armenian genocide, 1915-1918

On April 24, 1915, Grigoris Balakian was arrested along with other leaders of Constantinople's Armenian community. The Ottoman Empire was attempting to eliminate all Armenians from Turkey. This campaign continued throughout World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. For four years he saw atrocities too terrible to voice, and in the end he tried to keep himself alive so he could bear witness and expose those who committed such terrible acts.