Let Them Not Return
Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire
Soner Ö Barthoma editor David Gaunt editor Naures Atto editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Berghahn Books
Published:17th Dec '18
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The mass killing of Ottoman Armenians is today widely recognized, both within and outside scholarly circles, as an act of genocide. What is less well known, however, is that it took place within a broader context of Ottoman violence against minority groups during and after the First World War. Among those populations decimated were the indigenous Christian Assyrians (also known as Syriacs or Chaldeans) who lived in the borderlands of present-day Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. This volume is the first scholarly edited collection focused on the Assyrian genocide, or “Sayfo” (literally, “sword” in Aramaic), presenting historical, psychological, anthropological, and political perspectives that shed much-needed light on a neglected historical atrocity.
“This reviewer is more than impressed with the effort and care required to produce what amounts to a syllabus of cogent explorations of one of the most shameful chapters known to man…Let Them Not Return is an invaluable publication providing a great deal of information in support of what promises to be a long and arduous campaign to obtain Turkish confirmation of the genocide of its Christian minorities, particularly that of the lesser publicized Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. With its abundant notes and a rich bibliography accompanying each chapter, this book deserves to grace the shelf of every caring Assyrian.”• Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies
“The book is an excellent contribution in presenting new ideas through its 12 chapters, to study the case of Sayfo by dedicated researches, especially concerning the trauma effect of the post-genocide survivors. Indeed, this is an important book and necessary to be consulted to understand various aspects concerning many themes regarding Christians in the Middle East.”• Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Journal
“This volume does not try to arrive at a conclusive evaluation. But it provides three well thought-out steps for future research in… completely unknown topic in Osman history during the First World War.”• H-Soz-Kult
“With a list of top-notch contributors, this is an excellent addition to what little is currently available on this under-researched genocide. The organization of the contributions and the volume’s breadth of scope are particularly impressive.”• Mark Levene, University of Southampton
ISBN: 9781789200515
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
274 pages