Hrag Vartanian

Since Vahakn Dadrian pointed out (in “German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide“) that some of the German plotters of the Holocaust had intimate knowledge of the Armenian Genocide, there has been growing interest, even among Germans, of Germany’s role.
Four years ago, Armenian American indie filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian made the documentary “Germany and the Secret Genocide” (57 min.)–check it out on Google Video or You Tube. [I recently received a review copy and was able to look at it careful–you can’t imagine how much material I get to review and sometimes how long it takes me to give it the attention it deserves.]
THE SKINNY: Deutschebank helped fund the Berlin-Baghdad railway and some German officials wanted to relocate the “industrious” Armenians to Mesopotamia for political and perhaps racial purposes. Turk nationalists capitalized on the idea, combined it with racist German theories, and decided that a ticket to oblivion was cheaper than one to Iraq. Germans also used Ottoman Armenians as guinea pigs in gassing and typhus experiments, foreshadowing WWII concentration camp tactics.
Hagopian film is a little nostalgic and slow, but it’s great to see Hilmar Kaiser and reels of survivor interviews. Sometimes the film delves too deep for a general audience and harps a little too much on German racism (which culture doesn’t have its hate-motivated factions), but the information is eye opening nonetheless.