Musa Dagh Author Edward Minasian Speaks to Packed Audience

Pateel Mekhitarian
Staff Writer

Author Edward Minasian signing his new book after his lecture sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program. The book explains how Turkish government pressure prevented the Hollywood movie "Musa Dagh" from being produced. Photo: Barlow Der Mugrdechian

Edward Minasian, a writer and teacher from Oakland, CA gave a very interesting lecture at Fresno State on October 11, about the many attempts to produce a film version of the book The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. Mr. Minasian has not only studied Franz Werfel"s The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, but he has also written his own book called Musa Dagh, which includes a review of events in the Ottoman Empire relating to the Armenians, the siege of Musa Dagh in 1915, and a background on Werfel"s inspiration to write his novel in 1934.

Musa Dagh is the name of both a famous mountain and the area where Armenian resistance to the 1915 deportation in the Ottoman Empire took place. Out of the hundreds of villages, towns, and cities across the Ottoman Empire, whose Armenian population was ordered to be deported, Musa Dagh was one of only a few regions where Armenians were able to organize a defense against the Young Turk regime.

With a limited amount of weapons, the outnumbered and outgunned Armenians still had the courage to put up fierce resistance against the many attacks by the Turkish army.  The Armenians, with little expectations of survival, endured 53 days, from July 21 to September 12, 1915.  The Guichen, a French armored cruiser, was the first to sight the flag the Armenians had raised. With the help of the French, the Armenians were temporarily resettled in Egypt and stayed until the war was over. 

There were some 4,000 Armenians from Musa Dagh who decided to stand up and to refuse to be deported.  Unfortunately, another 2,000 Armenians obeyed the Turkish officials, who promised the Armenians were to be safely relocated. Instead they were sent out of their homes and to the Syrian desert, Der Zor, where they were tortured and murdered. 

There have been many attempts to produce a film about the saga of Musa Dagh and the courage of the people.  However, until today there still has been no major Hollywood film produced, because of opposition and intervention from the Turkish government and the State Department.

Irving G. Thalberg was Hollywood's wunderkind force behind the original planned production of the film, from 1934-35.  Unfortunately, Thalberg died at the age of 37 from a heart attack.  Samuel Marx, an MGM story director of the time stated, "A foreign government should not be allowed to suppress the making of an American motion picture."  People at the time knew and understood what had happened to the Armenians, and many people wanted to help in the production of the film, however there were many obstacles.  Mr. Minasian provided a copy of a personal letter, which was sent by the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Munir Ertegun, expressing his gratitude for preventing the film from being produced. This thank you letter was sent to Wallace Murray, the Chief of U.S. Eastern Affairs. In the end, Robert N. O'Brian was the man responsible for terminating the production of the film. 

The lecture was informational and educational, and included many photos from the book. The Armenian people would like to see the production of a film about Musa Dagh.  Musa Dagh has been a part of Armenian history, and the stories of the troubling experiences, the people, and the events of Musa Dagh will always remain.