80 pp.: ill. In original publisher's wrappers. Light wear and fading to the wrappers, the corner of the rear wrapper has been restored with a paper strip. Otherwise in a very good condition.

First and only edition. Text in Armenian. Illustrated with photographs.

A scarce firsthand account of the Armenian genocide in the historical province of Taron (now eastern Turkey), focused on the cities of Mush and Sasun. Its author, Yervand Sharafyan (1901–1964), was only fourteen when the genocide reached his native Mush.

On the eve of World War I, Mush was a home to approximately 12,500 Armenians, with five Armenian neighborhoods, five Armenian churches, and seven schools. When the Ottoman Empire entered the war, most Armenian men of military age were conscripted, leaving their families without protection. In the summer of 1915, more than a hundred villages near Mush were destroyed and their inhabitants massacred. The slaughter in the city itself began soon after. Armenian neighborhoods were encircled by Ottoman troops waiting for the advance of Russian army. Local Armenians mounted a brief self-defense, but they were vastly outnumbered and lacking ammunition, and were soon completely overwhelmed. Only a small number—estimated between 400 and 700 people—managed to escape toward Sasun, where they again faced encirclement and further losses.

Sharafyan was a direct witness to these events. He records the circumstances of the massacre, offers a detailed narrative of the short-lived resistance, and preserves numerous episodes of struggle and survival. He was one of the few who managed to escape the siege of Mush and reach Sasun. There he observed yet another unsuccessful attempt at self-defense and breakout. He then describes the wanderings and struggles of a group of survivors in the mountains under constant attacks from Turkish and Kurdish troops. He returned to Mush several times at great personal risk, finding refuge with local artisans or Turks loyal to his family. Each return ended the same way: he was forced to leave the city due to renewed persecution. His final return came after Russian forces had taken the city. In 1916 he retreated with them into the Caucasus. Eventually he reunited with his family and emigrated to California, settling in Oakland.

Worldcat shows 4 copies in University of Michigan, University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California and NAASR Mardigian Library.