“We are absolutely delighted to see the fruits of Wolfgang and Sigrid Gust’s efforts finally see the light of day in such an impressive publication,” said Greg Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute. “We are proud,” he continued, “that through the guidance and active involvement of Professor Vahakn Dadrian, our Director of Genocide Research, as well as through other Zoryan Board members and staff, we have been able to provide ongoing support for research, documentation, editing and translation assistance to the Gusts over the years. The book includes a detailed analytical introduction to the subject by Professor Dadrian.

During World War I, only German diplomats and military officials were able to send uncensored reports out of the country. Apart from the Americans, who remained neutral in the war until April 6, 1917, German diplomats and their informants from the missions or from among the employees of the Baghdad Railway were the most important non-Armenian eyewitnesses of the genocide. The German military was able to enter areas in which the genocide took place relatively unhindered.

“The reliability of German evidence on the Armenian Genocide issues from the powerful bonds rooted in the political and military alliance that bound Imperial Germany and Imperial Turkey together throughout World War I,” observed Professor Dadrian. “The network of German diplomatic and military officials deployed throughout Turkey afforded them the rare opportunity to observe first hand the atrocities in progress. In reporting them to their superiors, these officials had, therefore, to overcome their hesitations and inhibitions due to their fidelity to the Alliance. The verifiability of these reports, variably marked as ‘confidential,’ ‘very confidential,’ or ‘secret’ and very secret’ is ensured through the free and unimpeded access to the German State archives in Berlin. Their incontestability is evidenced by the fact that these documents were meant for ‘in house’ use and as such were never intended for public consumption,” added Professor Dadrian.

The book’s appearance comes at a particularly opportune time, and there is tremendous interest in the subject in the German media. There are several reasons for this. First, many Germans are interested in their country’s human rights record, and these documents provide considerable evidence of Germany’s complicity in the Armenian Genocide. Second, there was a scandal at the beginning of the year when it became known that the subject of the Armenian Genocide had been removed from the high school curriculum in the Brandenburg district, due to Turkish diplomatic pressure. Third, there is great debate in Germany over Turkey’s entry into the European Union. The opposition parties in the German Parliament have proposed a motion for Germany to officially recognize the “Armenian deportation and massacres” as a means to show their displeasure with the idea of Turkey’s admission to the EU. Fourth, April marks the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“The effort required to produce this new book is hard to imagine,” said George Shirinian, Director of the Zoryan Institute. “It requires someone who is skilled in reading the old Suderlin script, the antique Gothic handwriting used in those days. It took years of painstakingly comparing the published versions of the documents with the originals, which led to the discovery that many incriminating passages and even whole documents were suppressed by the authorities immediately after the war. Then there was the verifying of place names, and identifying the individuals involved, and figuring out the unique abbreviations used in this diplomatic correspondence, which was written in a distinct, stilted language. Very few individuals have Gust’s combination of interest, knowledge, skill, and patience to spend so many years researching and editing this invaluable archival material.”

“The importance of this material in documenting the Genocide, the intent to commit genocide, and in disproving the elaborately concocted denials of the Genocide can not be overestimated,” stated Roger W. Smith, Chairman of Zoryan’s Academic Board of Directors. He added, “We hope these documents will contribute to the common body of knowledge on the Armenian Genocide and that they can help bring about a dialogue between the Armenian and Turkish peoples, who are divided by history but united by geography.”

Wolfgang Gust was Foreign News Editor with the highly respected German news magazine Der Spiegel, equivalent to Time Magazine, for years and is the author of two previous books related to Armenian history and the Genocide.

The Zoryan Institute is the first non-profit, international center devoted to the research and documentation of contemporary issues related to Armenian social, political and cultural life. To this end, the Institute conducts multidisciplinary research, publication, and educational programs dealing with Armenia, the Armenian Genocide, and Diaspora, within a universal context.