Religion, relief and humanitarian work among Armenian women refugees in Mandatory Syria, 1927–1934

Abstract

This article will focus on the missionary, nurse and midwife Bodil Biørn and her humanitarian contribution among Armenian refugees in Aleppo, Syria, from 1927 to 1934. How was this faith-based relief work organized? How did it fit into the overarching goal of the international community of rebuilding an Armenian society in the Middle East? The large majority of Armenian refugees were women and children. During the war many of these women had been captured and forced to live in Muslim households. How did the Norwegian relief operation meet the needs of Armenian women who were the victims of abduction and abuse? The article will also look at how Biørn portrays Armenian women survivors and their war experiences in her published texts. The study of women during the genocide, and in the aftermath as refugees, has to a large extent been neglected. Based on the representation of Armenian women in Norwegian sources, this article will thus contribute new insights into individual women´s experiences as refugees.