Aurora Mardiganian

Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Lived Through the Massacres of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire (Hardcover)

Ravished Armenia tells the tragic and horrific story of Aurora Mardiganian, a young Armenian woman fleeing genocide as a refugee. This edition includes the five original illustrations. The Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century were largely Christian. Although the ethnic Turks were mostly Muslim, the two groups had long co-existed. At the outbreak of World War I, many Armenians signed up to fight for the Ottoman cause - this show of loyalty led to an assumption that existing persecutions of the Armenian minority would stop, or at least decline. The author of this book was also desired by a local Turkish sultan to be his harem. Although she doesn't want this fate, Aurora realizes that in principle it would at least ensure the safety and well-being of her family. However, nothing could prepare the Armenian for the sudden and sustained horrors that soon followed.