World War I
With the outbreak of the First World War () and Russia’s announcement of an amnesty for the Dashnaks, he appeared in Russian embassy in Sofia offering their services. He was appointed deputy commander of the II Volunteer Detachment ( Armenian formations as part of the Russian army - the commander of the detachment was Dro). At the beginning of May 1915, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree and St. Anna 4th degree for the battles in the Berkeley Gorge and Sheikh Qara. In July 1915, he was awarded the St. George Cross, 3rd and 2nd degree, for fighting in the Magreod Gorge. From May 1917 he was city commissioner in Alexandropol (Gyumri)
First Republic
Subsequently, in a letter to Stalin, he explained his cooperation with the Nazis with two motives - anti-Turkish and the desire to save Armenians from the fate of the Jews (the Germans began to take discriminatory measures against Armenians in the Balkans).
Arrest and imprisonment
More recently, another “misunderstanding” has surfaced in relations between Russia and Armenia.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, at a briefing in Moscow, expressed surprise at the installation of a monument to Nzhdeh in Yerevan.
According to her, everyone is well aware of Russia’s position on manifestations of any form of revival, glorification of fascism, neo-Nazism, Nazism. She also recalled that on December 17, 2015, at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution was adopted “Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of modern forms racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” which Armenia then supported.
In turn, deputy from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Margarita Yesayan responded to this in the following words: “Let them look at themselves, at their history,” thereby accusing Russia of improper attitude towards own history and historical figures.
Moreover, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan was personally present at the opening of the monument to Garegin Nzhdeh.
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But Garegin Nzhdeh (real name Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan) collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War, supported them and hoped that Germany would defeat the USSR and he would be able to return to Armenia. Nzhdeh furiously campaigned for captured Armenians to join the armed struggle against the USSR, declaring: “Whoever dies for Germany dies for Armenia.” That is, it was clearly recorded in his mind that Hitler and Armenia are kindred spirits.
And now, when the whole world solemnly celebrated the 71st anniversary of the victory over fascism in Armenia with pomp in the city center on May 28 - in official holiday- Day of the First Republic - a monument to the Nazi bastard is unveiled, and this despite the fact that Yerevan already has Garegin Nzhdeh Square.
In fact, the Republican Party of Armenia and its leader President Sargsyan once again confirmed that they adhere to the ideology of Garegin Nzhdeh. By the way, it is worth noting that the central office of the ruling party is located a few meters from the installation site of the monument. From the point of view of Hitler’s Nazi ideology, everything is logical.
And there is no longer any doubt that Armenia, suffering from a chronic diagnosis great power chauvinism, already on genetic level preaches totalitarianism, cruelty and the ideology of misanthropy. Bright, illustrative example glorification of personality can serve this purpose Garegin Nzhdeh, a Nazi collaborator who is now Armenian public
I try to present him as a philosopher, a developer of the ideology of national existence.
On the picture: on the right “Poster about the conscription of Armenians to serve inwaffen— ss", on the right - Garegin Nzhdeh
…In order for someone to be declared a hero in Armenia, this person must have a long “track record.” Let's consider the facts concerning the life of Garegin Nzhdeh - the “hero” of the Armenian legend, and in life and everyday life - Ter-Harutyunyan Garegin Egishevich.
According to the Armenian publicist Sarkis Kilikyan, Ter-Harutyunyan, who later entered the field of political adventurism and took the pseudonym Nzhdeh, which translated means wanderer, was born on January 20 (according to some versions, February 2) 1886 in the family of a priest in Nakhchivan. At baptism he was named Arakel.
He studied at the school of the Arakelots Monastery in Mush. In 1894 he entered the primary school in Nakhchivan, and was soon transferred to the Russian seven-year Higher Primary School. Upon graduation, he entered the gymnasium, and in 1902 - Faculty of Law St. Petersburg University, from which he was expelled two years later for connections with revolutionaries. As Nzhdeh himself writes in his autobiography: “To revolutionary movement I joined at the age of 17, still a high school student.”
