A Personal Foreword

"Have you gone crazy?" - "Are you tired of living?" These were the comments of friends and acquaintances when they heard that I was working on a book about the causes and historical context of Armenian terrorism. Why should be the one to take on such a dangerous subject?. . . Shouldn't it be a matter for the Turks and Armenians to work out among themselves? All of my friends considered my project dangerous, even threaten ing, and I realized that it must be these concerns, these fears, that have until now prevented unbiased accounts of the historical reality behind Armenian terrorism from appearing. People are obviously afraid of reprisals and therefore leave the whole issue to the advocates of reckless violence, who control virtually all the literature on the subject. In virtually every publication that discusses the Armenian question or Armenian terrorism, the authors plead for "understanding" toward terror. This is just as re­markable as when terrorist organizations claim "responsibility" after an attack. With this "responsibility" - or rather with the perversion of this noble concept - they pretend to have "power" by creating the illusion of "justice", and with this legitimation they play fate, shoot down the reluctant and black -mail the hesitant.

It is not only human beings who have fates, however, but films and publications as well. HA-BENT SUA FATALIBELLI, "books have fates", wrote Terentianus Maurus around 200 A.D., and in the preceding verse he says resolutely, "PRO CAPTU LECTORIS", "according to the grasp of the reader".

I had two key experiences in this connection following the appearance of the German edition of this book. The first was with a very high official of the Armenian Orthodox (Gregorian) Church of Central Europe who, in the course of a meeting with the (Catholic) Mekhitarists (who truly have nothing to do with this statement), said to my face, "How dare you set the worthless Turks off against the dead Armenians in your book!" When I asked in horror if I had understood correctly, he repeated even more vehemently, "Yes, I said the worthless Turks!" The Armenian view of history is for the most part shared by the public at large. That is no sur­prise, and it should not be taken as a reproach.

While doing the background research for this book and for my films, I took great pains to col­lect information from a broad spectrum of sources. In so doing, I met many people to whom I owe the deepest respect: His Beatitude the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch Snork Kalutsyan of Is­tanbul, for example, and the doctors and nurses of the Armenian hospital in the same city. I mention these people here in lieu of the many, many noble Armenians whom I know - from scholars and intellectuals to the Armenian farmers and their families who live on Musa Dagh, made famous by Franz Werfel. I did, of course, also meet other people in the course of my rese­arch work. I especially recall Dr. Gerard Libaridian, the head of the Armenian Zorian Institute.