On November 6, doctoral candidate Umit Kurt from Clark University will give a talk on ‘A Kurdish Schindler: Story of a ‘Savior’’ at the University Business Center, Fresno, according to Massis Post. The lecture is part of the Armenian Studies Program Fall 2015 Lecture Series, supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

According to the book, Cemil Kunneh was a lieutenant in the Ottoman Army and was assigned to be the director of the Birecik shipyard mill under the supervision of the Ottoman Fifth Army, commanded by Cemal Pasha, during the 1915 Armenian deportation and Genocide. In the shipyard mill, rafts and ferries were constructed for use by Ottoman soldiers to cross over the Euphrates River.

What historically makes Cemil Kunneh important is his relentless efforts to save Armenians, especially Protestants in Aintab, from being deported to Der Zor in 1915-1917. During the deportation, Cemil Kunneh married Dikranuhi (1893-1986), the daughter of Father Garabed Guleuzian, and saved her life by stopping her deportation to Der Zor. Kunneh met Dikranuhi during the deportation and married her. This lecture will focus on the efforts of this righteous person to save Armenians during the Genocide and also focus on his life-story with his wife Dikranuhi after the Genocide.

Umit Kurt is a PhD. Candidate at Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program in the History Department of Clark University and completing his dissertation. He has written extensive works on confiscation of Armenian properties, Armenian Genocide, early modern Turkish nationalism, and Aintab Armenians. He is the author of ‘The Great, hopeless Turkish race: fundamentals of Turkish nationalism in the Turkish homeland 1911-1916′ and editor of ‘The Revolt and Destruction: Construction of the state from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic and collective violence’. He teaches history at Sabanci University in Istanbul and with Taner Akcam is the co-author of ‘The spirit of the laws: the plunder of wealth in the Armenian Genocide’.