Since this was a time when students were massively infected with the virus of Marxism, which basically meant the opportunity not to study or work, but to engage in political provocations, expropriation, to comprehend the basics of terrorism, justifying all this revolutionary ideology, then Nzhdeh, realizing that among the revolutionaries who acted against Tsarist Russia, « free seats no", devotes himself to participating in national movement behind " Great Armenia" Well, I reasoned quite reasonably: it’s better to be a big bump in your swamp than a hundred thousandth cobblestone on a cobblestone street.
“...I returned to the Caucasus to go with Murad’s Haiduk detachment to Turkish Armenia. After that I acted in Persia. In 1909 he returned to the Caucasus again and was arrested. I spent more than 3 years in prisons from Julfa to St. Petersburg; after the well-known trial of 163 members of Dashnaktsutyun, in order to avoid exile to Siberia, I went to Bulgaria,” Nzhdeh further writes in his autobiography. - In 1912, I gathered a company of Armenian volunteers and, together with Andranik, participated in Balkan War for the liberation of Macedonia and Thrace. With the outbreak of the World War, having received forgiveness from the tsarist government, I returned to the Caucasus to participate in hostilities against Turkey.”
But here he is disingenuous. As stated in the “Certificate” received by the First Main Directorate of the USSR MGB from Sofia and signed by the head of the 4th department of the 3rd department of the PGU MGB of the USSR, Lieutenant Colonel Aghayan:
« At the end of the Balkan War, Nzhdeh leaves his detachment and goes with other units to fight against the Serbs. After the truce, he returns to Sofia, travels around Bulgaria, opposes Andranik Pasha, raises funds and inflames the national feelings of naive patriots for his personal and his organization’s purposes. Volunteers expose Nzhdeh’s dishonest policies, fermentation arises among the Dashnaks, then Nzhdeh strengthens his ties with the Macedonians and works in favor of the Macedonian movement, while receiving the support of Alexandrov. In 1913 he went to the congress of Dashnaks in Paris. At the end of the congress, he returns to Bulgaria (Varna), after a short period of time he leaves for Romania, where he gathers his like-minded people and soon leaves for Tbilisi through the city of Poti. Here he takes part in the work military commission Dashnaks and in 1914 organized a detachment with which, as part of the Russian army, he acted against Turkey, which resulted in Nzhdeh being awarded the rank of captain. During the counter-revolutionary action of the Dashnaks, as a representative of the headquarters of the Dashnak organization, Nzhdeh carried out a lot of arrests and executions of progressive people. Was the initiator of robberies Armenian population and destruction of residential buildings of tax evaders in his organization. In 1920, Nzhdeh’s military detachment shot about 18 thousand people, residents of Erivan and other cities. In the same year he goes to the mountains and, with the support of interventionists, tries to organize resistance against Soviet power».
At the beginning of September 1919, Nzhdeh was sent with his detachment to Zangezur, where he was appointed to lead the defense southern border district. In his own words, he “from that time on dedicated himself to the cause of protecting and saving the Armenians of Kapan and Arevik from destruction.” In early December, Nzhdeh fought and occupied the Gekhvadzor gorge, according to his personal statement, “destroying the resistance of 32 Tatar villages,” after which he went on the offensive and occupied Azerbaijani villages, carrying out ethnic cleansing there.
On August 10, 1920, an agreement was concluded between Soviet Russia and the Republic of Armenia, according to which these areas were occupied by the Red Army. Nzhdeh and his detachment were pushed back to the Khustupk Mountains, where they fortified themselves, taking advantage of the inaccessibility of the area. However, at the beginning of October 1920, a mass uprising against Soviet power began in Zangezur, which Nzhdeh immediately led. On December 25, 1920, a congress held in the Tatev Monastery proclaimed the “Autonomous Syunik Republic,” which was actually headed by Nzhdeh, who accepted the ancient title of sparapet (commander-in-chief).
