MUSA DAGH

Musa Ler is a small mountain on the Mediterranean coast, in today’s Turkey by the Syrian border. Musa Ler is sometimes spelled as: “Mousa Ler”, “Musaler”, or “Mousaler” (in Armenian), or referred to as: Musa Dagh, Mousa Dagh, Musadagh, or Mousadagh (in Turkish), and Jabal Musa or Jabal Mousa (in Arabic). Regardless how it is written; Musa Ler refers to more then just a mountain, it refers to a people with its unique Armenian culture, history and language. Musa Ler also refers to a group of Armenian villages, who put up a famous defense for survival, which was immortalized in the best-selling fictionalized account by Franz Werfel’s The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.The event that has come to symbolize the people of Musa Ler, unfolded during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The inhabitants of Musa Ler, chose to resist in against Turkish death squads. For 53 days they repelled onslaughts by Turkish troops until French sailors sighted a banner the Armenians had tied to a tree on the mountain emblazoned with the words: “Christians in Distress: Rescue.” French and British naval ships then evacuated some 4,200 men, women and children from Musa Ler to Port Said in Egypt. The Armenians were allowed to return after WWI to their homeland in the newly formed Syria. The people of Musa Ler were soon forced to relocate, after Turkey annexed the region.Many of were resettled in Lebanon, in the village Anjar, and many others settled in Armenia, in the village of Musa Ler. The people of Musa Ler, wherever they are in the world, always remember their history, culture and language. Every year on the anniversary of the heroic stance on the mountain, the people of Musa Ler pay tribute to the fallen and celebrate their survival. There stands a monument in memory of the martyrs who fell in the defense of Musa Ler in 1915, in the Musa Ler village in Armenia. The design of the monument and accompanying museum reminds of an impregnable fortress symbolizes the free-loving spirit and bravery of people of Musa Ler.This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5