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Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide
A masterful account of the assassins who hunted down the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.
In 1921, a tightly knit band of killers set out to avenge the deaths of almost one million victims of the Armenian Genocide. They were a humble an accountant, a life insurance salesman, a newspaper editor, an engineering student, and a diplomat. Together they formed one of the most effective assassination squads in history. They named their operation Nemesis, after the Greek goddess of retribution. The assassins were survivors, men defined by the massive tragedy that had devastated their people. With operatives on three continents, the Nemesis team killed six major Turkish leaders in Berlin, Constantinople, Tiflis, and Rome, only to disband and suddenly disappear. The story of this secret operation has never been fully told, until now.
Eric Bogosian goes beyond simply telling the story of this cadre of Armenian assassins by setting the killings in the context of Ottoman and Armenian history, as well as showing in vivid color the era's history, rife with political fighting and massacres. Casting fresh light on one of the great crimes of the twentieth century and one of history's most remarkable acts of vengeance, Bogosian draws upon years of research and newly uncovered evidence. Operation Nemesis is the result -- both a riveting read and a profound examination of evil, revenge, and the costs of violence.
In 1921, a tightly knit band of killers set out to avenge the deaths of almost one million victims of the Armenian Genocide. They were a humble an accountant, a life insurance salesman, a newspaper editor, an engineering student, and a diplomat. Together they formed one of the most effective assassination squads in history. They named their operation Nemesis, after the Greek goddess of retribution. The assassins were survivors, men defined by the massive tragedy that had devastated their people. With operatives on three continents, the Nemesis team killed six major Turkish leaders in Berlin, Constantinople, Tiflis, and Rome, only to disband and suddenly disappear. The story of this secret operation has never been fully told, until now.
Eric Bogosian goes beyond simply telling the story of this cadre of Armenian assassins by setting the killings in the context of Ottoman and Armenian history, as well as showing in vivid color the era's history, rife with political fighting and massacres. Casting fresh light on one of the great crimes of the twentieth century and one of history's most remarkable acts of vengeance, Bogosian draws upon years of research and newly uncovered evidence. Operation Nemesis is the result -- both a riveting read and a profound examination of evil, revenge, and the costs of violence.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2015
205 people are currently reading
3198 people want to read
About the author
Eric Bogosian
42 books134 followersEric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His numerous plays include Talk Radio (1987) and subUrbia (1994), which were adapted to film by Oliver Stone and Richard Linklater, respectively, with Bogosian starring in the former.
Bogosian has appeared in plays, films, and television series throughout his career. His television roles include Captain Danny Ross in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2006–2010), Lawrence Boyd on Billions (2017–2018), and Gil Eavis on Succession (since 2018). He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' film Uncut Gems (2019). He has also been involved in New York City ballet production, and has written several novels as well as the historical nonfiction Operation Nemesis (2015).
Bogosian has appeared in plays, films, and television series throughout his career. His television roles include Captain Danny Ross in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2006–2010), Lawrence Boyd on Billions (2017–2018), and Gil Eavis on Succession (since 2018). He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' film Uncut Gems (2019). He has also been involved in New York City ballet production, and has written several novels as well as the historical nonfiction Operation Nemesis (2015).
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December 20, 2021
“Anticipating [Talat Pasha’s] path, the assassin jogged across Hardenbergstrasse, then abruptly turned and strode back toward his quarry. The young Armenian found himself coming face-to-face with the heavyset Turk. His temples throbbing with excitement, [Soghomon] Tehlirian focused on his breathing, slowing it, controlling it. This was no time to fall to pieces. Tehlirian searched Talat’s eyes as the two men passed each other…As Tehlirian stepped past Talat, the larger man adjusted his stride, slowing just slightly. The young soldier drew his pistol from his waistband, raised it to the nape of Talat’s broad neck, and squeezed the trigger. The victim probably never heard the gun fire…”
- Eric Bogosian, Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide
Between 1915 and 1917, in one of history’s great underacknowledged tragedies, roughly 1.5 million Armenians were killed as they were driven from their homelands in eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire. Beyond the outright killings and massacres, the Armenian Genocide was marked by forced marches into the deserts, robbery, and sexual assault. Despite being one of the largest massed murders on record, it is not widely known or discussed.
Part of this is timing. The Armenian Genocide occurred in the midst of the world’s then-deadliest conflict. Millions of soldiers were killed, and tens of millions wounded. Civilian deaths attributable to the war also numbered as high as ten million or more. Large parts of Europe were flattened. In the wake of all this misery came the Spanish Flu, an epidemic that infected one-third of the world’s population, and killed as many as fifty million people. Amid such destruction, in numbers that defy comprehension, it is perhaps not entirely surprising that the near annihilation of the Ottoman’s Christian Armenians should have been lost in the deluge.
Another reason this event is often forgotten, however, is that the Ottomans – and later Turkey – wanted it this way. The Armenian slaughter has been denied, it has been understated, and it has been rationalized. As the Republic of Turkey became an important ally in the years following the First World War, western countries abetted this act of erasure.
Among those who did not forget were the survivors. A small group, a cell of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, took it upon themselves to seek vengeance and – in so doing – force remembrance. Their purpose was to assassinate the Ottoman officials they held responsible for the genocide. They named themselves after the Greek god of retribution.
Eric Bogosian’s Operation Nemesis tells their story.
***
Bogosian structures Operation Nemesis under the assumption – correct in my case – that most readers probably don’t know a lot about the Armenians, the Ottomans, or the centuries’ worth of shared history that led to the attempted eradication of the Armenian people.
The book starts with a sharp hook, a well-narrated set-piece describing the Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian’s killing of Talat Pasha on a street in Berlin. The former minister of the interior and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Talat is widely accused of being the chief perpetrator of the Armenian Genocide. After the First World War, he was actually convicted in absentia of war crimes, and sentenced to death. Tehlirian, of course, was not acting as an arm of any court when he shot Talat. He was a self-chosen representative of the dead.
Once Bogosian has gotten your attention with his prologue, he circles back to start the tale at the beginning, many hundreds of years before the lives of Talat and Tehlirian intersected for a brief, violent minute. Embodying a user-friendly framework, Operation Nemesis is divided into three parts.
Much of Part I is contextual, and covers the long history of the Armenians, how they were conquered and subsumed into the Ottoman Empire, how they coexisted with Muslims, and how the late nineteenth and early twentieth century ground that coexistence into dust. As someone who has a working knowledge of this region, but without much depth, I found Bogosian’s overview extremely clear and helpful.
With the background laid, Bogosian describes the genocide itself. His handling is detailed, visceral, and brimming with passion. Unlike the Holocaust, which no mainstream historian would dispute today, there are modern scholars who are quite willing to accept the Turkish position. Knowing this, Bogosian makes heavy use of first-person testimonies, telling you on the page – without forcing the reader to go to the endnotes – where the evidence came from.
Part II of Operation Nemesis covers the assassination plot. While the group is credited with killing seven men, Bogosian devotes most of his time to Tehlirian and Talat. Not only was Talat the chief target, but his death resulted in Tehlirian being put on trial. Bogosian covers this fascinating spectacle in depth, showing how Tehlirian manufactured a sympathetic portrait that effectively substituted the Ottoman Empire as the defendant. The Germans, for their part, were more than happy to allow Tehlirian to shift all the blame to Talat and his fellows, for it allowed them to escape the implication – and probably the reality – that they provided certain assistance to the Ottomans in their deadly efforts.
The third and final part of Operation Nemesis discusses the group’s lesser-known missions, and also traces the career of Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, a successful general who became the first president of the Republic of Turkey. Ataturk is a captivating figure, and looms large over Turkey’s history. According to Bogosian, Ataturk was pivotal in the eventual cover-up of the genocide. Whether Ataturk personally believed it when he said the Armenian deportations were “a shameful act,” his nationalist vision presented a version of history in which the Armenians – if they were mentioned at all – were shown as insurgents and terrorists, rather than indigenous victims of empire. This view was so important to Turkey that they even brought pressure to bear on Hollywood to stop a motion picture about the genocide.