The leadership of Soviet Armenia announced a reward for the head of the “head of the Zangezur counter-revolution,” the “adventurer Nzhdeh,” whose affairs become clear when you look at an excerpt from a copy of the protocol of the arrested Devedjian Hovhannes Akopovich dated August 28, 1947:
“...Nzhdeh in Zangezur allowed the brutal murder of over thirty communists, throwing them alive from the Tatev cliff into the abyss. I first became aware of this fact from conversations with the leader of the Dashnaktsutyun party and the responsible figures of the Dashnak adventure of 1921 in Tabriz, and then Nzhdeh himself told me about the same, stating that he acted as statesman, and not as a Christian."
The February uprising of 1921 in Armenia attracted the forces of the Bolsheviks, and Nzhdeh, taking advantage of this, extended his power to part of Nagorno-Karabakh, uniting with the Armenian militants operating there. On April 27, 1921, the entity under his rule was proclaimed the “Republic of Mountainous Armenia,” and Nzhdeh led it as prime minister, minister of war and minister of foreign affairs. July 1 " Nagorno Armenia" took the name "Republic of Armenia", Simon Vratsyan was declared its prime minister, and Nzhdeh was declared minister of war. However, Soviet troops soon went on the offensive, and on July 9, Nzhdeh with the remnants of the rebels left for Iran.
From Iran he flees to France, from France to America. In America, having not received support from the Dashnaks, Nzhdeh returned to Paris and, not finding the help he was looking for here, in 1924 he went to Bulgaria. In Sofia, he restores contact with the Macedonians and, with the help of Russian White Guards, tries to create a military-terrorist organization.
No matter where and what Nzhdeh did, his activities, adventurous and terrorist, were always of a provocative nature, as the document below proves:
"Top secret. In ZAKCHEKA, Tiflis, copy of ARMCHEK, Erivan.
According to available information, he arrived from Paris to Tabriz former boss one of the Dashnak detachments of Nzhdeh, from where he, through couriers, notified the Dashnaks of Erivan, Tiflis, Armavir and Rostov-on-Don that he had begun organizing Dashnak detachments, which, under the guise of Turks, would attack border points and villages, if successful or favorable conditions will cross the border and even capture Erivan. By their actions, on the one hand, they will discredit the Soviet government of Armenia, and on the other, undermine Russia’s good neighborly relations with Turkey and Persia.
Deputy OGPU PP in South/East Russia Frinovsky, Deputy head. Eastern department. May 30, 1924, No. 022062/s Abulyan.”
Nzhdeh mainly lived in Bulgaria, having accepted Bulgarian citizenship, but in the summer of 1933 he moved to the USA in order to help K. Tandergyan in the murder Turkish Ambassador Mukhtar Bey. Even before Nzhdeh’s arrival in the United States, Armenian youth organizations “Ayordi”, “Sons of Armenia” and others were functioning there.
However, they acted separately, which prompted Nzhdeh to create an organization uniting the Armenian youth of the diaspora. To organize and implement this difficult task Nzhdeh created the “Ethnovera” (Tsegakron) movement. The organization was designed to overcome the decadent mood that reigned in the souls of young Armenians and was a consequence of being in a foreign land. Not particularly successful in his plans and disappointed, Nzhdeh turned his wandering gaze to Germany, where Hitler was already in full swing.
By the way, in the Hitler archives there was preserved a memo by Rosenberg, who met Nzhdeh in 1934, after which six months later the same memorandum was presented to Hitler, in which, by studying anthropology Armenian people the “Aryan origin of the Armenians” was recognized.
I consider it necessary to note that Nzhdeh turned to Hitler even before the start of World War II - in 1934! So to speak, according to the dictates of the heart.
