Musa Dagh (Turkish: Musa Dağı; Armenian: Մուսա լեռ, romanized: Musa leṛ; Arabic: جبل موسى, romanized: Jebel Musa; meaning "Moses Mountain") is a mountain in the Hatay Province of Turkey.
The deportation orders of the Armenian population of modern-day Turkey, issued by the Ottoman government, in July 1915 reached the six Armenian villages of the Musa Dagh region: Kabusie,2Yoghunolukh,3Bitias,4, Vakef,5Khederbeg,6 and Haji-Habibli.78 As Ottoman Turkish forces converged upon the town, the populace, aware of the impending danger, refused deportation and fell back upon Musa mountain, thwarting assaults for fifty-three days, from July to September 1915. One of the leaders of the revolt was , whose Armenian first name was the same as that of the mountain. French warships of the 3rd Squadron in the under command of Vice Admiral , sighted the survivors just as ammunition and food provisions were running out. Five French ships, beginning with the , under the command of Captain , evacuated 3,004 women and children and over 1,000 men from Musa Dagh to safety in . The other French ships were the , the protected cruiser , and the and .
Starting in 1918, when the Sanjak of Alexandretta came under French control, the population of the six Armenian villages returned to their homes. In 1932, a monument was erected at the top of the mountain to commemorate the event.16
On 29 June 1939, following an agreement between France and Turkey, the province was given to Turkey. Afterwards Armenians from six of the villages emigrated from Hatay Province, while some residents of Vakıflı village chose to stay.17 Vakıflı is the only remaining ethnic Armenian village in Turkey,1819 with a population of 140 Turkish-Armenians. Most who left Hatay in 1939 emigrated to Lebanon where they resettled in the town of Anjar. Today, the town of Anjar is divided into six districts, each commemorating one of the villages of Musa Dagh.
These historical events later inspired Franz Werfel to write his novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1933), a fictionalized account based on his detailed research of historical sources.21 Werfel told reporters: "The struggle of 5,000 people on Musa Dagh had so fascinated me that I wished to aid the Armenian people by writing about it and bringing it to the world".22A movie of the same name was released in 1982.23 Six years after the novel was published, when Nazi Germany started conquering Europe, the copies of “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” spread widely among young adults, some of whom found themselves in circumstances similar to those faced by Armenians. The book was popular in Warsaw ghetto and Vilna ghetto and when the Jewish resisters decided to fight back in the Bialystok ghetto, they spoke of the ghetto’s “Musa Dagh” moment at the planning meeting.24
Further reading
Cohen, Raya (2017). "Musa Dagh". In Dan Diner (ed.). Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture Online. Brill Online.
Sensenig-Dabbous, Eugene (2016). "The Musa Dagh History Hike: Truth-Telling, Dialogue and Thanatourism". The Armenian Genocide Legacy. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 229–242. ISBN 978-1-137-56163-3.
"La Reconnaissance Armenienne" in l'Illustration p. xxIi, 29 October 1932. ↩
Başlangıç, Celal (29 July 2002). "Musa'dan notlar" (in Turkish). Radikal. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2007. ↩
The deportation orders of the Armenian population of modern-day Turkey, issued by the Ottoman government, in July 1915 reached the six Armenian villages of the Musa Dagh region: Kabusie,2Yoghunolukh,3Bitias,4, Vakef,5Khederbeg,6 and Haji-Habibli. As converged upon the town, the populace, aware of the impending danger, refused deportation and fell back upon Musa mountain, thwarting assaults for fifty-three days, from July to September 1915. One of the leaders of the revolt was , whose Armenian first name was the same as that of the mountain. French warships of the 3rd Squadron in the under command of Vice Admiral , sighted the survivors just as ammunition and food provisions were running out. Five French ships, beginning with the , under the command of Captain , evacuated 3,004 women and children and over 1,000 men from Musa Dagh to safety in . The other French ships were the , the protected cruiser , and the and .
Starting in 1918, when the Sanjak of Alexandretta came under French control, the population of the six Armenian villages returned to their homes. In 1932, a monument was erected at the top of the mountain to commemorate the event.16
On 29 June 1939, following an agreement between France and Turkey, the province was given to Turkey. Afterwards Armenians from six of the villages emigrated from Hatay Province, while some residents of Vakıflı village chose to stay.17 Vakıflı is the only remaining ethnic Armenian village in Turkey,1819 with a population of 140 Turkish-Armenians. Most who left Hatay in 1939 emigrated to Lebanon where they resettled in the town of Anjar. Today, the town of Anjar is divided into six districts, each commemorating one of the villages of Musa Dagh.
These historical events later inspired Franz Werfel to write his novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1933), a fictionalized account based on his detailed research of historical sources.21 Werfel told reporters: "The struggle of 5,000 people on Musa Dagh had so fascinated me that I wished to aid the Armenian people by writing about it and bringing it to the world".22A movie of the same name was released in 1982.23 Six years after the novel was published, when Nazi Germany started conquering Europe, the copies of “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” spread widely among young adults, some of whom found themselves in circumstances similar to those faced by Armenians. The book was popular in Warsaw ghetto and Vilna ghetto and when the Jewish resisters decided to fight back in the Bialystok ghetto, they spoke of the ghetto’s “Musa Dagh” moment at the planning meeting.24
Further reading
Cohen, Raya (2017). "Musa Dagh". In Dan Diner (ed.). Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture Online. Brill Online.
Sensenig-Dabbous, Eugene (2016). "The Musa Dagh History Hike: Truth-Telling, Dialogue and Thanatourism". The Armenian Genocide Legacy. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 229–242. ISBN 978-1-137-56163-3.
"La Reconnaissance Armenienne" in l'Illustration p. xxIi, 29 October 1932. ↩
Başlangıç, Celal (29 July 2002). "Musa'dan notlar" (in Turkish). Radikal. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2007. ↩