***
The main compliment that I can give Operation Nemesis is that it held my attention equally through all three sections. Even when there was a lull in the action, there was never a lull in the quality of the writing. It was simply absorbing, filled with powerful sequences, rich characterizations, and effortless prose.
***
Anyone wishing to discredit Operation Nemesis can certainly find superficial ammunition.
First, Bogosian is not a professional historian. He is an actor and playwright who first became interested in this material because his grandfather was a survivor of the genocide. Initially, Bogosian thought he would write a screenplay, a project that later turned into this book.
History, though, is not rocketry or neurosurgery. Anyone can do it, given effort, discipline, and curiosity. Having read Bogosian’s source notes, I believe he’s done the necessary work. The research is sound, and his conclusions can’t be ignored just because he starred in both Billions and Succession.
Second, Bogosian is an Armenian-American with direct family ties to the genocide. Even so, the proposition that Bogosian is impossibly biased because of his heritage is logically flawed and self-defeating. The Turks are also biased in the sense that they do not want to be indicted as a nation for “cleansing” a religious minority. The interpretation of facts is open to all kinds of subjectivity. Nevertheless, the disappearance of over a million people from the face of the earth is something you can’t really dismiss with a wave of the hand. To paraphrase Shakespeare in Richard III: You can say they are not slain, but dead they are.
***
With that said, Bogosian is not impartial, nor does he pretend to be. But he’s smart, compassionate, and sympathetic to the shared conditions of humanity. This is not so much a polemical attack as a meditation. Bogosian struggles with notions of justice and law, contemplating how they are similar, even related, but certainly not the same. Without law, it is said, there can be no justice. For the Armenians, though, the law provided no justice, and so some turned to violence, not simply as an act of ultimate judgment, but in defiance of their own disappearance from both past and present. The Nemesis killings did not alter the course of the Armenian future, yet their retribution certainly helped to preserve the memory of something that many wanted to forget, and that many have pretended never happened at all.
In the end, it seems that Bogosian both condones and is made uncomfortable by the assassinations. To me, that’s a pretty appropriate spot to land. At the very least, he acknowledges that we are in a gray and murky ethical realm, where nothing is more false than moral absolutes. When I closed this book, I did not feel the need to draw a conclusion. Instead, I sensed a call to remember and to reflect.
- Eric Bogosian, Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide
Between 1915 and 1917, in one of history’s great underacknowledged tragedies, roughly 1.5 million Armenians were killed as they were driven from their homelands in eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire. Beyond the outright killings and massacres, the Armenian Genocide was marked by forced marches into the deserts, robbery, and sexual assault. Despite being one of the largest massed murders on record, it is not widely known or discussed.
Part of this is timing. The Armenian Genocide occurred in the midst of the world’s then-deadliest conflict. Millions of soldiers were killed, and tens of millions wounded. Civilian deaths attributable to the war also numbered as high as ten million or more. Large parts of Europe were flattened. In the wake of all this misery came the Spanish Flu, an epidemic that infected one-third of the world’s population, and killed as many as fifty million people. Amid such destruction, in numbers that defy comprehension, it is perhaps not entirely surprising that the near annihilation of the Ottoman’s Christian Armenians should have been lost in the deluge.
Another reason this event is often forgotten, however, is that the Ottomans – and later Turkey – wanted it this way. The Armenian slaughter has been denied, it has been understated, and it has been rationalized. As the Republic of Turkey became an important ally in the years following the First World War, western countries abetted this act of erasure.
Among those who did not forget were the survivors. A small group, a cell of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, took it upon themselves to seek vengeance and – in so doing – force remembrance. Their purpose was to assassinate the Ottoman officials they held responsible for the genocide. They named themselves after the Greek god of retribution.
Eric Bogosian’s Operation Nemesis tells their story.
***
Bogosian structures Operation Nemesis under the assumption – correct in my case – that most readers probably don’t know a lot about the Armenians, the Ottomans, or the centuries’ worth of shared history that led to the attempted eradication of the Armenian people.
The book starts with a sharp hook, a well-narrated set-piece describing the Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian’s killing of Talat Pasha on a street in Berlin. The former minister of the interior and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Talat is widely accused of being the chief perpetrator of the Armenian Genocide. After the First World War, he was actually convicted in absentia of war crimes, and sentenced to death. Tehlirian, of course, was not acting as an arm of any court when he shot Talat. He was a self-chosen representative of the dead.
Once Bogosian has gotten your attention with his prologue, he circles back to start the tale at the beginning, many hundreds of years before the lives of Talat and Tehlirian intersected for a brief, violent minute. Embodying a user-friendly framework, Operation Nemesis is divided into three parts.
Much of Part I is contextual, and covers the long history of the Armenians, how they were conquered and subsumed into the Ottoman Empire, how they coexisted with Muslims, and how the late nineteenth and early twentieth century ground that coexistence into dust. As someone who has a working knowledge of this region, but without much depth, I found Bogosian’s overview extremely clear and helpful.
With the background laid, Bogosian describes the genocide itself. His handling is detailed, visceral, and brimming with passion. Unlike the Holocaust, which no mainstream historian would dispute today, there are modern scholars who are quite willing to accept the Turkish position. Knowing this, Bogosian makes heavy use of first-person testimonies, telling you on the page – without forcing the reader to go to the endnotes – where the evidence came from.
Part II of Operation Nemesis covers the assassination plot. While the group is credited with killing seven men, Bogosian devotes most of his time to Tehlirian and Talat. Not only was Talat the chief target, but his death resulted in Tehlirian being put on trial. Bogosian covers this fascinating spectacle in depth, showing how Tehlirian manufactured a sympathetic portrait that effectively substituted the Ottoman Empire as the defendant. The Germans, for their part, were more than happy to allow Tehlirian to shift all the blame to Talat and his fellows, for it allowed them to escape the implication – and probably the reality – that they provided certain assistance to the Ottomans in their deadly efforts.
The third and final part of Operation Nemesis discusses the group’s lesser-known missions, and also traces the career of Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, a successful general who became the first president of the Republic of Turkey. Ataturk is a captivating figure, and looms large over Turkey’s history. According to Bogosian, Ataturk was pivotal in the eventual cover-up of the genocide. Whether Ataturk personally believed it when he said the Armenian deportations were “a shameful act,” his nationalist vision presented a version of history in which the Armenians – if they were mentioned at all – were shown as insurgents and terrorists, rather than indigenous victims of empire. This view was so important to Turkey that they even brought pressure to bear on Hollywood to stop a motion picture about the genocide.
***
The main compliment that I can give Operation Nemesis is that it held my attention equally through all three sections. Even when there was a lull in the action, there was never a lull in the quality of the writing. It was simply absorbing, filled with powerful sequences, rich characterizations, and effortless prose.
***
Anyone wishing to discredit Operation Nemesis can certainly find superficial ammunition.
First, Bogosian is not a professional historian. He is an actor and playwright who first became interested in this material because his grandfather was a survivor of the genocide. Initially, Bogosian thought he would write a screenplay, a project that later turned into this book.
History, though, is not rocketry or neurosurgery. Anyone can do it, given effort, discipline, and curiosity. Having read Bogosian’s source notes, I believe he’s done the necessary work. The research is sound, and his conclusions can’t be ignored just because he starred in both Billions and Succession.
Second, Bogosian is an Armenian-American with direct family ties to the genocide. Even so, the proposition that Bogosian is impossibly biased because of his heritage is logically flawed and self-defeating. The Turks are also biased in the sense that they do not want to be indicted as a nation for “cleansing” a religious minority. The interpretation of facts is open to all kinds of subjectivity. Nevertheless, the disappearance of over a million people from the face of the earth is something you can’t really dismiss with a wave of the hand. To paraphrase Shakespeare in Richard III: You can say they are not slain, but dead they are.
***
With that said, Bogosian is not impartial, nor does he pretend to be. But he’s smart, compassionate, and sympathetic to the shared conditions of humanity. This is not so much a polemical attack as a meditation. Bogosian struggles with notions of justice and law, contemplating how they are similar, even related, but certainly not the same. Without law, it is said, there can be no justice. For the Armenians, though, the law provided no justice, and so some turned to violence, not simply as an act of ultimate judgment, but in defiance of their own disappearance from both past and present. The Nemesis killings did not alter the course of the Armenian future, yet their retribution certainly helped to preserve the memory of something that many wanted to forget, and that many have pretended never happened at all.