In 1941, in Sofia, Nzhdeh officially contacted the Nazi occupiers and negotiated with them to convene a conference of Dashnaks in Berlin with the aim of creating an “Armenian Liberation Committee under the Hitlerite Army.” This conference was convened in April 1943, the delegates from Bulgaria were Nzhdeh and Karo Kazarosyan, and it was decided to begin recruiting volunteers to fight the Soviet army.
Upon returning to Sofia from Berlin, Nzhdeh, in pursuance of the decision of the above conference, with the support of the Bulgarian authorities and the Gestapo, was actively recruiting volunteers, for the same purpose he created the women's organization “Merciful Cross”.
Establishing connections with management Nazi Germany, Nzhdeh most often meets with Reich Minister Rosenberg, participates in the Caucasian bloc, consisting of representatives of emigrant organizations Caucasian peoples and created on the platform of supporting Germany as the future “liberator of the Caucasus from Soviet domination.”
On December 15, 1942, Garegin Nzhdeh became one of the seven members of the Armenian National Council created by the Germans and deputy editor of the newspaper National Council"Free Armenia". Armenian paramilitary forces formed in Germany under the leadership of Dro and Garegin Nzhdeh were trained by SS instructors and took an active part in occupation operations Crimean peninsula and attacks on the Caucasus.
The Nazis also planned to use the Armenian population as a destabilizing factor within Turkey and Soviet Union. Since Nzhdeh only dreamed of this, in 1942, together with Dro, he participated in the formation of the Armenian units that were part of German Wehrmacht, recruiting captured Armenian Red Army soldiers for this.
Already in 1944 it became clear that Germany would lose the war. With the approach of the Soviet army, Nzhdeh switches to an illegal position. For some time he hides in the city of Panagyurits, in the house of the cowman Bedikyan, on the eve of September 9, 1944 he moves to Plovdiv, where he lives in the Commercial Hotel, and then returns to Panagyurits again to Bedikyan, from where he moves to Sofia in the latter’s car. Here he is arrested by representatives of the Soviet authorities.
In the archives of the Ministry of National Security of Armenia, in file No. 11278, vol.4. A letter from Nzhdeh, dated September 1944, that is, written immediately after his arrest, has been preserved:
"I came Soviet army, and what I expected happened. Taking advantage of the current confusion, several Armenians as police agents, accompanied by armed Bulgarian police, go from house to house and look for me. Forever disgusting slaves, friends, relatives - no one will open the door for you... They forgot, all the Armenians forgot everything, that only thanks to my efforts they did not suffer the fate of the Jews, and for four years they only got richer and richer. Diaspora, you once again made me experience the bitterness of shame. Shame on you!"
Well, what can I say, I was upset... Nzhdeh really extraordinary person, even by Armenian standards, is a gang leader, a sadist, a war criminal, a Nazi and ... a writer. Imitating Hitler, imagining himself the “Führer of the Armenian people,” he left a whole “legacy” of his messages to the young Armenian generation, for example, “A people professing courage is a true Aryan,” “Punished cowardice, cowardice, these are two words that characterize our sad political the present".
And the manuscript “My Credo” (do you feel the analogy with Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kapf”?), where it is expressed the main idea Nzhdeh: “There should not be a single day without a fight with the Turk,” a real quotation book of a dictator professing a sectarian ideology in which he places himself, his beloved, at the center of the Universe.
However, in Nzhdeh’s letters to Soviet military leader To Kliment Voroshilov we read: “ ...returning to my cell, I found that my things had been transferred to another bed, standing almost at the door, and that the mattress had been replaced with an empty bag. This was a harbinger of the Inquisition over me. The most terrible tortures began, which only a sadistic mind can invent, so that it would be clear that I was not closing my eyes: I was deprived of the right to wear stockings and a hat. I had a high temperature, I asked a doctor, they didn’t call me, I was extremely nervous tension I fainted. ...I declare myself a martyr».
This is Garegin Nzhdeh, the “sacred hero” of the Armenian people. I don’t have the patience to describe all the adventures and affairs of this “eternal wanderer”, and the paper will turn red with shame. The only thing I would like to add is that in Germany, which recognized the so-called “ Armenian genocide“, thought about Hitler’s friends, who sincerely and fully supported Hitler’s ideas, which they proved by the occupation of Azerbaijani land and the sophisticated cruelty towards the civilian population of Azerbaijan because of their different ethnicity.
Nationalism and its activation are a sign of the decline of a nation, a crisis of its ideology, regression. Mononationalism is a tragedy for any people, which affects its further development as a nation, on the formation of its statehood. And in Armenia, where practice has confirmed scientific theory, this factor led to real degradation Armenian statehood, loss of sovereignty.
Nationalism, which won in Armenia, like gangrene, corroded and turned the country into a small one. geographical point, from which, as from danger zone, its own people are scattering all over the world, forgetting about national pride, and about love for their native fatherland, and about national dignity, and about faith in their Armenian God.
Tatiana Chaladze,
Honored Journalist of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Born into the family of a priest in 1886 in the village of Kznut, Nakhichevan district. Elementary education received at the Russian school in Nakhichevan and continued his studies at the Tiflis gymnasium. In 1902, Nzhdeh entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. Despite his excellent academic performance and undoubted talent in law, after two years of study he leaves the university and devotes himself entirely to serving the ideals of the national liberation movement. Having joined the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF) in 1904, he began an armed struggle against the Turkish occupiers and political work among the Armenian population.
Participation in the liberation movement
Having moved to Salmas (Iran, on the border with Turkey), he studied there at a military school organized by the Dashnaks under officer Knyazhevsky. In 1907, with the help of leaders of the Macedonian movement associated with the Dashnaks, he entered officer school them. Dmitry Nikolov in Sofia, where he graduated with the rank of second lieutenant in the Bulgarian army. Upon completion of it in the same year he joined partisan detachment Murad and then joined Dashnaktsutyun, adopting the party pseudonym Nzhdeh (“Wanderer”). Takes an active part in the Iranian revolution. In 1909 he returned to the Caucasus to purchase weapons and transport them to Iran, but was arrested by the Russian authorities. He went through the Dashnaks trial of 1912, was released and returned to Bulgaria.
Founder of the Tsegakron movement.
Participation in the Balkan War
On September 23, 1912, due to the outbreak of the 1st Balkan War, he volunteered for Bulgarian army. As a Bulgarian reserve officer, he was tasked with forming a company of Armenian volunteers. He formed and led a company of 229 (later 272) people, in which Andranik fought, who was, in the words of L. D. Trotsky, “the soul of the detachment.” Trotsky in the following way describes the company's performance:
On November 15, the company defeated the Turks near the village of Megramli, for which Nzhdeh received Bulgarian and Greek awards, as well as the title “hero” Balkan peoples" During the war he was wounded. He took part in the 2nd Balkan War, in which he was wounded.
World War I
With the outbreak of the First World War (1914) and Russia's announcement of an amnesty for the Dashnaks, he came to the Russian embassy in Sofia offering his services. He was appointed deputy commander of the II Volunteer Detachment (Armenian formations within the Russian army - the detachment commander was Dro). At the beginning of May 1915, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree and St. Anna 4th degree for the battles in the Berkeley Gorge and Sheikh Qara. In July 1915 he was awarded St. George's crosses 3rd and 2nd degrees for battles in the Magreod gorge.
From May 1917 he was city commissioner in Alexandropol (Gyumri)
First Republic
In May 1918, he covered the retreat of Armenian troops from the Kars region, fighting the battle of Aladzha; at the same time, Garegin Nzhdeh managed to remove materials from Professor Marr’s excavations from Ani. On May 26-28, 1918, Nzhdeh commanded in the battle of Karakilise (Vanadzor), stopping superior forces Turkish army. In this battle he was wounded again. Awarded the Order Courage. With the formation of the Republic of Armenia, it is engaged in the formation and training of the Armenian national army.
