''Ravished Armenia'' (full title: ''Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Survived the Great Massacres'') is a book written in 1918 by Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian about her experiences in the

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

. A Hollywood film based on it was filmed in 1919 under the title ''Auction of Souls'' (which also became known as ''

Ravished Armenia ''Ravished Armenia'' (full title: ''Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Survived the Great Massacres'') is a book written in 1918 by Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian about her experiences in the Armenian gen ...

'', based on the book from which it was adapted). All known complete copies of the film have since been

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, but Mardiganian's account is still in print.

Plot

The author Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian was born in the city of

Çemişgezek Çemişgezek ( ku, Melkişî; hy, Չմշկածագ, translit=Čmškacag) is a town and district of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The mayor is Levent Metin Yıldız ( AKP). The district has a population of 7,418 as of 2021. Demographics The town an ...

, near

Harput Harpoot ( tr, Harput) or Kharberd ( hy, Խարբերդ, translit=Kharberd) is an ancient town located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. It now forms a small district of the city of Elazığ. p. 1. In the late Ottoman period, it fell under the M ...

(Kharpert), (present-day Turkish province of Elâzığ),

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) ...

. She was the daughter of a wealthy Armenian financier in the city. The story starts in 1915 when Arshaluys was 14 years old. She personally witnessed the murder of her father, mother, brothers and sisters. She was taken to the

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

of a number of Turkish

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

s, but had remained attached to her Christian Armenian faith despite being tortured repeatedly at the hands of her captors. She found refuge with Frederick W. MacCallum, a Canadian doctor and missionary stationed with the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...

(ABCFM), who safely returned her to

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

, which had come under Russian control. She later moved to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

(Tiflis) in the Caucasus and, through the mediation of General

Andranik Ozanian Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik;. Also spelled Antranik or Antranig 25 February 186531 August 1927), was an Armenians, Armenian military commander and statesman, the best known ''Armenian fedayi, fedayi ...

and orders of the Russian military leadership in the Caucasus, was sent to the United States for recovery and to bear witness to the sufferings of the Armenians in the

. Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915–1923, recalled sixteen young Armenian girls being "crucified" by their Ottoman tormentors. The film ''Auction of Souls'' (1919), which was based on her book ''Ravished Armenia'', showed the victims nailed to crosses. However, almost 70 years later Mardiganian revealed to film historian Anthony Slide that the scene was inaccurate. She described what was actually an impalement. She stated that "The Turks didn't make their crosses like that. The Turks made little pointed crosses. They took the clothes off the girls. They made them bend down, and after raping them, they made them sit on the pointed wood, through the vagina. That's the way they killed – the Turks. Americans have made it a more civilized way. They can't show such terrible things." The book was written by journalist Henry Leyford Gates, whose novelist-wife Eleanor Brown Gates became Mardiganian's legal guardian in America.

References

External links

Ravished Armenia (film portion)
an
Ravished Armenia (book)
available for free download a
Internet Archive
{{Authority control 1918 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about the Armenian genocide Articles containing video clips Autobiographies

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See also

References

Further reading

External links