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Arshavir Shiragian - The Legacy: Memoirs of an Armenian Patriot
The Legacy: Memoirs of an Armenian Patriot chronicles the extraordinary story of Arshavir Shiragian who embarked on an international man hunt to track down and assassinate the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide.
During World War I, the Ottoman Empire undertook a systematic extermination of its Armenian subjects from their historic homeland. Several of the key perpetrators fled to Europe as 1.5 million Armenians lay dead.
In The Legacy, Shiragian recounts how he located and assassinated the men responsible for this crime against humanity. He describes how he tracked down and killed the Grand Vizier, Sayid Halim Pasha, in Rome. A few months later, Shiragian, together with Aram Yerganian, located and shot dead Jemal Azmi Pasha, the governor-general of Trebizond, and Dr. Behaeddin Shakir Bey, the mastermind of the Armenian Genocide.
During World War I, the Ottoman Empire undertook a systematic extermination of its Armenian subjects from their historic homeland. Several of the key perpetrators fled to Europe as 1.5 million Armenians lay dead.
In The Legacy, Shiragian recounts how he located and assassinated the men responsible for this crime against humanity. He describes how he tracked down and killed the Grand Vizier, Sayid Halim Pasha, in Rome. A few months later, Shiragian, together with Aram Yerganian, located and shot dead Jemal Azmi Pasha, the governor-general of Trebizond, and Dr. Behaeddin Shakir Bey, the mastermind of the Armenian Genocide.
- GenresBiography
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2019
The writing style of this book is non-existent. It's not so much that it is plodding. It is just so mundane and matter of fact that it almost manages to make an exciting story uninteresting. But the subject matter is so important that you have to put the poor quality of the writing aside and focus on the story.
The story raises the difficult ethical question of whether it can ever be morally justified to be a terrorist assassin. As a very young man Shiragian was personally responsible for the assassinations of three of the key leaders of the Young Turks who were among the principal authors of the Armenian genocide. If they had not been assassinated then no international tribunal would have brought them to justice, and they might have managed to return to Turkey to commit more crimes. If terrorist killing can ever be justified, then this is the best test case in support of that proposition, but I don't know. I still have trouble with it. There has to be another way. And though I certainly can never truly feel the weight of the crimes and the hopelessness of the case for justice in the same way as the Armenians, it still seems to me that taking the law into your own hands can't be the answer and that an eye for an eye is not my kind of justice, even when it is one eye for a million eyes. And in the end, the executioner on one level is still a murderer, so it is hard for me to admire him.
One of the things that struck me about the story was how amateurish the assassinations were. The assassins lurked about for months without much in the way of planning and when they finally decided to strike, it was more spontaneous than planned. If the targets had had any kind of decent security, the actions would certainly have failed. I suppose that there is often a lot more randomness to this kind of act than you might think. And perhaps randomness can be a pathway to success, because it will mean that the strike will come at a time that cannot be anticipated.
The story raises the difficult ethical question of whether it can ever be morally justified to be a terrorist assassin. As a very young man Shiragian was personally responsible for the assassinations of three of the key leaders of the Young Turks who were among the principal authors of the Armenian genocide. If they had not been assassinated then no international tribunal would have brought them to justice, and they might have managed to return to Turkey to commit more crimes. If terrorist killing can ever be justified, then this is the best test case in support of that proposition, but I don't know. I still have trouble with it. There has to be another way. And though I certainly can never truly feel the weight of the crimes and the hopelessness of the case for justice in the same way as the Armenians, it still seems to me that taking the law into your own hands can't be the answer and that an eye for an eye is not my kind of justice, even when it is one eye for a million eyes. And in the end, the executioner on one level is still a murderer, so it is hard for me to admire him.
One of the things that struck me about the story was how amateurish the assassinations were. The assassins lurked about for months without much in the way of planning and when they finally decided to strike, it was more spontaneous than planned. If the targets had had any kind of decent security, the actions would certainly have failed. I suppose that there is often a lot more randomness to this kind of act than you might think. And perhaps randomness can be a pathway to success, because it will mean that the strike will come at a time that cannot be anticipated.
May 5, 2018
A book about an Armenian hero!
This book should be required reading for all Armenians. This man helped give us the only justice we've known for the genocide. He deserves a big monument!
This book should be required reading for all Armenians. This man helped give us the only justice we've known for the genocide. He deserves a big monument!
May 5, 2018
This book should be required reading for all Armenians. Arshavir helped bring the only justice that has been done for the genocide. The men he executed, if left alive, would have attempted to finish the genocide. He was a true hero, along with his Operation Nemesis comrades. God bless their memories!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews