Soghomon Tehlirian, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, assassinated Talaat Pasha, the primary architect of the Armenian Genocide, in Berlin in 1921. Although there was no doubt Tehlirian committed the murder, the jury found him not guilty, after hearing 2 days of gripping testimony about the genocide planned and executed by Talaat Pasha. The trial helped motivate Raphael Lemkin to coin the word “Genocide.”
Educators can download a new lesson plan, created by our 2022 Teacher Fellow Manny Lopez, on this trial. The lesson plan has a link to primary sources that can be used with this. If interested in a Mock Trial of this case, follow this link.