Trauma Among Survivors of the Sayfo Genocide and Its Intergenerational Impact

By Denho Bar Mourad–Özmen | Former Special Educator and Advisor at Sweden’s National Agency for Special Education

Genocide leaves deep scars beyond physical devastation, inflicting profound psychological, cultural, and structural harm that resonates through generations. This article explores the Sayfo genocide— the systematic extermination of the Assyrian/Syriac people in the Ottoman Empire during World War I—and examines its enduring effects on survivors and their descendants. By analyzing the social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions of intergenerational trauma, this study aims to illuminate its complex nature and suggest paths toward healing and resilience.

Understanding Genocide and Trauma

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) defines genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy, wholly or partially, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The term *Sayfo*, meaning “sword” in Syriac-Aramaic, specifically denotes the targeted extermination of Assyrians/Syriacs in 1915 alongside the Armenian and Pontic Greek genocides.

Trauma extends beyond individual psychological wounds to collective cultural suffering. Psychologist Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart (1998) introduced the concept of “historical trauma” as the cumulative emotional and psychological injury communities endure across generations due to group-based violence and dispossession. 

The Social Impact on Descendants

Intergenerational trauma manifests strongly in descendants who never directly experienced the original violence. Research shows that descendants of genocide survivors often suffer from symptoms associated with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and survivor’s guilt. Within families, communication patterns of silence, emotional distance, or overprotection influence identity formation and mental health.

Studies by Kellermann (2001) on Holocaust survivors’ children revealed both epigenetic and psychosocial mechanisms transmitting trauma—a pattern mirrored among Sayfo descendants. Nevertheless, open intergenerational dialogue and shared commemorative practices have been shown to foster resilience and emotional healing. 

Cultural Resilience and Bereavement

Culture plays a dual role: it is both a repository of inherited trauma and a wellspring of collective healing. The loss of language, customs, and historical continuity results in *cultural bereavement*, a term describing the grief communities feel when their cultural fabric is torn. 

Despite this, the Assyrian/Syriac diaspora has witnessed a vibrant cultural revival. Efforts to preserve endangered languages such as Surayt and Turoyo, promote indigenous literature and arts, and institutionalize remembrance events have been pivotal. Institutions like the Sayfo Center underscore the community’s dedication to research, documentation, and public memory. 

Art, music, and poetry remain vital conduits for collective memory and trauma processing. In this light, culture is not merely what was lost but serves as a platform for resistance, continuity, and meaning-making.

Economic Marginalization and Social Mobility

Genocide targets not only physical existence but also economic foundations. The widespread destruction of homes, properties, schools, and businesses resulted in long-term impoverishment and systemic marginalization. Forced exile compelled survivors to rebuild lives in unfamiliar, often unwelcoming environments. 

Nevertheless, the Assyrian/Syriac diaspora has shown remarkable socioeconomic resilience. Education has been a crucial pathway to social mobility. In countries such as Sweden, Assyrian/Syriac entrepreneurs and civic organizations have facilitated both individual successes and broader economic integration within host societies. 

Trauma and Relations with Perpetrators 

Denial of genocide remains a profound barrier to healing. The Turkish state’s refusal to recognize the Sayfo genocide constitutes *secondary victimization*, retraumatizing survivors through erasure of their suffering. 

True reconciliation requires descendants of perpetrators to engage in historical reckoning, express remorse, and participate in restorative justice. Although nascent, civil society movements in Turkey and the diaspora offer hopeful signs of moral repair and truth-telling. 

Community and Collective Healing 

Communal engagement is essential for healing historical trauma. Public rituals, such as the annual Sayfo Day on April 24, provide spaces for mourning, solidarity, and affirmation of historical truths. These ceremonies help restore “meaning and connection,” as described by trauma expert Judith Herman (1997). 

Intergenerational dialogue allows younger generations to gain historical awareness while enabling elders to share painful memories safely. Churches, youth organizations, and cultural centers have been pivotal in fostering resilience and continuity. 

Recommendations for Recovery

Collective Trauma Processing

• Establish trauma-informed mental health services and peer support groups for survivors and descendants.
• Support artistic, linguistic, and ceremonial practices that facilitate communal healing.

Education and Identity

• Integrate Sayfo and related genocides into formal education and academic discourse.
• Fund native language instruction and oral history projects to preserve cultural heritage. 

Political and Economic Empowerment 

• Enhance political representation of Assyrian/Syriac communities at local and national levels.
• Promote entrepreneurship, vocational training, and infrastructure development within the diaspora. 

Reconciliation and Justice

• Continue global advocacy for official recognition of the Sayfo genocide.
• Facilitate dialogues between descendants of victims and perpetrators as part of restorative efforts. 

Conclusion

The trauma of Sayfo transcends individual suffering, permeating social structures, cultural narratives, and family bonds. Healing requires recognition, resilience, and active recovery. Through education, cultural preservation, political participation, and community solidarity, descendants of survivors assert not only their victimhood but their role as agents of dignity, justice, and renewal. 

Reconciliation benefits both those bearing generational loss and the societies in which these histories unfolded. The Assyrian/Syriac diaspora—with its strong educational achievements, entrepreneurship, and cultural vitality—stands poised to contribute to a more inclusive and democratic future for Turkey. 

Promising developments include reconciliation tourism—visits to ancestral lands aimed at symbolic healing and economic revitalization—which can foster cross-cultural understanding and shared prosperity. Recent steps by Turkey toward granting greater cultural freedoms and enabling voluntary return to ancestral towns have rekindled trust in governance, signaling potential foundations for deeper reconciliation. 

Ultimately, acknowledging historical injustices and embracing pluralistic narratives offer Turkey the opportunity to reshape its national identity around democratic and human rights principles. In doing so, the memory of lost communities is honored and transformed into a catalyst for a more just, unified future.

Denho Bar Mourad-Özmen is a former special educator and advisor at Sweden’s National Agency for Special Education. He is a lecturer, published educational films on Swedish TV, and has written articles in Swedish educational magazines. He was born in the village of Habses, Tur Abdin, and has written on the Syriac people for Hujada Magazine and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Magazine. He is a long-time journalist and a moderator at Suroyo TV.

The views expressed in this op-ed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of SyriacPress.

References 

• Atto, N. (2011). *Hostages in the Homeland, Orphans in the Diaspora: Identity Discourses Among the Assyrian/Syriac Elites in the European Diaspora*. Leiden: Leiden University Press.

• Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (1998). “The Return to the Sacred Path: Healing the Historical Trauma Response Among the Lakota.” *Smith College Studies in Social Work*, 68(3), 287–305. 

• Danieli, Y. (1998). *International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma*. Springer. 

• Herman, J. (1997). *Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror*. Basic Books. 

• Kellermann, N.P.F. (2001). “Transmission of Holocaust Trauma—An Integrative View.” *Psychiatry*, 64(3), 256–267. 

• Staub, E. (2006). *The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others*. Cambridge University Press. 

• United Nations. (1948). *Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide*. 

• Yehuda, R., et al. (2001). “Transgenerational Effects of Trauma: Recent Advances in Epigenetics and Neurobiology.” *American Journal of Psychiatry*, 158(9), 1456–1463. 

• Özmen, D.B. (2022). *Syrianska Företagare i Sverige: Migration, Kultur och Ekonomisk Resiliens*. (Unpublished manuscript).