In the end, it seems that Bogosian both condones and is made uncomfortable by the assassinations. To me, that’s a pretty appropriate spot to land. At the very least, he acknowledges that we are in a gray and murky ethical realm, where nothing is more false than moral absolutes. When I closed this book, I did not feel the need to draw a conclusion. Instead, I sensed a call to remember and to reflect.
May 5, 2015
This is a fascinating book that was timely published the same year as the Centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I know so little about the Genocide myself and I think most Americans are in the same boat. This book tells the story of a small group of Armenians after the Genocide who secretly planned and carried out assassination of key Turkish leaders who orchestrated the genocide. I was surprised that such an interesting story has received so little attention! I felt it was like a real life early twentieth century version of Jason Bourne. The story is incredible enough that after finishing the book I hunger to read more on Operation Nemesis. I think if they made a film of this story it would be a blockbuster.
This book was helpful in providing the background of the Armenian genocide itself. I think it was wise that the author did that given how most readers know little much of Turkish murder of Armenians. It was emotional for me to see the account of how innocent women and children were deceptively led on a caravan to be murdered. It was very hard to go through this portion of the book. I don’t even know how the Armenians are still around with the way the Turks systematically went about killing Armenians. It is nothing short of a miracle from God.
Through this book I learned about a group who called itself the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) which was a group of politically radical Armenians that came about in the late 1800s. After World War one was over they were the ones who set in motion Operation Nemesis. Much of the book focused on the first mission of Operation Nemesis. Their target was Mehmed Talaat Pasha who was one of three de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire who had escaped from the Allies and was in not so secret hiding in Germany. Although he was found guilty and sentenced to death in absentia, German officials failed to work with the Allies to have him handed over even though British Intelligence knew exactly where Pasha was. Strangely enough, they did not share this information to the Armenians for a variety of reasons. The book also gives a surprising amount of biographical information of the Assassin named Soghomon Tehlirian. He was an Armenian who lost his family from the genocide while he was away serving in the Russian Army against the Ottomans. Through this book I learned that the ARF also wanted to exploit the assassination strategically to bring international attention to the Armenian genocide. Tehlirian was to deliberately stay in the premise after his killing in order to be arrested and hopefully share his testimony of his life. I learned from this book that Tehlirian fabricated a lot of lies in his account and the court including the Judge went easy on him and in the end it became more of a trial of Pasha than it was for his murderer. There was a lot of sympathies from the international press as well for Tehlirian in light of the context of the genocide that he was a victim of.
This book in the end was not just an account of history a hundred years ago. One of the more chilling part of the books is the ending in which the author gives us an account as to how far the Turkish government is willing to go to cover up the Genocide. It ranges from keeping government archives closed to researchers, outlandish lies and even changing the whole Turkish alphabet and written language as to make reading and translation of pre-World War One document difficult for most Turkish researchers. Over all a good book that I highly recommend the book.
This book was helpful in providing the background of the Armenian genocide itself. I think it was wise that the author did that given how most readers know little much of Turkish murder of Armenians. It was emotional for me to see the account of how innocent women and children were deceptively led on a caravan to be murdered. It was very hard to go through this portion of the book. I don’t even know how the Armenians are still around with the way the Turks systematically went about killing Armenians. It is nothing short of a miracle from God.
Through this book I learned about a group who called itself the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) which was a group of politically radical Armenians that came about in the late 1800s. After World War one was over they were the ones who set in motion Operation Nemesis. Much of the book focused on the first mission of Operation Nemesis. Their target was Mehmed Talaat Pasha who was one of three de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire who had escaped from the Allies and was in not so secret hiding in Germany. Although he was found guilty and sentenced to death in absentia, German officials failed to work with the Allies to have him handed over even though British Intelligence knew exactly where Pasha was. Strangely enough, they did not share this information to the Armenians for a variety of reasons. The book also gives a surprising amount of biographical information of the Assassin named Soghomon Tehlirian. He was an Armenian who lost his family from the genocide while he was away serving in the Russian Army against the Ottomans. Through this book I learned that the ARF also wanted to exploit the assassination strategically to bring international attention to the Armenian genocide. Tehlirian was to deliberately stay in the premise after his killing in order to be arrested and hopefully share his testimony of his life. I learned from this book that Tehlirian fabricated a lot of lies in his account and the court including the Judge went easy on him and in the end it became more of a trial of Pasha than it was for his murderer. There was a lot of sympathies from the international press as well for Tehlirian in light of the context of the genocide that he was a victim of.
This book in the end was not just an account of history a hundred years ago. One of the more chilling part of the books is the ending in which the author gives us an account as to how far the Turkish government is willing to go to cover up the Genocide. It ranges from keeping government archives closed to researchers, outlandish lies and even changing the whole Turkish alphabet and written language as to make reading and translation of pre-World War One document difficult for most Turkish researchers. Over all a good book that I highly recommend the book.
August 14, 2015
Tens of thousands of dogs ran loose in the streets of Constantinople, defecating in the parks and snapping at people. The Young Turks decided to solve the problem with an eye towards improving their political parties' popularity and public image.
Dogcatchers were dispatched, and the dogs of Constantinople were captured one by one and locked in cages. The cages were packed and then shipped off to a deserted island, Hayirsiz Ada, one of the Prince's islands lying just off the coast, a short boat ride from the city and a favored tourist destination today. The cages were brought on shore and opened, and some eighty thousand dogs were set loose on the island, where, lacking food, the strong cannibalized the weak until those that remained simply starved to death. Supposedly, ships crossing the Sea of Marmara could hear their plaintive howls miles away. In response an American, Alice Washburn Manning, came to Turkey and founded a organization for the prevention of cruelty to animals.
The approach of the Young Turks to the problem was simple and straightforward. A problem presented itself and a simple solution was found. The Armenian "problem" was dealt with in a similar but more horrifying and evil manner. The Young Turks believed "in reality there cannot be a common home and fatherland for two different people.... The new civilization will be created by the Turkish race."
And so, one of the first and most successful government bureaucracy ordered genocides began as WWI distracted the eyes of the world. Atrocities against the Armenian race in the Ottoman empire/Turkey were publicized and drew outcry from the civilized world in the years leading up to WWI. Missionaries and diplomats protested and brought pressure to bear against crimes against humanity directed at eradicating the Armenians. But, with WWI as cover the Turkish government took steps to conceal their actions and destroyed records as they went along while murdering millions and creating a template for Nazi Germany to follow with their "Jewish problem." 100 years ago millions of Armenians lived in Turkey. Today a few hundred thousand survive.
The Turks used every means of extermination the Nazis did except the gas chambers. Economic sanctions isolated the Armenians. Propaganda spoke of them as lesser human beings to the common folks so they could look the other way or even help kill them and not feel bad about it. Armenian families were marched out of their homes by thousands and deported to what they were told were going to be cities of safety. Instead most of them were systematically murdered. A few thousands made it to concentration camps out near the desert in the middle of nowhere where they were killed. Cities were emptied. Sections of towns destroyed and looted. Their property was taken by anyone with the strength to take it. Before being killing they were frequently forced at gun point or bayonet to strip naked. Most of the Turks were Muslims and they did not believe they could touch a dead body so they had them strip before they murdered them so they could sell their clothes.
One of our main characters talks about the orphan children who managed to run away. Many of them who had seen their parents murdered in front of them. Some had escaped the death marches. Starving mothers would reach distant villages and abandon their children in the streets hoping for the best. The children frequently would go wild and band together in packs avoiding adults, always on the move living by scavenging whatever they could find. Thousands of little boys, eight to twelve years old were trying to find their ways back to their villages. Not knowing that if they ever made it back that it was unlikely any of their family or fellow Armenians would be there to help them.
As a result of this holocaust and the upheaval of WWI defeat many of the leaders of the Young Turks in power fled the country while a few rallied the country and solidified their power into what would become modern Turkey. Of these leaders in hiding in other countries several were assassinated in revenge for their genocide by survivors. This book focus on one of the first and most famous of these killings and their impact.
