Let Them Not Return

David Gaunt is Professor of History at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University, and a member of the European Academy. He has written extensively on mass violence and genocide in Eastern Europe and in the Ottoman Empire. His Massacres, Resistors, Protectors (2006) is considered the seminal work on the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean genocide.

“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

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Contextualizing the Sayfo in the First World WarDavid Gaunt, Naures Atto and Soner O. BarthomaChapter 1. How Armenian was the 1915 Genocide?Ugur Ümit ÜngörChapter 2. Sayfo Genocide: The Culmination of an Anatolian Culture of ViolenceDavid GauntChapter 3. The Resistance of Urmia Assyrians to Violence at the Beginning of the Twentieth CenturyFlorence Hellot-BellierChapter 4. Mor Dionysios ‘Abd an-Nur Aslan: Church Leader during a GenocideJan J. van GinkelChapter 5. Syriac Orthodox Leadership in the Post-Genocide Period (1918–26) and the Removal of the Patriarchate from TurkeyNaures Atto and Soner O. BarthomaChapter 6. Sayfo, Firman, Qafle: The First World War from the Perspective of Syriac ChristiansShabo TalayChapter 7. A Historical Note of October 1915 Written in Dayro D-Zafaran (Deyrulzafaran)Sebastian BrockChapter 8. Interpretation of the ‘Sayfo’ in Gallo Shabo’s PoemSimon BirolChapter 9. The Psychological Legacy of the Sayfo: An Inter-generational Transmission of Fear and DistrustÖnver A. CetrezChapter 10. Sayfo and Denialism: A New Field of Activity for Agents of the Turkish RepublicRacho DonefChapter 11. Turkey’s Key Arguments in Denying the Assyrian GenocideAbdulmesih BarAbrahamChapter 12. Who Killed Whom? A Comparison of Political Discussions in France and Sweden about the Genocide of 1915Christophe PrematIndex