The tragedy of the Armenian people in World War I – exhibition

On the occasion of the centenary of Armenian genocide, an exhibition entitled “The tragedy of the Armenian people in World War I” was opened on March 20, 2015 in the National Relic exhibition space of National Széchényi Library. The ongoing temporary exhibition presents period documents, memoirs, photographs and objects belonging to everyday life. Open until May 20, 2015, the exhibition presents the events of 1915 and 1916 as well as their antecedents and consequences, thus, for example, the formation of the Armenian diaspora and the establishment of the first Republic of Armenia. The exhibition was organized jointly by the National Library of Armenia and National Széchényi Library. At the beginning of the 4^th century, the Armenians were among the first to take on Christianity and to preserve their traditions for centuries. They lived as an independent structural entity on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

In the 19^th century, during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid, hundreds of thousands of Armenians, who were dissatisfied with reforms within the empire, had been killed, but those killings had not been aimed at destroying the nation as a whole. Bloodshed at Cilicia (Adana) in 1909 is considered to be one of the antecedents of genocide.

The beginning of the tragedy of the Armenian people is related to April 24, 1915 by historians. It was on that day that representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia and economic elite were arrested, deported and later killed. Up until now, there have been debates about the total number of Armenians killed, since there have not been exact records about victims. Representatives of the international scientific public life and historians allege that the number of executed Armenians totals 1.5 million.

Via several documents, the exhibition presents the fate of Armenian refugees who had arrived in Budapest. During World War I, Austro-Hungarian Empire had an ambassador in Constantinople and diplomatic missions in other cities of the empire. A great number of reports have reached István Burján, joint foreign minister in Vienna. The archives in Vienna keep several thousands of document pages about everyday events, and visitors can have a look at some of these documents. The exhibition also presents Armenian refugees’ household objects, made of copper and tin, and also reliquaries, crosses and church clothes.

Curators of the exhibition were Bálint Kovács and Sándor Öze, co-curator was Nikolett Czázár.

Venue: National Széchényi Library, Floor 5, National Relic exhibition space
Date: March 20 – May 20, 2015.