Armenian Golgotha

Armenian Golgotha (Armenian: Հայ Գողգոթան) is a memoir written by Grigoris Balakian about his eyewitness account of the Armenian genocide. The memoir was released in two volumes.^[1] Volume 1, about his life prior to and during the Armenian genocide, was released in 1922. Volume 2, about his life as a fugitive after the Genocide, was released in 1959. Originally published in Armenian, the memoir was later published in various languages including an English translation by Peter Balakian, Balakian's great-nephew, with Aris Sevag.^[2]

Reception

Upon the release of the English translation in 2009, many publications reviewed the account. The New Yorker referred to the account as "a fascinating first-hand testimony to a monumental crime."^[3] Elie Wiesel, the author best known for the memoir Night, referred to the account as "heartbreaking" because he believes that the memory presented by Balakian "must remain a lesson for more than one generation".^[4] The New Republic praised the account as "a powerful and important book" because "it takes place as one of the key first-hand sources for understanding the Armenian genocide".^[5] Writing for The Washington Post, Chris Bohjalian (a second-generation Armenian American) felt personally connected by understanding what happened to his great-grandparents. Bohjalian opined that Balakian's account was "rich with evidence of the Turkish government's complicity and its leaders' premeditation." Bohjalian also hoped that the account would be widely read.^[6]

References