In April 1915 , while Mesrobian was stationed in Gallipoli , the Ottoman government began the systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects known as the Armenian Genocide . The genocide carried out during and after World War I was implemented in two phases : the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour , followed by the deportation of women , children , the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert . Driven forward by military escorts , the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery , rape , and massacre . The deportations in his native town of Afyonkarahisar , where Mesrobian 's family still resided , began on 15 August 1915 . Mihran Mesrobian returned to Constantinople after the war and discovered that fifteen members of his family and relatives in Afyonkasarhisar were deported . All were never to be heard of again , though it is believed that they were deported to Iraq . Among those whose whereabouts remain unknown were his three brothers , their families , and his younger sister . In a desperate attempt to save his property , Mesrobian returned to Afyonkarahisar to reclaim and ultimately sell it , but was unsuccessful since the property had been confiscated
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Mihran Mesrobian