Hans Humann (born 1878 in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

; died 7 October 1933) was an officer in the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

, diplomat (

Naval Attaché A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

) and businessman. Humann became famous as one of the main representatives of the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, as well as the publisher of the widely circulated ''

Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung ''Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (often abbreviated to DAZ) was a German newspaper that appeared between 1861 and 1945. Until 1918 the title of the paper was ''Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung''. Although Wilhelm Liebknecht, one of the founders ...

'' since 1920, when industrialist

Hugo Stinnes Hugo Dieter Stinnes (12 February 1870 – 10 April 1924) was a German industrialist and politician. During the late era of the German Empire and early Weimar Republic, he was considered to be one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Europe. ...

bought the paper. Humann was a key German eyewitness of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

. As a personal friend and key wartime associate of Enver Pasha, he even defended the genocide in newspaper articles for DAZ during the

Weimar republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

Biography

Early Years (1878–1913)

References

1878 births 1933 deaths German diplomats German mass murderers Armenian genocide perpetrators Imperial German collusion with war crimes by the Ottoman Empire German expatriates in the Ottoman Empire {{Germany-bio-stub