in Zangezur, 1920 – The Secret Order of the 11th Red Army

Below is the secret order of the command of the 28th division of the 11th Red Army regarding the implementation of repressions in Zangezur.

“Proceeding from the uprising that broke out in Zangezur and is now spreading every day, as well as due to the danger of the uprising’s spread to Nagorno-Karabakh, declare martial law in Nakhichevan, Zangezur, and the area of Shushi.

Shoot people who take part in propaganda on the spot without trial.

It is forbidden to be on the streets without a pass after 20:00.

Head of the Cheka No. 2

Strengthen the propaganda line in Zangezur so that it would be possible to reveal propagandist Dashnaks and instigators of the uprising. Revealed persons are to be eliminated without remorse, judgment, and sentence.

Head of Registration Committee

Inquire about the control of Engelyurt. Are Armenian regular units participating in the uprising? And find out whether Nzhdeh’s gangs have been sent by Armenia in order to mobilize the local population to instigate an uprising. Strengthen propaganda and find out the strength of Nzhdeh gangsters and their armament. Carry out terror against Nzhdeh and his officers.

The head of the division Nesterovsky. Deputy Military Commissioner Saran. Chief of Staff Division Frolov. October 14, 1920.”

David Fidanyan

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

The Vilgort Cup: A Silver Masterpiece of Cilician Armenia (c. 1150–1159 A.D.)

A Fragment That Traveled Across Continents The gilt-silver medallion shown above — two richly dressed…

14 hours ago

Hannibal and Artaxias the Great: The Carthaginian General Who Helped Build the “Armenian Carthage”

Few episodes in ancient Armenian history capture the imagination quite like the tradition that Hannibal…

6 days ago

The Priestess of the Kingdom of Van: A 9th-Century BC Bronze Figurine in the British Museum

Five angles of one small bronze figure — and what emerges is not an abstract…

2 weeks ago

The Winged Sun and the Armenian Tiara: Royal Symbolism of the Orontid (Yervanduni) Kingdom of Commagene, 163 BC – 72 AD

Introduction Among the successor states that emerged from the fragmentation of the Achaemenid-derived Orontid (Armenian:…

2 weeks ago

A Bronze Age Vessel from Gardman: Solar Symbolism, the Sun-Cross, and the Sacred Landscape of Ancient Armenia

Article based on the explanations and interpretive observations of Angela Terian, with additional archaeological and…

3 weeks ago

Rewriting the Caucasus: A Documented Look at Azerbaijan’s Historical Revisionism Regarding Armenia

Lenin: Soviet nationalities policy, Azerbaijan SSR founded 1920, Stalin: Constitution and census fix the ethnonym…

3 weeks ago