January 4, 2000

Washington, DC; The Armenian National Institute (ANI) announces the publication of the Encyclopedia of Genocide, the first reference work to chart the full extent of this horrific subject with objectivity and authority.

ANI Director Dr. Rouben Adalian is an Associate Editor of the publication. He worked closely with Dr. Israel W. Charny, Editor-in-Chief and others in producing the two-volume resource.

The Encyclopedia was conceived by Dr. Charny, Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, author of How Can We Commit the Unthinkable?: Genocide, the Human Cancer. He is also editor of the four-volume series Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review; one of the main reference works in the field of genocide studies.

Dr. Adalian, first Director of ANI, and the author of a number of works on Armenian history, is the compiler and editor of Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Archives, the largest collection of documentary evidence issued to date.

In addition to his major entry on the Armenian Genocide, the Encyclopedia features 20 entries Adalian authored on various aspects of the event, including the 1894-1896 Hamidian Massacres, the 1909 Adana Massacre, the Young Turks, Near East Relief, Musa Dagh, and international recognition.

"It is a distinct privilege to have been asked to represent ANI in the preparation of this important publication," said Adalian. "I am grateful to the editor and the other distinguished specialists who served as Associate Editors of the Encyclopedia for the consideration extended in providing thorough coverage of the Armenian Genocide; both the terrible experience and its lasting effects."

"This publication will go far in placing the Armenian Genocide in proper context and explain it in relation to many other terrible events of the 20th century," added Adalian.

Other well-known specialists including Peter Balakian and Vahakn Dadrian contributed entries on the Armenian Genocide. One of Balakian’s entries confronts denials of the Armenian Genocide. The Encyclopedia gives substantial coverage to the denials and deniers of the Holocaust and of the Armenian Genocide among others.

Vahakn Dadrian’s entries present some of his sterling research of primary materials on the Armenian Genocide contained in Turkish sources, especially the post-war Turkish court-martials, and the German archives.

The Encyclopedia features forewords by internationally respected human rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu and famed Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Among the 100 distinguished contributors are Yehuda Bauer, Helen Fein, Irving Louis Horowitz, Robert Jay Lifton, Roger Smith and Elie Wiesel.

The Nazi Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, the killings in Cambodia, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia and the eradication of indigenous peoples around the world are all covered in over 200 A-to-Z entries, written by experts from many countries.

The Encyclopedia contains many primary source documents, a wide array of scholarly viewpoints and a full index. It pays particular attention to the perpetrators and victims of genocide, the psychology and ideology underlying genocidal acts, the art, literature and film which have been produced in the course of or as the result of genocide, and the treatment of survivors.

This valuable work not only documents the full extent of the past and present of this subject, it also looks to the future and shows how education about the subject can perhaps lead to a world where genocide is better anticipated and even prevented.

Interspersed among the entries and features are many photographs, illustrations and multiple guides to finding the information contained in the two-volume set. It is a very usable resource appropriate for home libraries and public institutions.

The Encyclopedia is beautifully produced," said Charny. "It is a work that will be dear to the hearts of all Armenians."

The Armenian National Institute is dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.