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Reflections: Armenian orphans settled in Perth County more than a century ago

The Armenian Relief Association of Canada helped relocate the young survivors of the genocide

In the 1920s, the Armenian Relief Association of Canada assisted by helping get more than 100 Armenian orphans admitted to Canada. The ages of these children ranged from eight to 18. Many of these children were orphaned during the Armenian genocide in the historical Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Survivors of this genocide were later victims of the Turkish War of Independence from 1919 to 1922. It has been estimated that between 660,00 and 1.75-million Armenians were killed in total during both events. Around 3,000 Armenian refugees made their way to Corfu, an island off the northwest coast of Greece.

A large group of the refugees were orphans. Sadly, the lives of the refugees were very difficult for the first few years on Corfu since many lived in nearly uninhabitable buildings. In 1923, during a military crisis between Greece and Italy, the Italian navy bombarded the island of Corfu, with the attack focusing on the Old Fortress, which at that point had been demilitarized and housed Armenian refugees and orphans. This resulted in the death of around 20 civilian refugees, with many more injured.

Reflections: Armenian orphans settled in Perth County more than a century ago Back to video

Thankfully, despite these horrific circumstances, some Armenian orphans survived and, through humanitarian........

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