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Operation Nemesis

The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide

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Operation Nemesis

By: Eric Bogosian
Narrated by: Eric Bogosian
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About this listen

A masterful account of the assassins who hunted down the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.

In 1921, a tightly knit band of killers set out to avenge the deaths of almost one million victims of the Armenian Genocide. They were a humble bunch: an accountant, a life insurance salesman, a newspaper editor, an engineering student, and a diplomat. Together they formed one of the most effective assassination squads in history. They named their operation Nemesis, after the Greek goddess of retribution. The assassins were survivors, men defined by the massive tragedy that had devastated their people. With operatives on three continents, the Nemesis team killed six major Turkish leaders in Berlin, Constantinople, Tiflis, and Rome, only to disband and suddenly disappear. The story of this secret operation has never been fully told, until now.

Eric Bogosian goes beyond simply telling the story of this cadre of Armenian assassins by setting the killings in the context of Ottoman and Armenian history, as well as showing in vivid color the era's history, rife with political fighting and massacres. Casting fresh light on one of the great crimes of the twentieth century and one of history's most remarkable acts of vengeance, Bogosian draws upon years of research and newly uncovered evidence. Operation Nemesis is the result -- both a riveting read and a profound examination of evil, revenge, and the costs of violence.
20th Century Asia Eastern Europe Modern Politics & Government Russia War & Crisis Revenge Middle East Assassin War Military Imperialism Ottoman Empire Holocaust Middle Ages Iran Africa Armenian History
About the Creator - Eric Bogosian

About the Creator

Eric Bogosian has a notable career both on and off Broadway and on screen while establishing himself as a prolific author. For Drinking in America, he received the Drama Desk Award as well as an Obie. His play Talk Radio (in which he starred, and which was produced on Broadway with Liev Schreiber in 2007) was adapted to film by director Oliver Stone. For writing and starring in the film Talk Radio, Bogosian received the Berlin Silver Bear for achievement in 1989. He is the author of numerous plays, including suburbia (Lincoln Center Theater, 1994), film adaptations of his work, and three novels: Mall, Wasted Beauty and Perforated Heart. In 2015 Little, Brown published Bogosian's Operation Nemesis, a non-fiction account of the death squad that avenged the Armenian Genocide. More recently, Bogosian has been featured in the television series Billions, Succession, and in 2022, AMC's Interview with the Vampire. In 2019 he starred in the Safdie Brothers' celebrated Uncut Gems alongside Adam Sandler. His website, 100monologues.com, features notable actors performing his monologues. Bogosian lives in New York City with his wife, Director Jo Bonney.

Critic Reviews

"Absorbing reading.... To his great credit, Bogosian recognizes [the moral contradiction] and refuses to portray Tehlirian or any of the other members of his group as heroes. He's aware of the gravitas of his story and the need to set it in context....Where it matters most he delivers: in his gripping action accounts of Nemesis at work, and in the sober assessment of its terrible aftermath."—Joseph Kanon, New York Times Book Review
"Hitler asked, 'Who remembers the Armenians?' Eric Bogosian, that's who. Read his potent, action-packed account of how a little known assassination plot harkens back to a world-historical genocide and so will you. So take that, Hitler."—Sarah Vowell, author of The Wordy Shipmates and Assassination Vacation
"A dark and compelling tale of blood vengeance. In Operation Nemesis, Eric Bogosian tells the remarkable story of how a small group of powerless, post-war assassins sought revenge against the all-powerful masterminds of the Armenian genocide."—Annie Jacobsen, author of Operation Paperclip
"Absorbing and accessible, Bogosian presents this complex and multi-layered history with a master dramatist's flair. Operation Nemesis is an engaged and provocative account of an unforgettable tragedy and a cathartic attempt at finding justice."—Atom Egoyan, Academy Award-nominated writer and director of The Sweet Hereafter and Ararat
"Eric Bogosian, actor, playwright and novelist, can now add historian to his resume with this carefully researched tale of organized revenge on the perpetrators of one of the most heinous state-engineered genocides in modern history--the murderous expulsion of the Armenian people from Ataturk's newly reconstituted Turkey."—Richard Price, author of The Whites
"A dramatic work of history that reads like a thriller.... Though others have covered Operation Nemesis, Bogosian's extensive reliance on the assassin's memoirs, published seven years before his death in 1960, injects his account with the psychological highs and lows Tehlirian endured. Bogosian also uncovers intriguing details about the role of the British in the assassination plot, introducing a new twist to a story that reads like a John le Carré novel."—Michael Bobelian, Los Angeles Times
"An engrossing, heavily-researched account.... The details read like a Hollywood epic, but Bogosian plays it straight, letting the facts tell the story without sensationalizing or romanticizing.... Highly readable."—Publishers Weekly
"Bogosian dives passionately into an underreported piece of history, a surprisingly effective conspiracy to assassinate the planners of Turkey's Armenian genocide."—Boris Kachka, Vulture
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