Armin Wegner: The German Officer Who Fought Against Genocides

In the 20th century, the nation of Germany had a dark and tumultuous past. Ultranationalists, militarists, and imperialists ruled during the darkest years in which Berlin played a direct role in several genocides, such as the Holocaust and Namibia, or overlooked ones, such as the Armenian Genocide.

Nevertheless, there were military personnel disgusted with the actions of their government, one of which was Armin Wegner. Wanting to help his country in need, Wegner became a medic with a will and determination to serve others. What he would witness would push him beyond his duties in the military to where he would benefit all of humankind.

Starving Armenian children, from Armin T. Wegner’s Collection

Career in the German Military

Armin T Wegner was born in 1886 in the Rhine Province of Germany. When Europe was embroiled in the Great War, Wegner volunteered to serve his nation and empire, enrolling as a volunteer nurse in German-occupied Poland. Here, 2nd Lt Wegner earned the Iron Cross for treatment of wounded soldiers under heavy fire.

Fighting France and Britain on the Western Front, the German high command convinced the Ottoman Empire to join the Central Powers. The Ottomans were under pressure from successive military defeats in the Balkans and North Africa, which saw a tremendous loss in territory.

The Young Turks wanted to restore these lands as they saw the Entente as one of the leading causes of the socioeconomic decline. After the German-Turkish alliance was cemented, Second Lieutenant Wagner was dispatched to Syria under the Sanitary Corps.

Witnessing the Armenian Genocide

1915 was the year that marked the start the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, and Armin Wegner witnessed it firsthand. The notable events of the genocide included forced deportations without food or water into the scorching Syrian desert. These deportations (at gunpoint) were known as death marches.

The German high command was privy to the Young Turks’ plans for its Christian minorities in Asia Minor that they saw as the “fifth column.” Greeks, Assyrians, and Maronites would also suffer in various genocides at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Witnessing the death marches, Lt Wegner took hundreds of the most well-known photographs of the genocide, documentation collection, and many notes of the brutality Armenians faced. Wegner sent his photographs to Germany and the United States, thanks to help from other foreign embassies. Unfortunately, the Ottoman government became away of his actions that, exposed them, and they requested his higher German officers to arrest him.

Wegner served his remaining time in the Ottoman Empire in a penal detachment under German command until he was recalled in 1916. Lt Wegner concealed his documents and photographic evidence as he knew his German leadership was aware of the genocide and did nothing to stop it.

Making Sure the World Knew of the Atrocities

Deeply moved by the horrors of the Great War and atrocities against Armenians, Wegner became part of an active anti-war movement and openly helped Armenians as much as he could. This included his testimony in Soghomon Tehlirian’s trial, which allowed the latter’s not-guilty verdict for assassinating the architect of the genocide.

Publishing a significant piece in the Berliner Tageblatt, Wegner wrote an open letter to US President Woodrow Wilson on the atrocities and the case for an independent Armenian state. Wilson would draft plans for this, called ‘Wilsonian Armenia,’ also known as Western Armenia.

Ultimately, plans for the Armenian mandate wouldn’t come to fruition as the US Senate would not vote for the proposed state, which was initially supposed to be an American mandate and protectorate for several years due to isolationist policies. The Armenian Mandate was attacked by the Turkish military and Red Army and carved up into modern-day Turkey and the Soviet Union.

Wagner would continue writing about the horrors of WWI and the plight of Armenians. He would visit the then-annexed Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in the late 1920s.

Life Under Nazi Germany

With the rise of ultranationalism and discontent with the losses Germany suffered in the First World War, the Nazi party was able to slowly but surely complete its absolute rule over Germany. Wegner would be one of the few in the nation to condemn their policies towards Jews openly. He would write an open letter to Adolf Hitler condemning his actions.

In 1933, Wegner was targeted by the Gestapo and sent to various concentration camps throughout the rest of the year. Released in 1934, Wegner fled Germany, as he would always have a target on his back. He fled to Rome, Italy, where he would write that his country had ruined his life.

Despite living to 91 years of age, Wagner died with a sorrowful heart, as he felt he had not done enough to save the Jews from the Holocaust. Armin died how he lived his life—as a steadfast humanitarian to the end.

Legacy as a Humanitarian and Hero

Armin Wegner was awarded the title known as the ‘Righteous Amongst the Nations” in Israel in 1968 for his role of being one of the few Germans who actively spoke out and fought against the Nazi regime. The Catholicos of all Armenians awarded him the Order of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, and some of Wegner’s ashes are located near the Eternal Flame of the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

Lieutenant Armin Wegner was a true soldier—not one who followed orders blindly but questioned his own government’s actions, even if they put a target on his back. Not just serving Germany but all of humanity, his efforts to shed light on the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust will never be forgotten.