Activities in Zangezur
On September 4, 1919, he was sent with his detachment to Zangezur (Syunik), which, with the support of England, he laid claims on Azerbaijan. Nzhdeh was appointed to lead the defense southern region Zangezura, Kapan, while the defense northern region, Sisian, directed by Poghos Ter-Davtyan. In my own words, “from that time on, I devoted myself to the cause of protecting and saving the Armenians of Kapan and Arevik from destruction, repelling the constant attacks of Musavatist Azerbaijan and the Turkish pashas Nuri and Khalil.” The Azerbaijani offensive was stopped by the Armenians in early November near Geryusy. In early December, Nzhdeh fought and occupied the Gekhvadzor gorge, in his own words, “destroying the resistance of 32 Tatar villages,” which became a “disaster” for the neighboring areas. In March 1920, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war resumed throughout the disputed regions (Zangezur, Karabakh, Nakhichevan). On April 28, Baku was occupied by the Red Army, and Soviet power was proclaimed there; at the beginning of July, the Red Army invaded Zangezur, and in the middle of the month fighting began between it and the Armenian forces. On August 10, 1920, an agreement was concluded between Soviet Russia and the Republic of Armenia, according to which the disputed areas were occupied by the Red Army. Fearing that Zangezur may then come under control Soviet Azerbaijan, Nzhdeh did not recognize this agreement and refused to leave Zangezur (unlike Dro, who was the commander in Zangezur). At the beginning of September, Kapan was occupied by the Reds, and Nzhdeh and his detachment were pushed into the Khustupk Mountains (the vicinity of Meghri, ancient Arevik), where he fortified himself, taking advantage of the inaccessibility of the area. His situation was difficult, and he sent out appeals one after another, bitterly reproaching the Kapanians for treason. However, at the beginning of October 1920, a mass uprising against Soviet power began in Zangezur, which Nzhdeh immediately led (along with Ter-Davtyan, and after the death of the latter - alone). By November 21, two brigades of the 11th Red Army and several allied Turkish battalions (1,200 Turks in total) were defeated by the rebels, and Zangezur was completely liberated. On December 25, 1920, a congress held in the Tatev Monastery proclaimed the “Autonomous Syunik Republic,” which was actually headed by Nzhdeh, who accepted the ancient title of sparapet (commander-in-chief). The leadership of Soviet Armenia announced a reward for the head of the “head of the Zangezur counter-revolution”, the “adventurer Nzhdeh”. The February uprising in Armenia drew back the Bolshevik forces, giving Zangezur a respite for some time; in the spring, with the defeat of the February uprising, the rebel forces retreated to Zangezur. By that time, Nzhdeh had extended his power to part of Nagorno-Karabakh, uniting with the rebels operating there. On April 27, 1921, the entity under his authority was proclaimed the Republic of Mountainous Armenia, and Nzhdeh headed it as prime minister, minister of war and minister of foreign affairs. On July 1, Nagorno-Armenia adopted the name of the Republic of Armenia, as a continuation of the First Republic; Simon Vratsyan, the latter's prime minister, was declared its prime minister, and Nzhdeh was declared minister of war. However, Soviet troops soon went on the offensive, and on July 9, Nzhdeh with the remnants of the rebels left for Iran. He himself believed that with his defense he saved Zangezur from the fate of Karabakh and Nakhichevan, transferred by Soviet Russia to Azerbaijan. This opinion was shared by the Armenians of Syunik, among whom the name Garegin is still the most popular.
