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Martin Bitschnau

In the mid-nineties, while I was still a student in Switzerland, I campaigned there together with Armenian friends for the recognition of the genocide against Armenians and advised the " Swiss Armenia Society (Gesellschaft Schweiz Armenien)" in the anti-racism case against 17 Turks who had signed a petition in Switzerland denying that the genocide against Armenians had ever taken place.
I have lived and worked in Vienna since 2003. Together with Wolfgang Weeber I founded the organisation "Society for the Documentation of Genocides [ger] (Völkermord.at – Gesellschaft für die Dokumentation von Völkermorden)".
In 2010 I published the book Armenia: Taboo and Trauma. An Overview of the Facts [ger] (Armenien: Tabu und Trauma Die Fakten im Überblick) herausgegeben.
In spring 2014, together with Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans, Chaldeans and Greeks, I founded the platform "Speak With One Voice" [ger] (mit einer Stimme sprechen), and in spring 2015 an organisation with the same name was established. This group generated important ideas, documents, expertises and contacts which led to the recognition of the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians/Arameans/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks [fr] by the Austrian Parliament. In November 2018, I concluded my Master’s Degree in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law - LLM at the European University Viadrina in "Frankfurt an der Oder" in Germany with the thesis "Is there a legal obligation for a state to recognize genocide in international law?".
I would be pleased to send a CV with a list of my human rights-related activities upon request.

contact:

Martin Bitschnau
E-Mail: privat [ a ] martinbitschnau.at
Facebook: Facebook

In square brackets you can see the language of the document behind the link.
Example [en] = Document is in English.

Publications: books / journals:

100 Jahre Völkermord 100 Jahre Leugnen Armenier, Assyrer/Aramäer/Chaldäer und Griechen in der Türkei [ger] (100 Years of the Genocide Against Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans and Chaldeans, 100 Years of Denial) (2015), published by the "Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e. V." (Society for Threatened Peoples) [I cooperated on the creation of this book]
Armenien: Tabu und Trauma, die Fakten im Überblick (Armenia: Taboo and Trauma, an Overview of the Facts) (2010) [author and publisher]
Contented [en] and book review [en].
Völkermord und Verdrängung Der Völkermord an den Armeniern und die Shoa [ger] (Genocide and Denial. The Armenian Genocide and the Shoa) (1998). Arbeitskreis Armenien - Zürich [Assistant Editor]

Publications and articles (excerpt):

Karabakh/Artsak - Azerbaijani region or independent state? the core of the conflict, solutions and dangers. (2020)
The conflict in the Caucasus - historical development and current dangers [ger] for MeNa Research Center (2020)
Open letter to the leadership of the Austrian Social Democratic Party and the press about Klaus Luger and the Grey Wolves [far-right Turkish organisation] [ger] (2015)
The extreme right-wing Turkish Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - MHP in Austria. [ger] (2015) An expertise for "mit einer Stimme sprechen" (Speak with One Voice)
The Genocide Against the Armenians from an Austrian Perspective [ger](2014) Paper commissioned by Austrian politicians
100 Jahre Völkermord 100 Jahre Leugnung [ger] darunter der Artikel Three thousand years of Armenian history [ger] for the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples) (2014)
How Turkey deals with genocide and its memory [ger] (2013) for the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples)
Where freedom of opinion ends: the sanctioning of the denial of genocide [ger] (2012) for Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples)
Book review of the Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish Platform (2009, 2010) [en]
The political tug of war over the assessment of the Armenian question [ger] (2007) for Historicum (internet platform for historical studies)
Content of Turkish School Books (2007) for the International Association of Genocide Scholars - IAGS
Petition against Yusuf Halaçoglu, who denies the Armenian genocide [ger] (2007) for Völkermord.at
Hrant Dink, obituary of a murdered Turkish journalist of Armenian origin [ger] (2007) for the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples)
The Armenian community in Vienna [ger] (2006) for the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples)
Local councillor of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) denies the genocide against the Armenians in the election campaign [ger] (2006) for the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples)
Turkey on the way to Europe [en] (2006) for the American-Armenian student newspaper Zavarian Review
A "banned book" for download [ger] (1998)
From 1 June to 31 July 1984, I collected and translated articles from the three most important Turkish daily newspapers. These translated articles were then published as a book. A senator of the City of Bremen then had the books (which were the property of the city) destroyed after pressure was exerted by the Turkish Embassy.

