1915 Genocide - Eyewitnesses: Missionaries, Doctors, Teachers, Relief Workers

- Alma Johansson was a Swedish missionary, stationed in the city of Mush in eastern Turkey, where she stayed until December 1915. She worked at the German orphanage for Armenian orphans. She talked about the genocide and the atrocities in her diaries, but told informed American and German diplomats who later published her stories. Her stories of the treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during WWI are also mentioned in Alma Johansson, Ett folk i landsflykt: Ett År ur armeniernas historia , Stockholm, 1930.

- Amalia Lange was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920, Stockholm, 1920.

- Armin Wegner was a German Army medic who served in the Ottoman Army. His pictures of the deportations and massacres are one of the most comprehensive documentations of the ongoing genocide against the Armenians.

- Bodil Katharine Biøn was a Norwegian nurse who served in the city of Merzereh in the province of Kharbert (Kharpout) and later in Mush, in Western Armenia (present-day eastern Turkey). In collaboration with the German missionaries, she tried to help the Armenian widows and orphans. She witnessed the Armenian Genocide and together with her colleagues, she saved many homeless women and children. She also documented the tragedy she witnessed and her testimony is available in form of diary photographs. Later, she took care of Armenian orphans in Syria, Lebanon and Constantinople. In 1922, she founded an orphanage that was named Lousaghbyur (Armenian for "Light Spring") in Alexandrapol, Soviet Armenia. She continued her work in helping Armenian refugees in Syria and Lebanon. At the initiative of Armenian community in Aleppo, the Norwegian town of Kragerø, Bodil's hometown, erected a statue in her honor. For more information visit Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute .

- Hansine Marcher was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920.

- Jakob Künzler was a Swiss aid worker at the Oriental Mission in Urfa. Between 1915 and 1917 he witnessed the Armenian Genocide, which he recounted in his book, In the Land of Blood and Tears (1921). Despite the threat, when ever possible, he aided thousands of Armenian orphans. He helped the Muslims and non-Muslims and documented numerous reports of massacres of Armenians in labor battalions. In October 1922, he closed his hospital in Urfa and moved to Ghazir, near Beirut, where he later opened an orphanage. Later he established a shelter for Armenian widows in Beirut and a lung sanatorium in Azounieh.

- John Elder was an American aid worker who served among the Armenian refugees in Yerevan.

- Karen Jeppe was a Danish missionary. She came to Armenia in 1903 and saved many Armenians from certain death during the genocide, among others by hiding them in his basement. After World War I, she traveled to Aleppo, Syria, where many survivors of the Armenian genocide had arrived. From 1921 she worked for the return of abducted Armenian women and children who were estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 in number. She managed to free 2,000 Armenian women from Muslim harems.

Jeppe died of malaria in Aleppo, where she is buried. At her funeral the Armenian archbishop called her for "his beloved sister who sacrificed herself for his people, what she regard hardly as anyone else's."

- Karen Marie Petersen was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920, Stockholm, 1920.

- Maria Jacobsen was a Danish missionary worker, stationed in Kharbert (Kharput) during the early part of the 20:th century and during the 1915 genocide. Her diary includes key testimonies about the treatment of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

- Martin Niepage was a lecturer at the German middle school in Aleppo, Syria. His stories of Armenian deportees and massacres were translated into Swedish and published in 1921, entitled What a German lecturer in Asian Turkey experienced in 1915 .

- Stanly Kerr was an American missionary, clinical biochemist and teacher. He served at the mission in Aleppo during the Armenian immigrant crisis, when many survivors of the Armenian genocide arrived. He worked as a medical and sanitary officer. He also worked to recover Armenian children from the Kurdish and Turkish families, where the children had forcibly placed or received protection from. His story is stated in the book The Lions of Marash .




Eyewitnesses: Missionaries, Relief workers, Doctors and Teachers - Alma Johansson was a Swedish missionary, stationed in the city of Mush in eastern Turkey, where she stayed until December 1915. She worked at the German orphanage for Armenian orphans. She talked about the genocide and the atrocities in her diaries, but told informed American and German diplomats who later published her stories. Her stories of the treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during WWI are also mentioned in Alma Johansson, Ett folk i landsflykt: Ett År ur armeniernas historia , Stockholm, 1930. - Amalia Lange was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920, Stockholm, 1920. - Armin Wegner was a German Army medic who served in the Ottoman Army. His pictures of the deportations and massacres are one of the most comprehensive documentations of the ongoing genocide against the Armenians. - Bodil Katharine Biøn was a Norwegian nurse who served in the city of Merzereh in the province of Kharbert (Kharpout) and later in Mush, in Western Armenia (present-day eastern Turkey). In collaboration with the German missionaries, she tried to help the Armenian widows and orphans. She witnessed the Armenian Genocide and together with her colleagues, she saved many homeless women and children. She also documented the tragedy she witnessed and her testimony is available in form of diary photographs. Later, she took care of Armenian orphans in Syria, Lebanon and Constantinople. In 1922, she founded an orphanage that was named Lousaghbyur (Armenian for "Light Spring") in Alexandrapol, Soviet Armenia. She continued her work in helping Armenian refugees in Syria and Lebanon. At the initiative of Armenian community in Aleppo, the Norwegian town of Kragerø, Bodil's hometown, erected a statue in her honor. For more information visit Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute . - Hansine Marcher was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920. - Jakob Künzler was a Swiss aid worker at the Oriental Mission in Urfa. Between 1915 and 1917 he witnessed the Armenian Genocide, which he recounted in his book, In the Land of Blood and Tears (1921). Despite the threat, when ever possible, he aided thousands of Armenian orphans. He helped the Muslims and non-Muslims and documented numerous reports of massacres of Armenians in labor battalions. In October 1922, he closed his hospital in Urfa and moved to Ghazir, near Beirut, where he later opened an orphanage. Later he established a shelter for Armenian widows in Beirut and a lung sanatorium in Azounieh. - John Elder was an American aid worker who served among the Armenian refugees in Yerevan. - Karen Jeppe was a Danish missionary. She came to Armenia in 1903 and saved many Armenians from certain death during the genocide, among others by hiding them in his basement. After World War I, she traveled to Aleppo, Syria, where many survivors of the Armenian genocide had arrived. From 1921 she worked for the return of abducted Armenian women and children who were estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 in number. She managed to free 2,000 Armenian women from Muslim harems. Jeppe died of malaria in Aleppo, where she is buried. At her funeral the Armenian archbishop called her for "his beloved sister who sacrificed herself for his people, what she regard hardly as anyone else's." - Karen Marie Petersen was a Danish missionary. Her stories have been compiled in Amalia Lange, Ett blad ur Armeniens historia : Danska K. M. A., 1910-1920, Stockholm, 1920. - Maria Jacobsen was a Danish missionary worker, stationed in Kharbert (Kharput) during the early part of the 20:th century and during the 1915 genocide. Her diary includes key testimonies about the treatment of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. - Martin Niepage was a lecturer at the German middle school in Aleppo, Syria. His stories of Armenian deportees and massacres were translated into Swedish and published in 1921, entitled What a German lecturer in Asian Turkey experienced in 1915 . - Stanly Kerr was an American missionary, clinical biochemist and teacher. He served at the mission in Aleppo during the Armenian immigrant crisis, when many survivors of the Armenian genocide arrived. He worked as a medical and sanitary officer. He also worked to recover Armenian children from the Kurdish and Turkish families, where the children had forcibly placed or received protection from. His story is stated in the book The Lions of Marash .