To this day Turkey does not take responsibility for the millions of people they slaughtered. The cover up efforts have been significant. Official Turkish history doesn't mention the Armenians who lived within the borders of Turkey for thousands of years. Some official government sponsored history states that Armenians never existed at all while others talk about massacres by the Armenians against the Turks during WWI. The history museum in the Turkish capitol has a section that mentions Armenians but only in the context of massacres it claims Armenians perpetrated against Turks. Not only was history re-written, but the language was changed in 1929 with a new alphabet and new Turkish sounding names for many cities known by classic names for thousands of year(on example Constantinople was changed to Istanbul). Turks today cannot read anything written before 1929 and even many scholars cannot read the old historical documents from before 1929. Many of these changes where encouraged and driven into place by The father of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, who took over the military after WWI and managed to preserve what the Young Turks started. A fatherland for Turks without the "stain" of the unwanted Armenian race. In part because of the need for oil and allies in the Middle East the west made peace with Turkey and didn't impose justice in their lands like they did in Germany after WWII. Turkey to this day still resists giving credence to their genocidal heritage despite the testimony of survivors and eyewitness. For most Armenians, there was never any justice for them like the Jews had for their holocaust (as little justice as anyone can have for such horrors). The secret group of assassins detailed in this book have given them what little they have been able to take for themselves.
Dogcatchers were dispatched, and the dogs of Constantinople were captured one by one and locked in cages. The cages were packed and then shipped off to a deserted island, Hayirsiz Ada, one of the Prince's islands lying just off the coast, a short boat ride from the city and a favored tourist destination today. The cages were brought on shore and opened, and some eighty thousand dogs were set loose on the island, where, lacking food, the strong cannibalized the weak until those that remained simply starved to death. Supposedly, ships crossing the Sea of Marmara could hear their plaintive howls miles away. In response an American, Alice Washburn Manning, came to Turkey and founded a organization for the prevention of cruelty to animals.
The approach of the Young Turks to the problem was simple and straightforward. A problem presented itself and a simple solution was found. The Armenian "problem" was dealt with in a similar but more horrifying and evil manner. The Young Turks believed "in reality there cannot be a common home and fatherland for two different people.... The new civilization will be created by the Turkish race."
And so, one of the first and most successful government bureaucracy ordered genocides began as WWI distracted the eyes of the world. Atrocities against the Armenian race in the Ottoman empire/Turkey were publicized and drew outcry from the civilized world in the years leading up to WWI. Missionaries and diplomats protested and brought pressure to bear against crimes against humanity directed at eradicating the Armenians. But, with WWI as cover the Turkish government took steps to conceal their actions and destroyed records as they went along while murdering millions and creating a template for Nazi Germany to follow with their "Jewish problem." 100 years ago millions of Armenians lived in Turkey. Today a few hundred thousand survive.
The Turks used every means of extermination the Nazis did except the gas chambers. Economic sanctions isolated the Armenians. Propaganda spoke of them as lesser human beings to the common folks so they could look the other way or even help kill them and not feel bad about it. Armenian families were marched out of their homes by thousands and deported to what they were told were going to be cities of safety. Instead most of them were systematically murdered. A few thousands made it to concentration camps out near the desert in the middle of nowhere where they were killed. Cities were emptied. Sections of towns destroyed and looted. Their property was taken by anyone with the strength to take it. Before being killing they were frequently forced at gun point or bayonet to strip naked. Most of the Turks were Muslims and they did not believe they could touch a dead body so they had them strip before they murdered them so they could sell their clothes.
One of our main characters talks about the orphan children who managed to run away. Many of them who had seen their parents murdered in front of them. Some had escaped the death marches. Starving mothers would reach distant villages and abandon their children in the streets hoping for the best. The children frequently would go wild and band together in packs avoiding adults, always on the move living by scavenging whatever they could find. Thousands of little boys, eight to twelve years old were trying to find their ways back to their villages. Not knowing that if they ever made it back that it was unlikely any of their family or fellow Armenians would be there to help them.
As a result of this holocaust and the upheaval of WWI defeat many of the leaders of the Young Turks in power fled the country while a few rallied the country and solidified their power into what would become modern Turkey. Of these leaders in hiding in other countries several were assassinated in revenge for their genocide by survivors. This book focus on one of the first and most famous of these killings and their impact.
To this day Turkey does not take responsibility for the millions of people they slaughtered. The cover up efforts have been significant. Official Turkish history doesn't mention the Armenians who lived within the borders of Turkey for thousands of years. Some official government sponsored history states that Armenians never existed at all while others talk about massacres by the Armenians against the Turks during WWI. The history museum in the Turkish capitol has a section that mentions Armenians but only in the context of massacres it claims Armenians perpetrated against Turks. Not only was history re-written, but the language was changed in 1929 with a new alphabet and new Turkish sounding names for many cities known by classic names for thousands of year(on example Constantinople was changed to Istanbul). Turks today cannot read anything written before 1929 and even many scholars cannot read the old historical documents from before 1929. Many of these changes where encouraged and driven into place by The father of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, who took over the military after WWI and managed to preserve what the Young Turks started. A fatherland for Turks without the "stain" of the unwanted Armenian race. In part because of the need for oil and allies in the Middle East the west made peace with Turkey and didn't impose justice in their lands like they did in Germany after WWII. Turkey to this day still resists giving credence to their genocidal heritage despite the testimony of survivors and eyewitness. For most Armenians, there was never any justice for them like the Jews had for their holocaust (as little justice as anyone can have for such horrors). The secret group of assassins detailed in this book have given them what little they have been able to take for themselves.
August 22, 2015
I read this not long after finishing The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. That novel, based on an actual event, tells the story of a group of Armenians who successfully resisted deportation. It was good to follow up with this work of non-fiction which documents the plot of a group of survivors to hunt down and assassinate 6 of the main perpetrators of the genocide. Bogosian does a great job of explaining the complicated relationship between the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian citizens and introduces the main players in this forgotten, extremely dark, chapter of history. I was reminded of the book, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team in that both are gripping reads and closely follow not only the motivations of the assassins, but also the lives of the targets.
Elie Wiesel said, "To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice." Books like this are invaluable in helping us to remember ... and to provide perspective in understanding the conflicts currently consuming our world.
Elie Wiesel said, "To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice." Books like this are invaluable in helping us to remember ... and to provide perspective in understanding the conflicts currently consuming our world.
Tehlirian and his cohorts were not simply avengers. They were a small group of men ... who through their actions, tried to offset in some way the anonymous deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians who died in the deserts and in their homes and in mountain wastelands. No headstones mark where those victims of Talat and his gang fell. Nothing is left of them but our memory of them. To the million and a half Armenians who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during the First World War, and to their countless descendants, the actions of Operation Nemesis shouted, "You existed. You are memorable. We remember you." ~ Eric Bogosian
March 23, 2015
Eric Bogosian gives an informative insight to Turkey, and of its historical relationship with, or tolerance of, its Armenian citizens. He then follows by telling the story of Soghomon Tehlirian an assassin who seeks to avenge the murder of his family. Tehlirian, himself is a survivor of the deportations and mass murders losing all but one member of his family. His soul purpose in life thereafter is to hunt down and kill those responsible.
The story is all the more captivating as there are some incredibly distressing and horrific scenes recounted. Some so harrowing and depressing that at times I found it hard to continue reading. Fortunately, I persevered and was engrossed as the narrative concentrated on Tehrilan's obsessive, pursuit of his targets.
Using new material and memoirs Operation Nemesis reads like a gripping espionage thriller. I had to remind myself that it was non fiction and not a novel penned by Graeme Green or John LeCarre.
Utterly compelling and staggeringly well written. Highly recommended.
The story is all the more captivating as there are some incredibly distressing and horrific scenes recounted. Some so harrowing and depressing that at times I found it hard to continue reading. Fortunately, I persevered and was engrossed as the narrative concentrated on Tehrilan's obsessive, pursuit of his targets.
Using new material and memoirs Operation Nemesis reads like a gripping espionage thriller. I had to remind myself that it was non fiction and not a novel penned by Graeme Green or John LeCarre.
