Soghomon Tehlirian (; April 2, 1896 – May 23, 1960) was an Armenian revolutionary and soldier who
assassinated Talaat Pasha, the former
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
on March 15, 1921. He was entrusted to carry out the assassination after having earlier killed Harutian Mgrditichian, who had worked for the Ottoman secret police and helped compile the list of Armenian intellectuals who were
deported on April 24, 1915.
Talaat's assassination was a part of
Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis () was a program of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to assassinate both Ottoman Empire, Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and officials of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic most responsible for the massacre o ...
, a revenge plan by the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...
against members of the
Ottoman Imperial Government responsible for the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Talaat Pasha had been convicted and sentenced to death ''in absentia'' in the
Turkish courts-martial of 1919–20, and was viewed as the main orchestrator of the genocide. After a two-day trial Tehlirian was found not guilty by a German court, and freed.
Tehlirian is considered a national hero by Armenians.
Life
Soghomon Tehlirian was born on April 2, 1896, in the village of Bagarich (Բագառիճ; present-day
Çadırkaya, Tercan, Turkey), in the
Erzurum vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
.
He was raised in
Erzincan.
Tehlirian's father left for
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
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, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
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, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
to secure the family's planned move to the country.
After his return in 1905, he was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment. During this time, the Tehlirian family moved from Nerkin Bagarij to
Erzinjan.
Tehlirian received his initial education at the Protestant elementary school in Erzinjan.
After graduation at the
Getronagan (Central) Lyceum of Constantinople, he went to study engineering in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and had plans to continue his education in Germany.
Genocide
He was in
Valjevo
Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...
, Serbia, in June 1914. In the fall of that year, Tehlirian made his way to
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and joined the army to serve in
a volunteer unit on the
Caucasus Front against the Turks.
According to ''History's Great Untold Stories: Larger than Life Characters & Dramatic Events that Changed the World'', In June 1915, the Ottoman local police ordered the deportation of all the Armenians in Erzinjan. Tehlirian's mother, three sisters, his sister's husband, his two brothers, and a two-year-old niece were deported.
All told, Tehlirian lost 85 family members to the Armenian Genocide.
In 2016 Tehlirian's son, who spoke to ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' but did not reveal his name, stated that Tehlirian's mother and Vasken, his older brother, died in the genocide – the latter was studying medicine and living in
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
– but that Tehlirian did not have a sister, that his father was fighting in the war in Russia, and that his other two brothers were in Serbia.
[ �]
Also posted at
'' Horizon Weekly''
Assassination of Talaat Pasha
After the war, Tehlirian went to Constantinople, where he assassinated Harutian Mgrditichian, who had worked for the Ottoman secret police and helped compile the list of Armenian intellectuals who were
deported on April 24, 1915. Meanwhile,
Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis () was a program of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to assassinate both Ottoman Empire, Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and officials of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic most responsible for the massacre o ...
was being set up to assassinate leaders responsible for the Armenian genocide and Tehlirian's killing of Mgrditichian convinced Nemesis operatives to entrust him with the assassination of Talat Pasha. In mid-1920, the Nemesis organization paid for Tehlirian to travel to the United States, where Garo briefed him that the death sentences pronounced against the major perpetrators had not been carried out, and that the killers continued their anti-Armenian activities from exile. That fall, the Turkish nationalist movement
invaded Armenia. Tehlirian received the photographs of seven leading CUP leaders, whose whereabouts Nemesis was tracking, and departed for Europe, going first to Paris. In
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, he obtained a visa to go to Berlin as a mechanical engineering student, leaving on December 2.
Tehlirian's main target was
Talaat Pasha, who was a member of the military triumvirate known as the "
Three Pashas" who controlled the Ottoman Empire. He was the former
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
and
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
(an office equivalent to that of a prime minister), and was noted for his prominent role in the Armenian Genocide. As soon as he found Talaat Pasha's address on 4 Hardenbergstraße, in Berlin's
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
district, Tehlirian rented an apartment near his house so that he could study his everyday routine.