Emigration and collaboration with the Nazis
After the fall of the Republic of Armenia, Nzhdeh emigrated from the country along with the Dashnaks. In exile he lived in Bulgaria, accepting Bulgarian citizenship. In the summer of 1933, Nzhdeh moved to the United States. There he intended to help K. Tandergyan in the liquidation of the Turkish ambassador Mukhtar Bey. Upon arrival in the USA, he began to form the youth organization “Dashnkatsutyun” - Armenian Youth Federation () (Federation of Armenian Youth). In 1937, he broke with Dashnkatsutyun and in 1938 was formally expelled from it at the congress (the first expulsion was in 1921, but Nzhdeh was later reinstated). Then he moved to Germany, where he joined the Nazi movement and reached the rank of general. ((subst: AI))
Established connections with the leadership of Nazi Germany, hoping to convince Germany to attack Turkey. Subsequently, he meets with Reich Minister A. Rosenberg, participates in the Caucasian bloc of representatives of emigrant organizations of the Caucasian peoples, on the platform of supporting Germany as the future “liberator of the Caucasus from Soviet domination.”
In 1942, together with Dro, he participated in the formation, from mostly Red Army prisoners of war-Armenians, of Armenian units as part of the German armed forces [page not specified 195 days].
Subsequently, in a letter to Stalin, he explained his cooperation with the Nazis with two motives - anti-Turkish and the desire to save Armenians from the fate of the Jews (the Germans began to take discriminatory measures against Armenians in the Balkans).
Arrest and imprisonment
When approaching Soviet troops to Sofia, Nzhdeh refused to leave Bulgaria, not wanting to expose his organization to attack. In addition, he hoped that the USSR would soon declare war on Turkey and he would be able to take direct part in this war. After the entry of Soviet troops, I wrote a letter with this proposal to General Tolbukhin. On October 9, Nzhdeh was summoned to Soviet mission, where he was informed that he must go to Moscow to personally make his proposal to the management. On October 12, he was arrested by SMERSH and sent to Moscow, to the internal MGB prison on Lubyanka, from where in 1946 he was transferred to Yerevan prison. Nzhdeh was accused of counter-revolutionary activities, primarily of participation in the “anti-Soviet” uprising in Zangezur and massacres communists during this uprising (he was extremely outraged by this accusation, since back in 1921 an amnesty was declared for the Zangezur rebels). He was tortured with insomnia, but not physical impact(since at the very first meeting with the investigator, he, according to his own statement, told him “that the slightest attempt physical violence above me will cause a response on my part in the same form that he will be forced to kill me"). On April 24, 1948, a special meeting at the MGB sentenced him to 25 years in prison. He was sent to Vladimir prison. In 1952-53 in Yerevan prison, then transferred to Tashkent, from where again to Vladimir prison, where he died on December 21, 1955.
Nzhdeh's grave
The brother, Levon Ter-Harutyunyan, was refused to bury Nzhdeh in Armenia and only clothes and watches were given as personal belongings. Nzhdeh was buried by his brother and a sign was placed on the fenced grave: Ter-Harutyunyan Garegin Egisheevich (1886-1955). On August 31, 1983, the ashes of Garegin Nzhdeh were transported to Armenia by linguist Varag Arakelyan. In 1987 he was reburied in the courtyard of the Spitakavor church. Gladzor, Vayots Dzor region (before that, the ashes were kept in the basement of Varag Arakelyan’s country house). However, in his will, Nzhdeh expressed a desire to be buried at the foot of Mount Khustup in Syunik (Kapan). This wish was fulfilled only in April 2005. The funeral ceremony took place at the monument to G. Nzhdeh at the foot of Mount Khustup (part of Nzhdeh’s ashes remained in Spitakavor: since it is also a place of pilgrimage, said deputy Serzh Mkrtchyan, who was one of the organizers of the funeral ceremony ).