Lectures (selection):

“Dersim’s Armenians in 1938 – Taboo and Trauma” for the Conference to Mark the 80th Anniversary of the Genocide in Dersim Organised by the "Federation of the Alevi Communities in Austria". The conference was held at the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art in Vienna.(2018)
Kick-off workshop on genocide in school lessons in Germany using the example of the Armenian genocide: A glance over the German border: Lecture: comparing the teaching of genocide to that in Austrian schools [ger] and lecture slides [ger] (2017) Action Group for Recognition in Berlin
The Dream of Empire - the Politics of Memory in Turkey Today (on the basis of Turkish school books) [ger] (2016) Flight, Forced Displacement and Genocide at the Time of the First World War 36th Symposium of the Lower Austrian Institute for Regional Studies in Amstetten
1915-2015: The Genocide Against Armenians and other Peoples [ger] 2015) Zwettl Education Centre
The Post-Genocide Life of Armenians in Turkey (2015) "Federation of Alevi Communities in Austria" in Vienna
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma (2013) Dornbirn High School in Dornbirn, Austria
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma (2013) Bookshop in Innsbruck, Austria
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma (2013) Karl Franzens University and the Society for Threatened Peoples in Graz, Austria
The Genocide Against the Armenians (2012) Turkish/Alevi Association in Innsbruck, Austria
Denial of Genocides (2012) Assyrian Democratic Union in Vienna
The Genocide Against the Armenians (2012) Turkish Association in Vienna
The Genocide Against the Armenians (2011) mit einer Stimme sprechen (Speak With One Voice), in Munich, Germany
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma book presentation (2010) Armenian Church and Cultural Community in Berlin, Germany
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma book presentation (2010), Armenian Community in Berlin, Germany
Armenia: Taboo and Trauma (2010) European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
The Post-Genocide Life of the Armenians in Turkey (2010) European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
The Prosecution of the Denial of Genocides (2007), Friends of the Mechitarists in Vienna
The Armenian genocide as it is written in the Turkish textbooks (2007), University Toronto, Canada
The Post-Genocide Life of Armenians in Turkey (2005). Monastery of the Mechitarists in Vienna

Articles about my activities (extract):

Austria recognises the genocide againt the Armenians, Assyrians/Arameans/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks [fr] Autriche : coulisses d’une déclaration (2015)
So funktioniert Geschichtsforschung nicht (This is not how historical research works) [ger] (2015)
Armenien: Tabu und Trauma (Armenia, Taboo and Trauma) [ger] (2013)
Die armenische Frage als Streitthema (The Controversy of the Armenian Issue) [ger] (2013)
Weißer Völkermord: Dokumentation und Aktion (White Genocide: Documentation and Action) [ger] (2011) in www.hay-society.de
Armenien: Tabu und Trauma, die Fakten im Überblick (Armenia, Taboo and Trauma, an Overview of the Facts) [en] (2010)

Award:

As part of the memorial event on 26 November 2013 to mark the 80th anniversary of the publication of Franz Werfel’s book Die vierzig Tage von Musa Dagh (The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), the Armenian Ambassador presented me with the Franz Werfel Medal at the Radio Culture Centre of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation in Vienna.
This was an unexpected and moving moment for me.

Martin Bitschnau Ehrung mit der Franz-Werfel-Medaille

The photo was taken by Zorik Alexandrian.

If you would like to read more about and go more deeply into the issues I deal with, here are some sources:

'armenocide.net' - The genocide against the Armenians in the First World War
Documents from state archives, mostly from Germany
Arbeitsgruppe Anerkennung – Gegen Genozid, für Völkerverständigung e.V. (Working Group on Recognition - Against Genocide, for International Understanding)
Assyrian Genocide Research Center
Armenian National Institute - ANI
Dedicated to the study, research and affirmation of the Armenian Genoide
Gomidas Institut
Documents, monographs, maps, and memoirs on Armenians and Armenia in the modern era
Assyrian International news Agency
Bundesverband der Aramäer in Deutschland (National Association of Arameans in Germany)

Legend and abbreviations	Photo credits:
e. v. = registered association GfbV = Society for Threatened Peoples	Unless indicated otherwise, all photos are by Rita Skof-Peschetz

mit einer Stimme sprechen [ger]

Buch direkt beim Verlag bestellen [ger]

Impressum [ger]

E-Mail: privat [ a ] martinbitschnau.at