A German Officer during the Armenian Genocide: A Biography
BOOK REVIEW
by Gregory Topalian, historian
A German Officer during the Armenian Genocide: A Biography of Max von Scheubner-Richter, translated by Alasdair Lean with a preface by Jorge Vartparonian and a historical introduction by Hilmar Kaiser, (Gomidas Institute), 2009, CXXX + 153 pp., map, photos, index, ISBN 978-1-903656-81-5. Pb. UK£17.00 / US$25.00 plus shipping. For more information please visit www.gomidas.org or write to info@gomidas.org.
This is a fascinating study of a man who is one of the most enigmatic links between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Scheubner-Richter was a founding father of the Nazi Party and one of Hitler’s closest colleagues, deemed irreplaceable by the leader of the Party. The preface by Jorge Vartparonian offers a succinct and potted biography of the man, whilst Hilmar Kaiser’s analysis of Scheubner-Richter’s time in the Ottoman Empire and specifically Erzerum is highly detailed and utterly riveting. Kaiser’s account is so incredibly well researched so as to be able to dismiss some previous studies as lacking in rigour. This book is therefore perhaps the most detailed account of a figure who has remained in the shadows that bridge the gap between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.
Scheubner-Richter was both an ambitious man and a career pragmatist, yet he also displayed a sense of moral outrage regarding the massacres he witnessed in both Erzerum and Bitlis where he served as the German Vice-Consul at the height of the Genocide.
Kaiser explains how in 1914, the Armenians were caught between a rock and a hard place due to the presence of Armenians on both sides of the Russo-Turkish border. Consequently, Armenian loyalty to the Ottoman state was brought into question by some, though not by Scheubner-Richter it must be noted. Turkish Armenians of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation committed themselves to defending the Ottoman Empire but could not guarantee the same of their Russian counterparts. Further meetings took place but the ARF were at odds with Talaat (CUP), and this could well have been a contributing factor in the events that unfolded in 1915. Certainly after this series of meetings, Armenians began to redouble their own efforts at self-defence.
Kaiser illustrates through Scheubner-Richter’s writings, that the signs of what were coming were already visible in the early months of 1915 and how he felt that Armenian concerns were justified.
Throughout, Scheubner-Richter suggested there was no threat of an Armenian uprising (and the Ottoman Government’s asserted motive for the ‘deportations’), since all the men had been sent to labour batallions, and he did his utmost to help calm the situation. As things progressed he even took upon himself to personally deliver supplies to the starving Armenians.
On hearing of the decision to deport Armenians to Der Zor, Scheubner-Richter grimly suggested that half of those travelling would not survive the journey, which was something of a conservative estimate. Kaiser also explains how, as far as Scheubner-Richter was concerned, the deportations were based on “racial hatred” and little else.
What makes Scheubner-Richter such an important commentator on the Armenian Genocide is his oft voiced frustration at how the internal butchery taking place was damaging the German war effort, and yet rather than being an impassioned observer, he went further than he need to in his bid to save Armenians.
His horror at the massacres is voiced in his disgust at being an ally of the Ottoman Government when he writes that, “As officers we are compelled to shut our eyes to these things, but as men, the alliance with these people is unbearable”
The euphemisms that the Ottoman authorities used, like those that were a later feature of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, are alluded to when he points out that the word ‘deportation’ is synonymous with ‘extermination’.
On his immediate return to Germany, Scheubner-Richter offered to help Johannes Lepsius save some of these people, who according to the former, no longer looked “human.” However, but by 1922 his sympathy had evaporated, perhaps under the influence of the men with whom he was formulating a manifesto that would bestow a similar fate on the Jews.
Perhaps the most interesting suggestion by Dr. Kaiser here is regarding Armenian property. It would appear that there was no arrangement in place to deal with the property left behind by Armenians, which is suggestive that for the Young Turks, this was a functionalist genocide as opposed to a long standing intentionalist crime.
In Hilmar Kaiser’s piece there is much to suggest that Scheubner-Richter was a pragmatic careerist, but something of a maverick who despite his pursuit of rank could not fully ignore the horrors he witnessed in 1915.
The second part of the book is a biography of Scheubner-Richter translated from German, first published in 1938 and written by Paul Leverkuehn, a friend and colleague.
posted by ED at 3/27/2009
