After the end of World War I, numerous Armenian and international relief organizations, as well as individuals, sought to locate survivors of the Armenian Genocide, provide relief, and restore Armenian communities.

While men were primarily targeted for physical destruction during the Genocide, women and children, along with starvation and physical violence, faced forced Islamization and assimilation. When they reached the Syrian deserts, the conversion became the only way of physical survival. Consequently, when the war was over, most survivors were women and children who had been converted during the war and lived among the Muslim population as wives, adopted children, servants or slaves. Danish missionary Karen Jeppe, renowned among many Armenians, arrived in Aleppo in 1921 and initiated efforts to identify and rescue these women and children, placing them in special shelters in Aleppo. There, she assisted them in reconnecting with surviving relatives or securing support to rebuild their lives as Armenians.

Dr. Anna Aleksanyan earned her Ph.D. from the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. Her research focuses on the gendered aspects of the Armenian Genocide, particularly the experiences of female victims from 1914 to 1918.

Date: Tuesday, April 14
Time: 7 - 8 p.m.
Location: Grosse Industrial Technology Building, Room 101

Register for parking here.

For more information or questions, contact Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian at barlowd@csufresno.edu.