![Ottoman troops guard Armenians being deported. Ottoman Empire, 1915-16. [LCID: 93740]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/386be776-15da-48ef-bfef-f5522d538c2a.jpg "Ottoman troops guard Armenians being deported. Ottoman Empire, 1915-16. [LCID: 93740]")
Ottoman troops guard Armenians being deported. Ottoman Empire, 1915-16.
Item View![A group of 1,500 Armenian children at a refugee camp of the Near East Relief organization in Alexandroupolis. [LCID: 34264]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/46d0bbb0-177a-4fbf-b9aa-0194307d16ba.jpg "A group of 1,500 Armenian children at a refugee camp of the Near East Relief organization in Alexandroupolis. [LCID: 34264]")
A group of 1,500 Armenian children at a refugee camp of the Near East Relief organization in Alexandroupolis. Greece, 1921–22.
Item View![An Armenian woman and her child sit on a sidewalk next to a bundle of their possessions. [LCID: 34283]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/49a190a6-7751-4815-82a3-0b401f048ed5.jpg "An Armenian woman and her child sit on a sidewalk next to a bundle of their possessions. [LCID: 34283]")
An Armenian woman and her child sit on a sidewalk next to a bundle of their possessions. Ottoman Empire, 1918–20.
Item View![Armenian refugees. Ottoman Empire, 1918-20. [LCID: 34287]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/459c3694-6620-4681-9a56-d6dde31ba57f.jpg "Armenian refugees. Ottoman Empire, 1918-20. [LCID: 34287]")
Armenian refugees. Ottoman Empire, 1918-20.
Item View![An Armenian refugee, wearing a scarf and a pack on her back. [LCID: 34290]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/3a30638a-6f42-4b14-a4c1-51e43f8b624a.jpg "An Armenian refugee, wearing a scarf and a pack on her back. [LCID: 34290]")
An Armenian refugee, wearing a scarf and a pack on her back. Ottoman Empire, 1918-20.
Sometimes called the first genocide of the twentieth century, the Armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. There were approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in the multiethnic Ottoman Empire in 1915. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide, either in massacres and individual killings, or from systematic ill treatment, exposure, and starvation.
Item View![Armenian refugees in the desert. A man in the foreground lies on the ground on a layer of bedding. [LCID: n06349]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/202be533-6638-4367-ad69-4be597e73d5d.jpg "Armenian refugees in the desert. A man in the foreground lies on the ground on a layer of bedding. [LCID: n06349]")
Armenian refugees in the desert. A man in the foreground lies on the ground on a layer of bedding. 1915-20.
Item View![A group of Armenian refugees. 1915-20. [LCID: n06346]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/bdfc47bd-9f6e-4e60-8ff0-31de6ed17712.jpg "A group of Armenian refugees. 1915-20. [LCID: n06346]")
A group of Armenian refugees. 1915-20.
Sometimes called the first genocide of the twentieth century, the Armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. There were approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in the multiethnic Ottoman Empire in 1915. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide, either in massacres and individual killings, or from systematic ill treatment, exposure, and starvation.
Item View![Armenian families next to makeshift tents in a refugee camp. [LCID: 94435]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/22dee840-57cf-40d6-9630-5033bf097a56.jpg "Armenian families next to makeshift tents in a refugee camp. [LCID: 94435]")
Armenian families next to makeshift tents in a refugee camp. Ottoman Empire, 1915-16.Photograph taken by Armin T. Wegner. Wegner served as a nurse with the German Sanitary Corps. In 1915 and 1916, Wegner traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and documented atrocities carried out against the Armenians. [Courtesy of Sybil Stevens (daughter of Armin T. Wegner). Wegner Collection, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach & United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.]
Item View![A small group of Armenian deportees walking through the Taurus Mountain region, carrying bundles. [LCID: 94418]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/e6dee4cb-3f1f-4aab-ac29-9bcab2afe2df.jpg "A small group of Armenian deportees walking through the Taurus Mountain region, carrying bundles. [LCID: 94418]")
A small group of Armenian deportees walking through the Taurus Mountain region, carrying bundles. A woman in the foreground carries a child. Ottoman Empire, ca. November 1915. Photograph taken by Armin T. Wegner. Wegner served as a nurse with the German Sanitary Corps. In 1915 and 1916, Wegner traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and documented atrocities carried out against the Armenians. [Courtesy of Sybil Stevens (daughter of Armin T. Wegner). Wegner Collection, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach & United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.]
Item View![Armenian children lie in the street of an unidentified town. [LCID: 68684]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/dae2da34-f93e-452a-9f18-7890b483ad46.jpg "Armenian children lie in the street of an unidentified town. [LCID: 68684]")
Armenian children lie in the street of an unidentified town. Photograph taken by Armin T. Wegner. Wegner served as a nurse with the German Sanitary Corps. In 1915 and 1916, Wegner traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and documented atrocities carried out against the Armenians. [Courtesy of Sybil Stevens (daughter of Armin T. Wegner). Wegner Collection, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach & United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.]
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Ottoman military forces march Armenian men from Kharput to an execution site outside the city. Kharput, Ottoman Empire, March 1915-June 1915. [Courtesy of the Armenian National Institute.]
Item View![Refugees foraging at Alexandropol, Russian Armenia. [LCID: 2524725]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/6db4b6a8-27ea-43d3-a523-99ec26c693da.jpg "Refugees foraging at Alexandropol, Russian Armenia. [LCID: 2524725]")
Refugees foraging at Alexandropol, Russian Armenia. Photograph taken by John Elder. In 1917, Elder, a divinity student from Pennsylvania, joined the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief team that was aiding refugees. For two years, Elder did volunteer work with Armenian orphans. During that time, he photographed refugees and conditions at camps.
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