Operation Nemesis

Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide
By Eric Bogosian
Published in 2015
400 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 4/5

In 1921, former Ottoman grand vizier (head of state) Talaat Pasha was assassinated in Berlin. The killer was young Armenian veteran and genocide survivor. German authorities initially charged the young killer with murder - but, surprisingly, the killer was acquitted by a jury. German courts refused to prosecute a killer for avenging the genocide.

At the time, it was believed that the murder was an isolated incident.

The light of history has revealed much about this case. In fact, the killer had been hand picked by a conspiracy of leftist Armenian revolutionaries hoping to publicize the genocide. They knew that the assassination would become a major media event and wanted to make sure that the killer was charismatic and sympathetic. The conspirators were shocked by their own success. They expected the killing to draw attention to the genocide; but expected that the killer would get sent to prison. To their surprise, all charges were dropped.

Talaat Pasha wasn’t the only war criminal assassinated by the Nemesis conspiracy. Six other war criminals were hunted down and assassinated by Nemesis in Georgia, Berlin, Rome, and Turkey. 

British intelligence seems to have had some role coordinating and manipulating the assassins; although the assassins were not aware that they were tools of the British. Documents published decades after the fact revealed British agents discovered the location of Talaat Pasha, while at the same time spying on the Armenian conspirators. When the British found out that the Armenian conspirators were investigating a man they believed was Pasha, the British then quietly leaked information to the Armenians confirming the identity of the target.

This is a fascinating well researched historical novel that reads like a spy thriller. You get a sense of what being on the ground in the wake of the Armenian genocide would have been like; a well as the day to day life of the assassins who would avenge the genocide.

If anyone wants to learn about a wide range of topics such as the aftermath of WW1, the Armenian genocide, or early 20th century espionage, then I strongly recommend this book.

​