Soghomon Teilierian: the murderer or the people's avenger?

Soghomon Teileryan is a national avenger of Armenians, famous for his scandalous murder of former dictator Talaat Pasha. His name will remain forever in history, as his deeds deserve it. Indeed, despite all the cruelty of his deed, he only avenged the death of many of his brethren.

Sogomon Teilierian: biography of early years

Sogomon was born on April 2, 1897 in a small village of Nerkin-Bagari that was in the east of the Ottoman Empire. His parents were simple workers, so they did not have the right amount of money for a carefree life. Tired of all this, the senior Teileryan leaves for Serbia in the hope of settling in there and eventually pick up the family there.

However, when he returned from Syria, he was sent to prison for six months. But, worst of all, because of this, his family was deported to the city of Erzincan, which subsequently played a terrible role in the history of their kind. As for Sogomon, he quickly resigned himself to the move and entered the local Protestant school.

The coup d'etat in the country

January 23, 1913 in the country there is a coup d'état, during which Enver Pasha kills Nazim Pasha and usurps power. The policy of the new leader is characterized by extremely radical views based on the purity of the nation. In general, it can be compared with Nazism of Germany, with the slightest difference that here the root of all evil lies in religious differences.

Thus, the Armenian people, not being Muslim, were despised and considered second-rate. In addition, the authorities always exposed Armenians as an example of baseness and cunning, which added fuel to the fire. Therefore, when the new leader ordered in April 1915 to wipe them off the face of the earth, the soldiers began to follow this order without delay.

Horrors of the Armenian Genocide

Soghomon Teileryan, like no one else, was aware of the pain that came with the new government. After all, he witnessed how his hometown turned into a real carnage. Later he will tell the whole world how the state troops killed his relatives and friends, covering the houses and streets with the rivers of scarlet blood.

At the same time, the terrible fate did not ignore Sogomon himself. Before his eyes, his sisters and mother were raped. Later they were executed together with his brother in the house where they spent most of their lives. Soghomon Teileryan himself survived by a miracle: a wounded man was thrown into a pile of dead bodies, counting as a corpse.

He did not remember how much he lay there, but he did not die. He decided not to go on about fate and overcome everything that she had prepared for him. Therefore, after waiting for the cover of the night, Sogomon fled. Passing a lot of obstacles, he got to Constantinople, where he lived for the next five years. And in early 1920 he emigrated to the United States in the hope of finding support among immigrant relatives.

In search of revenge

Arriving in a new world, Sogomon Teileryan found like-minded people who, like him, aspired to take revenge on the bloody elite of the country. The heart of this movement was the political party "Dashnaktsutyun". It was she who developed the sensational punitive operation called "Nemesis".

"Nemesis" is a thoroughly worked out plan of revenge for all those who are guilty of the genocide of the Armenian people. Initially, the list of potential enemies included more than 600 people, but, given the limited capacity of the party, their number was reduced to 41. This included the most hated people standing at the top of the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

Naturally, Soghomon Teileryan could not miss his chance and joined the ranks of those who were destined to become the punishing hand of "justice". He knew that he would do everything possible to revenge so hated enemies who dared to desecrate his people and family.

The killing of Talaat Pasha

Sogomon Teileryan sat in the corner of the room. The photo of his victim lay next to him on the table. Of all the participants in Operation Nemesis, he had the honor of killing the main one, Talaat Pasha. The man knew that this man signed most of the orders, which later became the death sentences for his relatives. Therefore, he did not feel pity for him, but only reflected on how he would perform the act of retribution.

The execution of the former Minister of the Interior, Talaat Pasha, took place on March 15, 1921. Soghomon, walking on the heels of his victim, brought him to one of the squares of Berlin. Then he called to Talaat Pasha and shot him in public from his pistol. After that, the young Armenians surrendered to the police without any noise, submissively accepting their future destiny.

The court's decision

Soon the German authorities began the trial of the case of Sogomon Teileryan. Significantly, it was here that Europe first learned about the horrors that the Ottoman Empire was doing with the Armenian people. This caused a real shock among listeners, which played an important role in making the final decision.

So, in June 1921 the German court acquitted Sogomon Teileryan, referring to the fact that the crime was completely under the influence of a deep emotional trauma. Later, the French writer J. Shalyan will notice: "This event is a rare example of justified violence. After all, only having accomplished it, it was possible to restore justice, thereby honoring the memory of the victims of the bloody massacre. "

The fate of the people's avenger

After justifying the victim of the Armenian Genocide, Soghomon Teileryan went to live in Serbia. Here he met a wonderful woman Anahit, who later became his wife. In early 1951, they moved with the children to the United States.

Sogomon Teileryan died in extreme old age, namely on May 23, 1960. Today, his grave is in the city of Fresno, which is near California.