While he was in Erzurum , Pietschmann was witness to the Armenian Genocide carried out by the local government authorities . When the Germans and Austrians withdrew their forces from the front , Pietschmann was forced to leave Erzurum on 18 June 1915 by the German consul of Erzurum , Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter . Pietschmann was accompanied by Carl Schlimme , an assistant of Scheubner-Richter . They were told by the consul to take an Armenian family along and help them find refuge . In Bayburt , they were stopped by Turkish soldiers and ordered to surrender the Armenian family . When they refused , the caravan drivers were apprehended . Consequently , Pietschmann and Schlimme were forced to drive the caravans themselves . When Turkish soldiers demanded the Armenian family once more , Pietschmann and Schlimme confronted them with guns and thus secured a passage for themselves out of Bayburt , headed towards Erzincan . Upon arrival in Erzincan , the Armenian family was apprehended and stationed in a local prison under the pretext of concealing weapons in their belongings . According to Schlimme , this was a false accusation since he had searched their belongings for any sort of weapon himself
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Viktor Pietschmann