Armenia: Grigoris Balakian (1875–1934), was a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as a survivor and memoirist of the Armenian Genocide

Grigoris Balakian (Գրիգորիս Պալագեան) 1875 – 8 October 1934), was a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in addition to being a survivor and memoirist of the Armenian Genocide.

Grigoris Balakian was born in Tokat in the Ottoman Empire, and graduated from the Sanasarian College in Erzurum. He had been studying architecture in Germany for two years and got a degree in civil engineering. He became a celibate priest ordained under the monastic name Grigoris Balakian. On 24 April 1915 he was among the famous group of 250 leading Armenian figures of Constantinople who were arrested and deported.

One group was deported to Ayaş. Balakian was deported to Çankırı, north-east of Ankara with the rest of the 190 other deportees from the capital. Only 16 of them would survive. He marched with 48 deportees from Çankırı in direction of Deir ez-Zor in the Syrian desert. On the way Balakian won the confidence of captain of constabulary Shukri Bey and learned about the Ottoman government's plan to exterminate the whole Armenian population. Balakian was able to flee toward Islahie. He joined a group of workers on the Baghdad-railway where Turkish deserters did forced labor alongside Armenian refugees. He was helped by German engineers and finally succeeded – disguised as Herr Bernstein – in escaping from Constantinople to Paris.

Balakian’s memoirs Armenian Golgotha are an important eyewitness account of the genocide. He describes his experiences during the deportation. Balakian was one of the few surviving leaders of the Armenian community who gave an account of the deportation.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE