/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A new abridged English translation by Ara Stepan Melkonian and Ara Sarafian was just released by the Gomidas Institute of London under the title “Cilicia 1909: The Massacre of Armenians.” The book by Hagop H. Terzian was published in Istanbul in 1912, but confiscated by the Ottoman government. Terzian, a pharmacist by profession, documented his own and other eyewitnesses’ experiences during the 1909 massacres in the Adana province. Born in Hadjin in 1879 and educated in Constantinople, he barely escaped the horrific events, however, was arrested on April 24, 1915 and killed, along with many of his colleagues.

Sarafian introduced the new volume on Monday, October 12, during the Armenian Studies Program Lecture Series at California State University, Fresno, in observation of the one hundredth anniversary of the Adana Massacres. The detailed descriptions that Terzian recorded in his diary are chilling, to say the least, but should be widely required reading. The suffering to which the Armenian population of Adana was subjected by mobs — in two stages — could be summarized as “going through hell and back,” if you survived!

According to the book, over 21,000 Armenians were murdered during less than two weeks of massacres. As a result of lootings, in the Adana province the Armenians lost an estimated 5,400,000 gold liras in economic and personal property.

With their translation, Ara Stepan Melkonian and Ara Sarafian have done a great service, not only for recorded history but also for the illumination of our coming generations. Although the book encompasses many disturbing and graphic descriptions of eyewitness accounts, it is easy to read and should be read by every student of humanity. It provides a preview of what followed six years later, during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Anyone who would like to educate younger people about atrocities that may be committed by mankind against man, or provide help with interpreting unfolding current events, with the goal of pre-empting and preventing genocidal recurrences, should hand them a copy of “Cilicia 1909”, Asbarez.com reported.