Compare And Contrast The Armenian Genocide And The Holocaust

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"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" - Adolf Hitler Obersalzberg Speech, August 22, 1939
The Armenian Genocide and Holocaust were similar in that their main goal was to eliminate an entire religion, however there are far more differences in the cause, course, and effects. The Armenian Genocide was carried out by the Young Turks, a Turkish Nationalist reform party in the 20th century, who favored reformation of the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Empire.[1] To do so, they believed that one particular group/religion was weighing them down: non-Muslim Armenians. With these (mostly Christian) Armenian civilians gone, the Ottoman Empire would gain the power it once had and have a say in the war. In many opinions, …show more content…

In 1915, the Armenian Genocide really started off when the Young Turks took action against young Armenian men in the Ottoman Army. The men were disarmed, and eventually taken out of the army and brought to hard labor camps, where they were either immediately killed or worked until they died. This concept was also later seen in the Holocaust, where the Jews were separated into two groups: those who could work, and those who could not. Those who could not work would be sent into the “showers” and be …show more content…

These convicted killers were given the task to kill Armenian civilians. This also included the raiding of Armenian towns and villages, similar to Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass” in Germany, where the civilians of the targeted race were attacked. Following this paramilitary attack was a test run of deportations, where the Young Turks tried to deport the Armenians out the Ottoman Empire, and into Syria, south of the Empire. The Armenians managed to resist the deportations, as it was just a test run. However, the slaughter of civilians was still carried out by the paramilitary, and could not be stopped. This differs from the deportation of Jews in the Holocaust because Germans did not immediately kill them. They just isolated them in places such as ghettos, and later concentration camps like