Reclaiming Children after the Armenian Genocide: Neutral House in Istanbul

Abstract

Abstract During the Armenian Genocide the Turkish Government forcibly converted and assimilated Armenian children. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WWI brought the opportunity to retrieve such children, whose identities and future became a battleground between Armenians and Turks. This article addresses the fate of these child-survivors, many of whom, after being rescued, continued to deny their Armenian identities. The article presents a history of Neutral House, a unique organization established in Istanbul to return these children to their nation.