Armenian massacre victims laid out in the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery, Erzurum, Turkey, 1895

Title: Armenian massacre victims laid out in the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery, Erzurum, Turkey, 1895
Photographer: Sachtleben, William Lewis
Date Created: November 1, 1895-November 2, 1895
Date: 1895-11-01/1895-11-02
Collection: Sachtleben (William Lewis) Papers. Collection 1841
Sachtleben (William) Images of Armenian Massacre

Description: Photograph of the bodies of Armenian massacre victims laid out in an open area on the ground near a wall and a stand of trees in the Armenian Cemetery in Erzurum.
On Wednesday, October 30, 1895, Armenians were massacred in Erzurum and the surrounding Armenian villages. American journalist William Sachtleben happened to be in Erzurum at that time, investigating the disappearance of American cyclist Frank Lenz. During the massacre Sachtleben was in the American mission building, where over 200 Armenians fled for protection. Sachtleben witnessed the aftermath of the massacre; he took photographs of the victims in the Armenian Cemetery and wrote three lengthy and detailed letters about the massacre that were published, unsigned and attributed to an Occasional Correspondent, in the London Times on November 16, 27 and December 9. In the Nov. 16 letter he wrote: "Saturday, Nov. 2...I went with one of the cavasses of the English Legation, a soldier, my interpreter, and a photographer (Armenian) to the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery. The municipality had sent down a number of bodies, friends had brought more, and a horrible sight met my eyes. Along the wall on the north in a row 20ft. wide and 150ft. long, lay 321 dead bodies of the massacred Armenians..."

Genre: cellulose nitrate film
black-and-white photographs
Location: Turkey--Erzurum
Resource type: still image
Subjects: Cemeteries--Turkey--Erzurum
Dead persons--Turkey--Erzurum
Armenia--History--1801-1900
Armenian massacres, 1894-1896--Turkey--Erzurum

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections
Local Identifier: uclamss_1841_0320
ARK: ark:/21198/zz002hfsh0
Manifest url

Rights statement: public domain
Funding Note: Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.