Utterly compelling and staggeringly well written. Highly recommended.
October 24, 2023
As an Armenian, while I grew up with stories about the Armenian Genocide, I didn’t know about Operation Nemesis until a few years ago (thank you to NPR’s Throughline / Kerning Cultures, a podcast on the MENA / SWANA region, for their excellent episode on it!). What a fascinating story. May there be peace in the region.
November 19, 2024
“I have killed a man. But I am not a murderer.” — Soghomon Tehlirian
Impressive book on a relatively unknown aspect of history. Bogosian does an excellent job of providing a historical overview of the Armenian genocide, WWI, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It also provided a brief analysis of Armenian national history; I particularly enjoyed learning about the development of the Armenian alphabet and the history behind the Etchmiadzin Cathedral.
Operation Nemesis is such a fascinating story: a group of Armenian Genocide survivors got together and successfully orchestrated the assassination of multiple Turkish leaders across many countries. The trial itself is a thing of beauty: Tehlirian didn’t deny the fact that he committed first-degree murder, yet was still acquitted. This is one of the most unique court cases in history. Even though Tehlirian was an assassin, he still held the moral high ground; since his act was perceived as vengeance/justice as opposed to brute violence.
This is an aspect of history everyone should be educated on. It is perhaps the greatest stories of justice I have ever encountered in my life. I wish this would be adapted into a film or a mini-series. Bogosian has flirted with the idea, as he’s a screenwriter by trade. Hope this gets adapted on screen one day!
Impressive book on a relatively unknown aspect of history. Bogosian does an excellent job of providing a historical overview of the Armenian genocide, WWI, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It also provided a brief analysis of Armenian national history; I particularly enjoyed learning about the development of the Armenian alphabet and the history behind the Etchmiadzin Cathedral.
Operation Nemesis is such a fascinating story: a group of Armenian Genocide survivors got together and successfully orchestrated the assassination of multiple Turkish leaders across many countries. The trial itself is a thing of beauty: Tehlirian didn’t deny the fact that he committed first-degree murder, yet was still acquitted. This is one of the most unique court cases in history. Even though Tehlirian was an assassin, he still held the moral high ground; since his act was perceived as vengeance/justice as opposed to brute violence.
This is an aspect of history everyone should be educated on. It is perhaps the greatest stories of justice I have ever encountered in my life. I wish this would be adapted into a film or a mini-series. Bogosian has flirted with the idea, as he’s a screenwriter by trade. Hope this gets adapted on screen one day!
March 30, 2018
I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of Bogosian’s work. While I expected a biased and passionate examination of the cruelty that the Turks visited on the Armenian people; Bogosian, who I think of as more of an actor rather than a historian, does an excellent job of delving into the history of the Ottoman Empire and its context. Bogosian seems to have saved his acidic cynicism to examine the mechanics and ingredients of genocide that were used by several nations.
Bogosian believes that Nemesis was more than just revenge. It was also an attempt to influence the events at the time including an attempt to create an Armenian republic and thwarting the return of the pashas to power in a new Turkish republic. He also outlines the policies put in place by Mustafa Kemal to erase the Armenians from the history of Turkey (unless they were stories Armenian violence against the Turks), and how the genocide eventually created violent schisms within the Armenian diaspora that culminated in the murder of Archbishop Tourian at an Armenian Church in the Bronx in 1933.
Bogosian’s work is far more than a tale of revenge. It is an intense examination of the history of the Armenian people and the issues they struggle with today.
Bogosian believes that Nemesis was more than just revenge. It was also an attempt to influence the events at the time including an attempt to create an Armenian republic and thwarting the return of the pashas to power in a new Turkish republic. He also outlines the policies put in place by Mustafa Kemal to erase the Armenians from the history of Turkey (unless they were stories Armenian violence against the Turks), and how the genocide eventually created violent schisms within the Armenian diaspora that culminated in the murder of Archbishop Tourian at an Armenian Church in the Bronx in 1933.
Bogosian’s work is far more than a tale of revenge. It is an intense examination of the history of the Armenian people and the issues they struggle with today.
April 27, 2016
This was a great book to read.
The author made an outstanding job of describing the horrific, researched and anecdotal, evidence to the first major Genocide of the 20th century.
Discrimination, abuses, denials, cover ups, all are given their time in this book. The presentation is professional and it is evident the author tried to stay impartial. Being of Armenian descent, understandably he wasn't 100% successful at this.
There are 2 sad takeaways from this book. First, I finally understood the origins, actors and consequences of the Armenian genocide. At a minimum it was a major human tragedy justified, yet again, by religion.
Second, It is very sad to see how leaders, by missing the opportunity to right major wrongs during their time, impose impossible situations in future generations. If Turkey's leaders of the time would have recognized this tragedy, current generations wouldn't have to make 'denialism' a country policy (e.g. Armenia is routinely grayed out of regional maps in Turkey. As if it didn't exist even today).
Very informative book. Highly recommended.
The author made an outstanding job of describing the horrific, researched and anecdotal, evidence to the first major Genocide of the 20th century.
Discrimination, abuses, denials, cover ups, all are given their time in this book. The presentation is professional and it is evident the author tried to stay impartial. Being of Armenian descent, understandably he wasn't 100% successful at this.
There are 2 sad takeaways from this book. First, I finally understood the origins, actors and consequences of the Armenian genocide. At a minimum it was a major human tragedy justified, yet again, by religion.
Second, It is very sad to see how leaders, by missing the opportunity to right major wrongs during their time, impose impossible situations in future generations. If Turkey's leaders of the time would have recognized this tragedy, current generations wouldn't have to make 'denialism' a country policy (e.g. Armenia is routinely grayed out of regional maps in Turkey. As if it didn't exist even today).
Very informative book. Highly recommended.
July 5, 2015
For someone whose knowledge of these events was sketchy at best this book was a powerful explication of not just the Armenian genocide but its international context and how all too often national interest, rightly or wrongly conceived, serves the goals of injustice and oppression. The suppression of the history of these events is in itself a shame and Bogosian needs to be credited for bringing it to a wider audience. Wrapping the Armenian genocide in the story of Nemesis assassinations puts a human face on the tragedy giving it form beyond the copious accounts of inhuman horror.
April 18, 2025
It has been 110 years since the Armenian Genocide. Turkey and a few other Middle Eastern countries refuse to admit it took place. It is on the scale of the destruction of Jews by the Nazis and slaughter of Chinese and other Asians perpetrated by the Japanese. Like the Japanese, the Turks have edited history and actively deny anything happened.
This is not a history of the genocide, though there is a lot of information about the politics of the genocide and politics of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and creation of the Republic of Turkey. These events are the backdrop to the story. The story is how a small band of Armenians backed by a larger organization assassinated fugitive Ottoman officials in the 1920s who were involved in the 1915 genocide. In particular it focuses on the Armenian assassin of the last Grand Vizier and the trial that acquitted him.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Armenian genocide and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
This is not a history of the genocide, though there is a lot of information about the politics of the genocide and politics of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and creation of the Republic of Turkey. These events are the backdrop to the story. The story is how a small band of Armenians backed by a larger organization assassinated fugitive Ottoman officials in the 1920s who were involved in the 1915 genocide. In particular it focuses on the Armenian assassin of the last Grand Vizier and the trial that acquitted him.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Armenian genocide and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
April 29, 2015
I won this book in a giveaway. What a timely gift, as I prepared to attend the 100th remembrance of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide of WWI.
One might understandably wonder what to expect Mr. Bogosian's tone to be regarding his subject. One might wonder even more after his introduction in which he relates his grandfathers repeated injunction to him as a young child, "If you ever meet a Turk, kill him." Stick with the book though, because Bogosian's treatment is reasonably fair-handed. He's just trying to hook you.
The book is divided into three main parts. Part I , the first hundred pages, will get you up to speed very summarily on the history of Armenia and the Ottoman Empire and the events leading to the genocide. Part II focuses on Tehlerian, his stalking of Talat Pasha, and his trial. Bogosian reveals it was his interest in turning Tehlerian's story into a movie, and the realization that the story accepted at the trial in Berlin just had too many inconsistencies, that motivated him to write a book to get at the truth of what happened. Part III looks at "The Big Picture", continued assassinations by Armenian operatives, how it divided the Armenian diaspora community and affected the Armenian image, and a quick view of Turkey's history and its policy toward the genocide dialogue (or lack thereof) today.
