Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex — Attraction in Yerevan

This is (fortunately) an unforgettable experience! We went twice, once with the guide, but the tour was too fast and I wanted the time to read all the texts​ and captions that have been carefully prepared. I knew little about the Armenian Genocide aside from Turkey stubborn refusal to admit it's crime in the face of evidence! Germany admitted it's Nazi crime and has raised generation of Germans that wouldn't repeat it's past. Turkey had not learned the lessons yet! The museum has a linear narrative that starts a few decades before the events of 1915. The exhibits are mostly photographs with a few letters and books. These are nice but not quite as powerful as the exhibits at Aushwitz, or the War museum in Ho Chi Minh City. More in line with the Great Patriotic War museum in Minsk. The reason is that too few were there to document the atrocities being committed, and the Turks didn't have the meticulous record keeping of the Nazis. Much was left to be done by thugs and jealous and opportunistic populations. The photographs are mostly from visitors, missionaries, teachers, and a few official from other countries. The captions are written in light purple on a dark purple background and not always easy to read. They are available in English Russian and of course Armenian. We spend several hours and could have spend easily more but the museum was closing and we were tired. We left with red eyes from crying so much. The closing quote from Hitler: "... And who remembers the Armenians anyway...", is the powerful reason to visit this museum. In fact the current refugee crisis of Syria, shows that everyone should be visiting the museum, as those far from crisis tend to forget to easily the plight of those affected. We received as gift from our friends several books, including the book from Aurora and a reproduction of most of the photographs of the museum and this provides great additional material to study...

I was doing the mistake to miss this museum, it's a must see. The architecture is gorgeous and if you read the step you can have a precise idea about the events and what happened. It avoid the witnesses of victimis and I like this, it's something I don't like in this kind of museums. There is a but. Of course the story telling is the view of the country victim, and there's no way it could be different, but the Armenians are represented always as 100% good and Turks as 100% evil. I suppose that in wars there are some "greys areas", totally not represented here. And the story is represented as contrast between ethnicities, a point of view that in some way justify that (stupid, horrible) way to think about people, countries and communities. It's a missed opportunity to witness against every genocide and the cruelty of every murder, every war, every discrimination of persons depending from their ethnicity, religion, origin, genre, behaviour and wathever. In any case, a...

A Must See during your visit to Yerevan.

Full of historical facts about a sad period in human history, no matter your ethnicity or background. With 50 individual panels describing the history of the tragedy along with over 1000 (?) pictures with their own descriptions, be prepared to spend some time on your feet getting educated (if like me you are not well versed in their history). I found it well worth my time.

If we had only learned a lesson from this, the first genocide of the 20th century, perhaps the second (or the the third, the fourth...) would not have happened.

My heart goes out to all the victims of this and all of the other genocides in our long sad...