Tehlirian shadowed Talaat as he left his house on Hardenbergstraße on the morning of March 15, 1921. He crossed the street to view him from the opposite sidewalk, then crossed it once more to walk past him to confirm his identity. He then turned around and pointed his gun to shoot him in the nape of the neck.
Talaat was felled with a single 9mm parabellum round from a
Luger P08
The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1 ...
pistol. The assassination took place in broad daylight and led to the German police immediately arresting Tehlirian, who had been told by his handlers,
Armen Garo
Garegin or Karekin Pastermadjian (), better known by his ''nom de guerre'' Armen Garo or Armen Karo (Արմէն Գարօ; 9 February 1872 – 23 March 1923) was an Armenian activist and politician. Armen Karo was a leading member of the Arme ...
and
Shahan Natalie
Shahan Natalie (; July 14, 1884 – April 19, 1983) was an Armenian writer and political activist who was the principal organizer of Operation Nemesis, a campaign of revenge against officials of the former Ottoman Empire who organized the Armen ...
, not to run from the crime scene.
Trial
Tehlirian was tried for murder, but was eventually acquitted by the twelve-man jury. His trial was highly publicized at the time, taking place shortly after the establishment of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, with Tehlirian being represented by three German defense attorneys, including Dr. Theodor Niemeyer, professor of law at
Kiel University. Priest and Armenian Genocide survivor
Grigoris Balakian, German activist
Johannes Lepsius, and German Army general
Otto Liman von Sanders, who had been a field marshal in the Ottoman Army during the war, were among several of the prominent individuals called as witnesses to the trial.
The trial examined not only Tehlirian's actions but also Tehlirian's conviction that Talaat was the main author of the Armenian deportation and mass killings. The defense attorneys made no attempt to deny the fact that Tehlirian had killed a man, and instead focused on the influence of the Armenian Genocide on Tehlirian's mental state. Tehlirian claimed during the trial that he had been present in Erzincan in 1915 and had been deported along with his family and personally witnessed their murder. When asked by the judge if he felt any sort of guilt, Tehlirian remarked, "I do not consider myself guilty because my conscience is clear…I have killed a man. But I am not a murderer."
During his trial, Tehlirian claimed that while he was in Germany, he saw his mother in his dreams who scorned her son for seeing Talaat Pasha and not having taken revenge yet. During the trial, Tehlirian's dream was described as follows:
It took the jury slightly over an hour to render a verdict of "not guilty."
German reactions to the verdict were mixed, being generally favorable among those who were sympathetic to Armenians or universal
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
. Journalist
Emil Ludwig wrote, "Only when a society of nations has organized itself as the protector of international order will no Armenian killer remain unpunished, because no Turkish Pasha has the right to send a nation into the desert".
Later life
After the assassination, Tehlirian moved to
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
in the United States.
[ He then moved to ]Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
and then Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
and eventually married Anahit Tatikian who was also from Erzincan. She was 15 when they first met in 1917.[
During his days in Serbia, Tehlirian was a member of the shooting club and was considered a skilled ]marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...
. The couple moved to Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and lived there until 1950, when they moved first to Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
, then to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and finally to San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. There he worked as a postal clerk, and he lived under the name Saro Melikian.
Tehlirian died in 1960 of a cerebral hemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...
,[ and is buried at the Ararat Cemetery in ]Fresno
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Tehlirian's monument-grave is an obelisk with a gold-plated eagle slaying a snake on top. It is reported that the original artist of the monument was quoted as saying that the eagle was "the arm of justice of the Armenian people extending their wrath onto Talaat Pasha," who was symbolized by the snake. The monument itself is centered in the middle of the cemetery with a walkway made of red brick surrounded by cypress trees.[
]
Legacy
His trial for murder influenced Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin
Raphael Lemkin (; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is known for coining the term "genocide" and for campaigning to establish the Genocide Convention, which legally defines the act. Following the German invasion of Poland ...
, who later reflected on the trial, "Tehlirian acted as the self-appointed legal officer for the conscience of mankind. But can a man appoint himself to mete out justice? Will not passion sway such a type of justice and rather make a travesty of it?" As a result, Lemkin was inspired to campaign for a law allowing genocide to be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction
Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows Sovereign state, states or International organization, international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as genocide, War crime, war crimes, and crimes against hu ...