To his credit, Bogosian works hard to show the contemporary European prejudice and stereotypes regarding Turks. He also puts the Armenian genocide in its historical context, pointing out similar events on the part of Germans in Namibia, the US in North America. Armenian friends take note: in line with many other historians, he names the "First Genocide of the 20th Century" as that of the Herero tribe by the Germans, 1904-7. He powerfully writes of the similarities (noting differences as well) and the historical chain of succession of the Armenian Genocide with the Jewish Holocaust. While he clearly sees the Genocide as an indisputably evil and horrific event, he is not an exceptionalist, on the contrary he is trying to show its context in the religious, political, and ethnic attitudes of its day.
He argues against the conventional view of portraying Turkey as a "secular Muslim state" as well as against seeing it as a democracy on a par with Western democracies. (These are considered bedrock facts in the global studies curriculum taught and tested in my NYS.) He also shows that some well-intentioned US foreign policies, like Wilson's 14 points and later the Truman Doctrine, turned out to be more harmful than helpful to the interests of the Armenian people.
His quick treatment of the Fourth Crusade caricatures a very complex event, and later his critique of American Missionaries struck me as odd. "In a grotesque twist on the question of faith, foreign missionaries would sometimes give thanks to God for the steadfastness of their Armenian disciples even though they were being led to a certain death."(p 112) First of all he indicates elsewhere that even Islamic conversions often proved tenuous and temporary stays of execution. And second, it is after all the Muslim insistence on coercion that is causing the dilemma. To me that is the grotesque component. For my part I can't see what good would come of apostasy in such circumstances. These particular quibbles stand out to me because overall the tone of the book is dispassionate in what it touches.
Bogosian clearly believes that much of what the Armenian Terrorists did, especially in the latter years, was absolutely unacceptable, and not only morally wrong, but detrimental to their ultimate ends. But the hunting of the "Three Pashas" he presents as more of a moral dilemma, since they had been condemned to death in absentia. He portrays Tehlerian's trial for murder as a facade where tough questions weren't asked and bad explanations were not challenged. I would have been interested in more regarding an ethical, Thoreauesque or natural law exploration of the moral rightness or wrongness of assassination in such cases, but perhaps it is best as it is, without excessive moralizing or pontification from an intrusive narrator. Overall, well-conceived, measured, and readable.
One might understandably wonder what to expect Mr. Bogosian's tone to be regarding his subject. One might wonder even more after his introduction in which he relates his grandfathers repeated injunction to him as a young child, "If you ever meet a Turk, kill him." Stick with the book though, because Bogosian's treatment is reasonably fair-handed. He's just trying to hook you.
The book is divided into three main parts. Part I , the first hundred pages, will get you up to speed very summarily on the history of Armenia and the Ottoman Empire and the events leading to the genocide. Part II focuses on Tehlerian, his stalking of Talat Pasha, and his trial. Bogosian reveals it was his interest in turning Tehlerian's story into a movie, and the realization that the story accepted at the trial in Berlin just had too many inconsistencies, that motivated him to write a book to get at the truth of what happened. Part III looks at "The Big Picture", continued assassinations by Armenian operatives, how it divided the Armenian diaspora community and affected the Armenian image, and a quick view of Turkey's history and its policy toward the genocide dialogue (or lack thereof) today.
To his credit, Bogosian works hard to show the contemporary European prejudice and stereotypes regarding Turks. He also puts the Armenian genocide in its historical context, pointing out similar events on the part of Germans in Namibia, the US in North America. Armenian friends take note: in line with many other historians, he names the "First Genocide of the 20th Century" as that of the Herero tribe by the Germans, 1904-7. He powerfully writes of the similarities (noting differences as well) and the historical chain of succession of the Armenian Genocide with the Jewish Holocaust. While he clearly sees the Genocide as an indisputably evil and horrific event, he is not an exceptionalist, on the contrary he is trying to show its context in the religious, political, and ethnic attitudes of its day.
He argues against the conventional view of portraying Turkey as a "secular Muslim state" as well as against seeing it as a democracy on a par with Western democracies. (These are considered bedrock facts in the global studies curriculum taught and tested in my NYS.) He also shows that some well-intentioned US foreign policies, like Wilson's 14 points and later the Truman Doctrine, turned out to be more harmful than helpful to the interests of the Armenian people.
His quick treatment of the Fourth Crusade caricatures a very complex event, and later his critique of American Missionaries struck me as odd. "In a grotesque twist on the question of faith, foreign missionaries would sometimes give thanks to God for the steadfastness of their Armenian disciples even though they were being led to a certain death."(p 112) First of all he indicates elsewhere that even Islamic conversions often proved tenuous and temporary stays of execution. And second, it is after all the Muslim insistence on coercion that is causing the dilemma. To me that is the grotesque component. For my part I can't see what good would come of apostasy in such circumstances. These particular quibbles stand out to me because overall the tone of the book is dispassionate in what it touches.
Bogosian clearly believes that much of what the Armenian Terrorists did, especially in the latter years, was absolutely unacceptable, and not only morally wrong, but detrimental to their ultimate ends. But the hunting of the "Three Pashas" he presents as more of a moral dilemma, since they had been condemned to death in absentia. He portrays Tehlerian's trial for murder as a facade where tough questions weren't asked and bad explanations were not challenged. I would have been interested in more regarding an ethical, Thoreauesque or natural law exploration of the moral rightness or wrongness of assassination in such cases, but perhaps it is best as it is, without excessive moralizing or pontification from an intrusive narrator. Overall, well-conceived, measured, and readable.
August 10, 2015
I finished reading the excellent book "The fall of the Ottomans" by Eugene Rogan. Rogan had a short but a very informative chapter on the Armenian massacres. I got really excited to read more about the subject and especially about what was mentioned as "Operation Nemesis". Boy, was I let down badly by reading Bogosian's book!! For a starter, being a non historian and having not done much of a homework of the era and the the region, he was mixing facts with fiction anyway he felt comfortable to support his thesis. He has very little understanding of the difference between a political conflict and a religious one. And at worst his exposure was completely one sided with total justification of all kinds of terrorist attacks by the Armenians without any consideration of any country's legal rules and regulations. He is a man who wants it to be free for anyone to take the law in his hand. Can you imagine the kind of world we would be living in if we follow his ideals!!!
July 26, 2024
Impressive work of scholarship (to my limited knowledge) and nuanced storytelling. My understanding is that there is genuinely new material here; there is certainly the most comprehensive account of the Armenian Genocide that I have read, followed through to its repercussions throughout various aspects of history, politics, culture. The closing section about the importance and power of memory genuinely moved me.
July 20, 2015
Prodigious research on display as Bogosian tells some of the hidden history of the 20th century. Well done!
February 7, 2021
Vengeance is justified in the absence of justice.
May 5, 2022
A gripping narrative of the covert operation in the 1920s involving an undaunted band of Armenians, affiliated with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, who exacted vengeance on the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. Author Eric Bogosian gives us an engrossing background of the events that led to the genocide of 1915, wherein Armenia became a pawn in the great game between Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Turkey. Furthermore, he touches upon the oft-neglected fact of Germany’s complicity in the Genocide.
After World War I, most of the members of the C.U.P. (the organization responsible for the genocide) found safe haven in nearby countries. The book predominantly focuses on Armenian national hero Soghomon Tehlirian, who single-handedly assassinated Talaat Pasha, the key orchestrator of the Armenian Genocide, in broad daylight in Berlin in 1921. Based on accounts from the ARF revolutionaries and Tehlirian’s autobiography, the author gives us an insider’s account of the assassination and the ensuing trial in a German court, which resulted in the landmark judgement where Tehlirian was found not guilty and was acquitted. In addition to Talat Pasha, the assassinations of the other Turkish perpetrators are also examined, including Djemal Pasha, Said Halim Pasha, among others.
