Language:
French
Year of publication:
2015
Titel der Quelle:
Archives Juives
Angaben zur Quelle:
48,1 (2015) 72-95
Keywords:
Armenians History 20th century
;
Antisemitism History 20th century
;
French Attitudes
Abstract:
The arrival of 60-65,000 Armenian refugees from Turkey in the early 1920s surprised the French and triggered negative reactions. The Armenians were viewed through the lens of racist theories and declared to be lazy and unable to assimilate, their difficult social situation being ascribed to negative racial traits. They were often associated with the Jews. Already in 1913, French writer Claude Farrère had characterized the Armenians as the "veritable Jews of the Orient", i.e. as being more Jewish than the Jews, and starving the Jews along with the Turks. From the 1920s on, French scientists (e.g. Georges Mauco) compared the Armenians to the Jews, and argued that both had become mentally distorted due to persecution. The portayal of Armenian oil magnate Leon Mantachev in French journals resembled antisemitic caricatures; however, attitudes toward the Armenians were ambiguous, and they were mostly portrayed as honest peasants. The ambiguity of their situation was emphasized during the German occupation. Despite the general surge of xenophobia and hostility toward refugees, the Armenians were spared racial persecution. Lacking a state, like the Jews, they were accused of lacking patriotism; however, unlike the Jewish refugees, they were given Nansen passports in 1933. The Vichy regime confirmed the difference in status between Armenian and Jewish refugees. Holders of Nansen passports were generally protected, though some Armenians were interned in camps as undesirable aliens. In the early 1940s, Armenians feared that an old racial theory categorizing them as non-European "Armenoides" would resurface, and they were in fact declared as racially "white" only in 1948 in France.
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