UCLA to Host Launch of English Edition of Aram Andonian’s 1921 Novel, ‘The Gre

Aram Andonian

The Armenian Genocide Research Program of UCLA’s Promise Armenian Institute will host the official launch of the English edition of Aram Andonian’s landmark work, “The Great Crime: Talaat Pasha’s Orders on the Armenian Genocide and Naim Bey’s Testimony,” on Thursday, October 22 at 6 p.m.. The event will take place at UCLA’s Tannas Alumni Suite in the Engineering VI building.

Originally written in Armenian and published in 1921, “The Great Crime” was among the earliest systematic efforts to document the Armenian Genocide. The book presents the testimony of Naim Bey, an Ottoman bureaucrat, along with handwritten copies of approximately 52 Ottoman documents, including orders concerning the deportation and killing of Armenians.

In 1983, the Turkish government challenged the authenticity of the materials presented in Andonian’s work, arguing that the documents were fraudulent. These claims contributed to the book and the Ottoman documents it reproduced being largely excluded from scholarly use for decades.

That interpretation was challenged by AGRP Director Dr. Taner Akçam in his 2018 book, “Killing Orders.” Drawing on archival and other evidence, Akçam addressed the longstanding questions surrounding the documents and argued for their historical value in the study of the Armenian Genocide.

The new English edition of “The Great Crime” now makes Andonian’s work accessible to a much wider readership. It features a substantial introduction by Dr. Akçam that synthesizes the central findings of “Killing Orders” while incorporating new evidence and insights, as well as a specially prepared appendix.

The publication marks an important step in expanding access to foundational sources on the Armenian Genocide and providing English-language readers with a key work in the history of its documentation and scholarship.

Registration is required for this free event. Learn more and RSVP online.

To learn more about UCLA’s Promise Armenian Institute’s Armenian Genocide Research Program, visit the website.