Parallels are drawn between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, the former setting a precedent for the latter. Furthermore, Eric Bogosian explores the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal, under whose supervision the ethnic cleansing of Armenians continued along with a system state-sponsored restructuring of Armenian and Turkish history. The European and the American governments, who were once sympathetic to the plight of the Armenians, abandoned the Armenian cause altogether for their vested interest in oil exploration.
The modern republic of Turkey, which was built upon the blood and bones of Armenians, has still neither acknowledged the Armenian Genocide nor offered reparations for it. This is unconscionable in every sense. The world must wake up and rightfully demand Turkey to right its past wrongs.
Overall, Operation Nemesis is a must-read about retributive justice in the wake of the Armenian Genocide.
After World War I, most of the members of the C.U.P. (the organization responsible for the genocide) found safe haven in nearby countries. The book predominantly focuses on Armenian national hero Soghomon Tehlirian, who single-handedly assassinated Talaat Pasha, the key orchestrator of the Armenian Genocide, in broad daylight in Berlin in 1921. Based on accounts from the ARF revolutionaries and Tehlirian’s autobiography, the author gives us an insider’s account of the assassination and the ensuing trial in a German court, which resulted in the landmark judgement where Tehlirian was found not guilty and was acquitted. In addition to Talat Pasha, the assassinations of the other Turkish perpetrators are also examined, including Djemal Pasha, Said Halim Pasha, among others.
Parallels are drawn between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, the former setting a precedent for the latter. Furthermore, Eric Bogosian explores the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal, under whose supervision the ethnic cleansing of Armenians continued along with a system state-sponsored restructuring of Armenian and Turkish history. The European and the American governments, who were once sympathetic to the plight of the Armenians, abandoned the Armenian cause altogether for their vested interest in oil exploration.
The modern republic of Turkey, which was built upon the blood and bones of Armenians, has still neither acknowledged the Armenian Genocide nor offered reparations for it. This is unconscionable in every sense. The world must wake up and rightfully demand Turkey to right its past wrongs.
Overall, Operation Nemesis is a must-read about retributive justice in the wake of the Armenian Genocide.
July 30, 2015
Eric Bogosian had his work cut out for him, researching and writing about the assassinations of Turkish leaders implicated in the Armenian genocide of a hundred years ago. To the best of my knowledge, this is a story which had been basically previously untold, and being able to compile the details of the retribution was quite an accomplishment. Bogosian provides background on the genocide, and then tells the story of how the various individuals in charge during the genocide were found and assassinated by a small group of Armenian survivors.
It reminded me in some ways of Aaron Klein's book, "Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Massacre and the Israeli Deadly Response", in that both involve hunting down and punishing a small group involved in political killings. Klein's book, being more recent, is more complete in its details, but that doesn't diminish Bogosian's efforts. Nonetheless, in some aspects, I wished for more details in parts involving Operation Nemesis, but much of that is probably lost to history.
It reminded me in some ways of Aaron Klein's book, "Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Massacre and the Israeli Deadly Response", in that both involve hunting down and punishing a small group involved in political killings. Klein's book, being more recent, is more complete in its details, but that doesn't diminish Bogosian's efforts. Nonetheless, in some aspects, I wished for more details in parts involving Operation Nemesis, but much of that is probably lost to history.
May 30, 2016
Light duty. Author has an ax to grind; some questionable history.
May 13, 2022
This is a fascinating book about a lesser known part of history. While quite a few people have heard about the Armenian genocide, few know that a small group of Armenians took justice in their hands by killing all the orchestrators of the massacres, one by one.
The book does a good job at defining the background, but mostly at introducing the main characters. It shows the real face, the egos, the conflicts, the ideology and the lies behind the famous murders and trials related to operation Nemesis. Besides the pure historical part, there is also the part that makes the reader wonder about alternatives. What else could they have chosen instead of murder? Was there another way? Was justice done?
Overall a great book, very accessible and still highly relevant.
The book does a good job at defining the background, but mostly at introducing the main characters. It shows the real face, the egos, the conflicts, the ideology and the lies behind the famous murders and trials related to operation Nemesis. Besides the pure historical part, there is also the part that makes the reader wonder about alternatives. What else could they have chosen instead of murder? Was there another way? Was justice done?
Overall a great book, very accessible and still highly relevant.
July 21, 2024
Prescient.
December 20, 2015
The Year 1915 was the year of the great Genocide against the Christians who were living in the Ottoman Empire. Three groups in particular were affected: The Armenians, the Assyrians, and the Greeks. Since the Armenians lost 1.5 million of their people to the Genocide carried out by the Turks, the Armenian Revolution Federation decided to cary out justice against those who planned the Genocide, the Young Turks.
THe book starts out by the author, Eric Boghosian, telling about the experience of growing up in AMerica and hearing stories that his grandfather told him about life for an Armenian under the Turks and about the Genocide. Mr. Boghosian thinking himself and American gets a bit uncomfortable .
None the less Mr. Boghosian delves into Armenian, Turkish and World History. THe brief sketch of Armenian history gives one a taste of such warriors as Vartan Mamikom who fought to preserve Christianity among the Armenians or Mesrop Mashtots who invented the Armenian alphabet. In 301 the Nation adapted Christianity. THe Turks on the other hand came from an area near Mongolia. First the Seljuks took over and then the Ottomans. THe Turkish sultans loved to live lavishly and often had several wives whgo were slaves. THe oldest son was next in line for succession. The other sons we're killed or sequester in another part of the castle. THe world itself is important to learn about as many nations besides the Turks engaged in killing off large amounts of people. Most notable would be the European powers who colonized different parts of the third world. THe invention of weapons like guns and howitzers made killing lots of people really easy.
THe major thrust of the book focuses on Soghomon Telirian and how he planned and succeeded in Killing Talat Bey. Talat Bey was the interior minister at the time and was the leader of the Triumviarate. The other two young Turks were Enver Pasha, and Dejedved Bey. Soghomon Telirian was considered to be a young physics student studying in Berlin, who had happened to be very shaken by what he saw during the Genocide and about how his family was killed. The truth is that the ARF cobbled together a team to take out the young Turks. Soghomans real story is that he left Trueky before the Genocide and lived with his father and brother in Servbia. When World War 1 rolled out he joined the ARF as a medic but also saw action in Turkey. When he got to his village he saw that it had been all wiped out. THe images of death haunted him. He had to take action. When he caught he told the whole Genocide story. He was declared innocent and allowed to go free.
Eric Bohosian does an excellent job of giving the reader the behjjiod the scenes look at the politics of what went on during that time andd the3 background of the people who carried out operation nemesis. THe images of what the Armenians had to endure are haunting. This book is a must read for anyone studying that period of time.
THe book starts out by the author, Eric Boghosian, telling about the experience of growing up in AMerica and hearing stories that his grandfather told him about life for an Armenian under the Turks and about the Genocide. Mr. Boghosian thinking himself and American gets a bit uncomfortable .
None the less Mr. Boghosian delves into Armenian, Turkish and World History. THe brief sketch of Armenian history gives one a taste of such warriors as Vartan Mamikom who fought to preserve Christianity among the Armenians or Mesrop Mashtots who invented the Armenian alphabet. In 301 the Nation adapted Christianity. THe Turks on the other hand came from an area near Mongolia. First the Seljuks took over and then the Ottomans. THe Turkish sultans loved to live lavishly and often had several wives whgo were slaves. THe oldest son was next in line for succession. The other sons we're killed or sequester in another part of the castle. THe world itself is important to learn about as many nations besides the Turks engaged in killing off large amounts of people. Most notable would be the European powers who colonized different parts of the third world. THe invention of weapons like guns and howitzers made killing lots of people really easy.
THe major thrust of the book focuses on Soghomon Telirian and how he planned and succeeded in Killing Talat Bey. Talat Bey was the interior minister at the time and was the leader of the Triumviarate. The other two young Turks were Enver Pasha, and Dejedved Bey. Soghomon Telirian was considered to be a young physics student studying in Berlin, who had happened to be very shaken by what he saw during the Genocide and about how his family was killed. The truth is that the ARF cobbled together a team to take out the young Turks. Soghomans real story is that he left Trueky before the Genocide and lived with his father and brother in Servbia. When World War 1 rolled out he joined the ARF as a medic but also saw action in Turkey. When he got to his village he saw that it had been all wiped out. THe images of death haunted him. He had to take action. When he caught he told the whole Genocide story. He was declared innocent and allowed to go free.
