Sayfo - An Account of the Assyrian Genocide

Translates and annotates a rare eyewitness account of the 1915 Assyrian genocide during the First World War Set in the context of the failing Ottoman state and rising Young Turk regime Discusses Armenians and Greeks as well as Assyrians in one primary source Includes comments and interviews with perpetrators of events Annotated with information about sites, people and events This text is one of the few surviving eyewitness sources on the Assyrian genocide, written by a seminarian living in greater Tur Abdin (the southeast of today's Turkish state). The perspective is one that is little known and less discussed. Translated and annotated by a master of Syriac with an in-depth knowledge of modern Assyrian history, this text creates a unique opportunity for new and progressive scholarship. The Assyrian genocide is one of the forgotten atrocities of the 20th century. The physical destruction was but one element; it also caused demographic shifts, loss of territory, generational trauma and linguicide, along with cultural genocide/ethnocide and identity erosion.