, reasoning that state sovereignty "cannot be conceived as the right to kill millions of innocent people". Historian Hans-Lukas Kieser states "Assassination perpetuated the sick relationship of a victim in quest of revenge with a perpetrator entrenched in defiant denial, instead of humble courage for the truth and redress."[
*]
Political theorist Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century.
Her work ...
, in her 1963 book '' Eichmann in Jerusalem'', compares Tehlirian to Sholem Schwarzbard, who assassinated Ukrainian statesman Symon Petliura in Paris in 1925 for what Schwarzbard believed to be Petlyura's culpability in the anti-Jewish pogroms in Ukraine. Arendt suggests that each man "insisted on being tried", in order "to show the world through court procedure what crimes against his people had been committed and gone unpunished".[Arendt, Hannah (1963). ''Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil''. New York: Viking Press, pp. 265–66.]
Several statues of Tehlirian have been erected in Armenia. His first statue in Armenia was inaugurated in 1990 in the village of Mastara.
In 2017 a square in Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, was named after him.[
]
In popular culture
In 2014, Tehlirian's story was told in a graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
, ''Special Mission: Nemesis''.
;Music
The song Գինի լից, ''Gini lits'' ("Pour the wine"), is a well-known revolutionary song, which commemorates and glorifies the assassination of Talaat by Tehlirian. It has been recorded in a variety of versions and is known by heart by many Armenians. The version by Sahak Sahakyan also has a music video. The first stanza of the song goes:
:The Armenians' horror shook the world,
:The Turkish throne fell to the ground,
:Let me tell you about the death of Talaat.
:Pour the wine, dear friend, pour the wine,
:Drink it nicely; drink it with delight.
;Film
* The 1982 American film ''Assignment Berlin'', directed by Hrayr Toukhanian, chronicles Talaat Pasha's assassination in Berlin.
* The 1986 Turkish film ' ("Blood on the Wall") adapts Tehlirian's trial.
* The 1991 French film '' Mayrig'' by Henri Verneuil depicts Talaat's assassination and Tehlirian's trial.
* The 2020 short film ''The Attempt'', directed by Daniel Despart, depicts Tehlirian's assassination of Talaat Pasha.
References
Further reading
*Bass, Gary Jonathan. ''Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals''. Princeton University Press, 2001.
* Bogosian, Eric. '' Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide''. New York: Little, Brown & Company, 2015.
*Ihrig, Stefan. "Genocide Denied, Accepted, and Justified: The Assassination of Talât Pasha and the Subsequent Trial as a Media Event in the Early Weimar Republic," ''Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies'' 22 (2013), pp. 153–77.
* Tehlirian, Soghomon. Վերհիշումներ Recollections" or "Memories" Cairo: Husaper, 1953. Recorded in writing by Vahan Minakhorian
* Yeghiayan, Vartkes. ''The Case of Soghomon Tehlirian''. Glendale, CA: Center for Armenian Remembrance; 2nd edition, 2006.
*
Profile page
*Tehlirian, Soghomon, Vahan Minakhorian. “Remembrances:The Assassination of Talaat Pasha”. Demirdjian, Bedros (translator). London: Gomidas Institute, 2022.
External links
Transcript of the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian
by Chris Bohjalian
Chris A. Bohjalian () is an American novelist and the author of over twenty novels, including '' Midwives'' (1997), '' The Sandcastle Girls'' (2012), '' The Guest Room'' (2016), and '' The Flight Attendant'' (2018). Bohjalian's work has been publ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehlirian, Soghomon
1896 births
1960 deaths
People from Erzincan
People from Erzurum vilayet
Armenian assassins
Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
American people of Armenian descent
Armenian genocide survivors
Witnesses of the Armenian genocide
Operation Nemesis
People acquitted of murder
Trials in Germany
Nersisian School alumni
Expatriates from the Ottoman Empire in the United States
Russian military personnel of World War I
20th-century murderers
Armenian people imprisoned abroad
Prisoners and detainees of Germany
Vigilantes