Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / Armenian Refugee Children of 1915: Rescue and Identity
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the genocide itself—the deportations, the massacres, the battles. But what happened to the children? Thousands of Armenian kids were orphaned, scattered, often taken into Kurdish or Turkish homes. For many, their Armenian identity was erased entirely. Luna: That's a side I haven't heard much about. How did anyone even find them? Lucas: It wasn't easy. After 1915, there was a kind of underground network—missionaries, Armenian relief workers, even some Ottoman officials—who tried to track down these kids. One of the most remarkable was Karen Jeppe, a Danish woman who'd been working in the region since 1903. She set up a rescue operation in Aleppo that went on for years. Lucas: Jeppe would go into villages, sometimes disguised as a Turkish woman, and try to find Armenian children who'd been adopted or captured. She had to be incredibly careful—if she was caught, she could be killed. But she managed to rescue hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids. Luna: Wow. What did she do with them once she found them? Lucas: She set up a kind of safe house—a deportation camp that was actually a front for her operation. She'd bring the children there, give them food and shelter, and then try to reunite them with surviving relatives. But that was often impossible. So she established a village called Aram, outside Aleppo, where these orphans could grow up learning Armenian language and culture. Lucas: The village was named after Aram Manukian, one of the leaders of the First Republic. It became a kind of haven, a place where kids could be Armenian again. But the problem was enormous—there were so many children, and so few resources. Luna: It sounds like a needle in a haystack. And what about the ones who'd been taken into homes? Did they even want to come back? Lucas: That's the hardest part. Many of these children were very young when they were taken. They'd been raised as Muslims, speaking only Turkish or Kurdish. They didn't remember their Armenian families. Some didn't even know they were Armenian. So when Jeppe or others found them, it became a battle over identity—not just physically, but psychologically. Lucas: There's a famous case from the town of Antoura. It was a French-run orphanage that the Ottoman government took over and turned into a kind of assimilation center. The kids were given Turkish names and forced to convert to Islam. After the war, the French came back, and there was a huge effort to 'de-Turkify' them—to bring them back to Armenian Christianity. But many of the children had been there for years, and they didn't know what to believe. Luna: That sounds incredibly painful. They're just kids, caught between worlds. Lucas: Exactly. And there are stories of children who, when their Armenian relatives came to claim them, ran away from them—they didn't know them. They'd grown up thinking the Turks were their family. It's a tragedy that doesn't get told often enough. Lucas: But there were also successes. The Near East Relief—an American organization—set up over a hundred orphanages across the region, caring for tens of thousands of children. They didn't just feed and clothe them; they taught them trades, gave them education. Many of those orphans went on to become leaders in the Armenian diaspora. Luna: So there was a real effort to rebuild a generation. That's incredible. Lucas: It was. But it wasn't just about shelters and schools. There were also vigilante efforts. Soghomon Tehlirian—the man who assassinated Talaat Pasha in Berlin in 1921—he was one of those orphans. He'd lost his family in the genocide, and he became obsessed with justice. His trial became a platform for survivors to testify about what had happened. Luna: Right, we mentioned Tehlirian in an earlier episode. But I didn't know he was an orphan himself. Lucas: Yeah, he grew up in Erzincan, and his whole family was deported. He survived, but he carried that grief. When he shot Talaat on a Berlin street, he wasn't just acting alone—he was part of a secret network called Operation Nemesis, which targeted the architects of the genocide. Tehlirian's trial became a sensation, and he was acquitted. But for many, it was a victory for justice, even if it was a single act. Lucas: And yet, the question of the children remained. After the war, there were hundreds of thousands of Armenian orphans scattered across the Middle East. Some were in Turkey, some in Syria, some in Lebanon. The effort to gather them, to give them a home, was overwhelming. Luna: It's like a giant puzzle, and every piece is a human life. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why people like Karen Jeppe are so important. She didn't just rescue children—she gave them a future. She taught them that being Armenian was something to be proud of, not ashamed of. That's a powerful legacy. Lucas: There's also the story of the Musa Dagh orphans. Those were the villagers who fought off the Ottoman army and were rescued by a French ship. After the war, they were settled in Lebanon, and their children became a thriving community. But the memory of that resistance—and the loss—was always there. Luna: I've heard of Musa Dagh, but I didn't know they had so many orphans. That's a whole other layer. Lucas: Yeah, it is. And it's a reminder that behind the grand politics, there were individual lives. The orphans of 1915 grew up to be doctors, writers, revolutionaries. Some even went back to Armenia to help build the new republic. They were the living proof that the Armenian people couldn't be erased. Lucas: You know, it's kind of like what we're doing here—preserving these stories. When we talk about the past, we're keeping that memory alive. And that's why listener support matters so much. It keeps this show ad-free, so we can tell these stories properly. If you've been following along, and you want to help, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It really helps us keep going. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to make a big difference. I'm glad you mentioned it. Lucas: Anyway, back to the orphans. There's one more story I want to share. It's about a boy named Haroutune, who was taken from his family in Zeitun and raised as a Turkish shepherd. Years later, a relative found him and brought him back. He had to learn Armenian from scratch—he was almost a stranger to his own heritage. But he did it. He became a teacher, and he spent his life passing on the language he'd almost lost. Luna: That's amazing. It makes you wonder how many others had similar journeys. Lucas: Millions, probably. But each one of those stories is a testament to resilience. And when you think about it, the Armenian people survived not just because of armies or treaties, but because of these quiet acts of endurance—a grandmother teaching a child a lullaby, a rescue worker stepping into danger, a young man choosing to remember. Lucas: So the next time you see a khachkar, or hear the Armenian language, remember that it's not just history—it's a living thing, carried by people who refused to let it die. Luna: That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.