Essays
- "The Struggle of Children Against Fathers" (1927)
- "Seven Testaments to My Companions"
- "Autobiography"
- "Ethnovera"
- "A people professing courage-Aryanism"
- "My credo"
- « Open letters Armenian intelligentsia"
World War I
With the outbreak of the First World War () and Russia announcing an amnesty for the Dashnaks, he came to the Russian embassy in Sofia offering his services. He was appointed deputy commander of the II Volunteer Detachment (Armenian formations within the Russian army - the detachment commander was Dro). At the beginning of May 1915, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree and St. Anna 4th degree for the battles in the Berkeley Gorge and Sheikh Qara. In July 1915, he was awarded the St. George Cross, 3rd and 2nd degree, for fighting in the Magreod Gorge. From May 1917 he was city commissioner in Alexandropol (Gyumri)
First Republic
Subsequently, in a letter to Stalin, he explained his cooperation with the Nazis with two motives - anti-Turkish and the desire to save Armenians from the fate of the Jews (the Germans began to take discriminatory measures against Armenians in the Balkans).
Arrest and imprisonment
Nazi or national hero?
Recently a scandal broke out. Some unfriendly countries and hostile media in Russia made a fuss: Wow, wow, how is it that in Armenia they consider a Nazi a national hero and honor him at the state level?
Maria Zakharova answered their question in the briefing, choosing words from the position of “we talked and forgot” - “ We all know about the feat of the Armenian people during the Second World War. For us, the main indicator of Yerevan’s official position on the issue of conservation historical truth is related to the holiday of May 9. Armenia is among the co-sponsors of the UN General Assembly resolution on combating the glorification of Nazism. I would like to emphasize that upon the adoption of this resolution at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, it was the Armenian delegation that voiced a joint statement of the CSTO member states in support of this important initiative. We assume that this is what it is official position Yerevan..».
The fact is that a monument to Garegin Nzhdeh was recently erected in Yerevan.
Garegin Nzhdeh, Armenian military and statesman, founder of one of the Armenian nationalist ideology. In the 20s he fought against the Turks and Azerbaijanis, liberating part of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from them. He also fought against the revolutionary troops, knowing that Soviet authority decides to give Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan. After the communists came to power in Armenia, he left and lived in exile in Iran and Bulgaria. Collaborated with the Nazis during World War II with the hopes that after attacking Turkey as they planned, Armenian territories would be liberated from the Turks.
In 1944, in Sofia, Nzhdeh consciously surrendered to Soviet troops. He surrendered with hopes that the USSR would soon declare war on Turkey and he would be able to take direct part in this war. It was not destined... Stalin abandoned the plans due to the fact that the Americans dropped atomic bombs to Japan. Nzhdeh was arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary activities, and sentenced to 25 years. Died in prison in 1955.
In Armenia, Garegin Nzhdeh is perceived as a hero precisely for that historical episode when he fought against the Turks, who were organizing, against the Azerbaijanis, liberating Armenian villages from them, and against the Soviet troops, helping the Azerbaijanis, handing them over.
IN Soviet years in Armenia, Nzhdeh was perceived as a national hero, albeit an unofficial and controversial one.
When the former USSR republics dispersed to their national homes, the interests of their country became the paramount issue for each of them.
In our time, when things have worsened interethnic relations, and conflicts have already arisen, the glorification of one’s own national heroes has become a necessity for these countries. Nzhdeh is very useful for Armenia in this context. And he deservedly became a hero of the nation.
And the fact that Nzhdeh was with the Germans at some time in his life is something I no longer remember or don’t want to remember. His services to his homeland are much greater than his connection with the Nazis with erroneous hopes.
Conclusions: Attempts to make noise in connection with the glorification of Garegin Nzhdeh in Armenia and accusations in this regard are meaningless.
Controversial heroes, like the Armenian Nzhdeh, are found in everyone independent state. I won’t list them.
No, I will. Just one example.
The recent growing scandal with the Kadyrov Bridge and the Mannerheim Memorial in St. Petersburg.
Contradiction is not only in the heroes, but also in politics.
PS. There will always be countries and people who, based on historical and political contradictions will “muddy the waters” and pursue their own selfish interests.
It's good that in in this case they fail. Since there are such smart beauties as Maria Zakharova, who will answer them, “they talked and forgot,” realizing that there is no need to spoil the relationship between countries.
Because Nzhdeh is a pride and a national hero for Armenians.