Ռուբէն Սահակեան2026-01-192026-01-192011Սահակեան, Ռ., «Տրապիզոնի գաղթական հայութեան փրկութեան կազմակերպումը Ա. Համաշխարհային պատերազմին (1916-1917 թթ.)», «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 2011, Պէյրութ, էջ 519-551https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/1066During WWI, the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire faced massive deportation and genocide. By the orders of the Young Turk government during Autumn 1914 and 1915, the majority of Armenians living in Western Armenia and other residential areas in Asia Minor were annihilated. The 60,000 Armenian population of the Trabizon Vilayet and city had a similar fate. The belongings of the deported Armenians were confiscated by the local authorities, as noted by the local population. Some native Armenians took refuge in remote mountainous areas and forests and organized self-defense troops. On April 5, 1916, the Russian army occupied Trabizon. Of the 16,000 city Armenians, only 15 women and 50 orphans survived. Of the 46 Armenian villages of the Vilayet, a total of 368 Armenians survived. Some 20,000 took refuge in Russia while all the others were deported or massacred. To rescue the surviving Armenians the Caucasus Armenian Benevolent Union (Kovkasi Hayots Baregortsagan Miyutyun) sent a mission composed of members of the Batumi Chapter, headed by Father Mesrob Melian. The latter became the representative of Catholicos Gevork V of Echmiadzin and established the Trabizon Armenian Committee with the permission of the Russian army command. The Committee rescued some 200 Armenian children who were being forcibly kept in Turkish homes. Most of these children were transported to Batumi, while the remaining ones were settled in Trabizon. The Committee reclaimed the forfeited possessions of the Armenians, including vineyards, lands, and buildings, some 1,200 houses, numerous shops, workplaces, warehouses, and guesthouses. Keeping a record of the belongings was important to safeguard them from foreign trespassing, as the Turkish authorities had entitled the Turkish population of the city to take ownership of Armenian belongings after the population's deportation. The presence of the Russian army enabled those who had taken refuge in remote mountainous areas to return to Trabizon at a daily rate of some 200-300. However, due to food shortages, these people were transported to Russia. After the February Revolution of 1917, the attitude of the Russian authorities gradually improved. They allowed the Armenians to manage their houses and belongings. The schools in the city started functioning, and life began to pick up. But the Bolshevik revolution changed the whole situation. In February 1918, after the Russian army withdrew from the Russian-Turkish front, Turkish forces advanced, forcing the Trabizon Armenians to leave. The documents published in this article shed light on the rescue operation of the 1916-17 genocide survivors in Trabizon.