Eric Bohosian does an excellent job of giving the reader the behjjiod the scenes look at the politics of what went on during that time andd the3 background of the people who carried out operation nemesis. THe images of what the Armenians had to endure are haunting. This book is a must read for anyone studying that period of time.
August 17, 2017
A good read to understand the issues that the Armenian people had to fight against.
December 5, 2021
As an indigenous Armenian, I can say that this book tried to do too much. I almost DNF'd it and I don't know how to feel. At times it feels like an Armenian history from ancient to modern times, while other times it tries to rationalize and explain all the parties involved in the actual Operation Nemesis.
It's an excellent deep dive into Armenian and Ottoman history, but as someone who seldom reads non-fiction, I found it all to be too long-winded, especially when the climax (or main point of the book) was summarized in a two-page prologue. But maybe I'm also biased, because I don't believe in a lot of the modern ARF's ideals (except their incredible gifts at being able to organize massive protests fighting for genocide recognition globally year after year after year), many of which include ideologies surrounding "Armenian purity" and what an Armenian should look like, be like, and aspire to be. From personal experience, there are a lot of things that the modern ARF does wrong and has no conscience to believe that what they are doing is sometimes morally wrong.
For those unawares of the history, there are a lot of names to remember, and perhaps having a map handy might help localize where everything was occurring. The early history of the Ottoman empire was the best part for me, as it explained a lot of the reason why the Armenian Genocide took place. Though the massacres were detailed throughout the book, it often felt as someone writing a non-fiction book would write it (sometimes devoid of that extra emotion).
I also felt that Soghomon was dehumanized for a lot of the book and massive, never-ending paragraphs made the story more long-winded rather than an intriguing page-turner, as it should have been.
I really do think Soghomon Tehlirian's story would better be served as a film, in all its intensity. I would rather focus on the man's emotions, rather than solely as using him as the means to the end, so to speak. I encourage everyone to at least try to read this book, and perhaps watch a dubbed version of the French film Mayrig, the beginning of which is dedicated to Tehlirian's trial and acquittal.
It's an excellent deep dive into Armenian and Ottoman history, but as someone who seldom reads non-fiction, I found it all to be too long-winded, especially when the climax (or main point of the book) was summarized in a two-page prologue. But maybe I'm also biased, because I don't believe in a lot of the modern ARF's ideals (except their incredible gifts at being able to organize massive protests fighting for genocide recognition globally year after year after year), many of which include ideologies surrounding "Armenian purity" and what an Armenian should look like, be like, and aspire to be. From personal experience, there are a lot of things that the modern ARF does wrong and has no conscience to believe that what they are doing is sometimes morally wrong.
For those unawares of the history, there are a lot of names to remember, and perhaps having a map handy might help localize where everything was occurring. The early history of the Ottoman empire was the best part for me, as it explained a lot of the reason why the Armenian Genocide took place. Though the massacres were detailed throughout the book, it often felt as someone writing a non-fiction book would write it (sometimes devoid of that extra emotion).
I also felt that Soghomon was dehumanized for a lot of the book and massive, never-ending paragraphs made the story more long-winded rather than an intriguing page-turner, as it should have been.
I really do think Soghomon Tehlirian's story would better be served as a film, in all its intensity. I would rather focus on the man's emotions, rather than solely as using him as the means to the end, so to speak. I encourage everyone to at least try to read this book, and perhaps watch a dubbed version of the French film Mayrig, the beginning of which is dedicated to Tehlirian's trial and acquittal.
August 14, 2016
Actor and writer Bogosian pens an engrossing chronicle of the assassination campaign against the architects of the Armenian Genocide of the early twentieth century. Of Armenian ancestry himself, Bogosian cites the memories of relatives as a key factor in getting him to write it (with, apparently, encouragement from the great Sarah Vowell). The opening chapters are a little clunky (summarizing thousands of years of Anatolian history for general readers) but once it gets to the actual events of the narrative, it moves along pretty quick. Bogosian's admirably fairminded in placing the Genocide in political and historical context (there's no Daniel Jonah Goldhagen-like demonization of the Turks) without ever minimizing its horror or denying that it was genocide (not that I expected the relative of survivors to do this, but a little wary after Caroline Finkel's Osman's Dream). Once it gets to the actual assassinations, it's one more Alan Furst novel waiting to happen (which is a good thing). Good to begin with, its intersection with Turkish politics and historical memory took on unexpected relevance with the events of several weeks past (in Istanbul among other places) and consequently deserves to be read now more than ever.
August 19, 2015
I await the feedback of other reviewers to convince me to downgrade this to four stars. To explain - it is likely impossible to know the whole truth of the Armenian genocide; particularly when told by someone named Bogosian. But, as I have watched Eric Bogosian in his TV role over the years I have come to trust him to perform well. The story he tells in this book is not the usual rant that one has come to expect from both sides of the Turkish/Armenian story, and the fact that the Armenian assassins are "revealed" (along with their conspiracy) gives this telling a ring of truth.
When held up to the light of history, comparing the Armenian genocide to that of the Jews begins to make sense. That is not to say that there is any sense to the ongoing killing and terror in that part of the world. But, without the story being fully told the lies will go on forever and feed ever more grudges.
When held up to the light of history, comparing the Armenian genocide to that of the Jews begins to make sense. That is not to say that there is any sense to the ongoing killing and terror in that part of the world. But, without the story being fully told the lies will go on forever and feed ever more grudges.
June 16, 2016
I found this book greatly instructive. There are details in it regarding the Armenian Genocide and the Ottoman Empire with its newly formed Turkish republic that are really worth reading and knowing.
I liked how all the details are backed with biographical notes at the end of the book, which I personally consider as further resources for reading more into those dark times.
The Armenian Genocide is an example of the hatred that the Turks had towards the Armenian Christian community that inhabited Asia Minor. Worldwide recognition is important in order to commemorate the 1.5 million Armenians that were massacred in vain, out of pure racism!
I hope to live to see that day!
I liked how all the details are backed with biographical notes at the end of the book, which I personally consider as further resources for reading more into those dark times.
The Armenian Genocide is an example of the hatred that the Turks had towards the Armenian Christian community that inhabited Asia Minor. Worldwide recognition is important in order to commemorate the 1.5 million Armenians that were massacred in vain, out of pure racism!
I hope to live to see that day!
June 12, 2017
Fail
I realize that I am out of the mainstream here but it was a struggle to get thru this book. About half of the book delves into the history of Turkey,from the far ancient to modern. For someone who loves history, this was bone dry. The modern history, post World War II, is tinged with the author's bias.
The one aspect of the book which I found to be well written and informative, was the section pertaining to the Armenian genocide. Unfortunately, very little of the book actually pertains to Operation Nemesis, and only one of many participants is well portrayed; the others are unidimensional at best.
I realize that I am out of the mainstream here but it was a struggle to get thru this book. About half of the book delves into the history of Turkey,from the far ancient to modern. For someone who loves history, this was bone dry. The modern history, post World War II, is tinged with the author's bias.
The one aspect of the book which I found to be well written and informative, was the section pertaining to the Armenian genocide. Unfortunately, very little of the book actually pertains to Operation Nemesis, and only one of many participants is well portrayed; the others are unidimensional at best.
December 4, 2016
The book is not just about Operation Nemesis and the life of Tehlirian, one of the Armenian assassins. The author takes us through an extensive history of the Ottomans and the Armenian genocide. He also describes how much effort has been made to cover up the genocide by the Turkish government. The scope of this book may seem too large at first but the reader is left with the big picture and perhaps a better understanding of that part of the world.
March 6, 2017
Should be required reading for everyone. Not only does Bogosian illuminate a dark, evil time in global history many have forgotten or never heard of, he details the conflict between Armenia and Turkey, Muslim and Christian, in a compelling, action-packed manner reserved for the cinema. If you want to know how the Nazis could commit such atrocities, see where they found their guidebook from the Ottoman Empire.
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