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From: James Larry Taulbee: International Crime and Punishment: A Guide to the Issues: A Guide to the Issues: A Guide to the Issues (ABC-CLIO, 2009), p.112
A Crime without a Name
Henry Morgenthau, the American ambassador to Turkey (1913–1916) during the first Wilson administration, watched the unfolding policy of the systematic slaughter of Armenians with great concern. He termed it “race murder” because no existing English word captured the full horror of the events he observed.
Others referred to the policy as the “crime without a name.” Even though the United States would not officially take a position, Morgenthau felt morally compelled to express his personal feeling about what he saw as unacceptable.
The answer he received from Mehmet Talaat, the Turkish head of state, reveals much about the following discussion of these crimes: “Why are you so interested in the Armenians anyway? . . . You are a Jew, these people are Christians. . . . What have you to complain of? Why can’t you let us do with these Christians as we please?
His response, quoted in WSJ on May 3, 2015. In an article by L. Gordon Crovitz, titled, ‘The Diplomat Who Called Out Mass Murder’
Morgenthau replied: “I am not here as a Jew, but as American ambassador. My country contains something like 97 million Christians and something less than three million Jews. So, at least in my ambassadorial capacity, I am 97% Christian. But after all, that is not the point. I do not appeal to you in the name of any race or religion, but merely as a human being.”
He added: “Our people will never forget these massacres. They will always resent the wholesale destruction of Christians in Turkey.”
WSJ article adds:
Morgenthau recruited American missionaries and philanthropists in 1915 to form the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, which solicited donations from across the U.S. The group distributed vivid posters with the tagline “Give or We Perish.” After leaving his post, Morgenthau often spoke on behalf of the relief effort. Americans contributed $100 million, equivalent to almost $2.5 billion today.