The Armenian world was shattered by the 1915 genocide. Not only were hundreds of thousands of lives lost but entire families across multiple generations were permanently forced from their homes. The narrative threads that connected them to their own past and homelands were often severed forever. Many have been left with only fragments of their family histories: a story of survival passed on by a grandparent who survived or, if lucky, an old photograph of a distant, silent, ancestor. By contrast the Dildilian family chose to speak. Two generations gave voice to their experience in lengthy written memoirs, in diaries and letters, and most unusually in photographs and drawings.

This exhibition at The Wiener Library, co-curated by the Dildilian family descendant Armen T. Marsoobian, uses a range of these fascinating historical sources to tell their story and, in doing so, brings to life the pivotal moments in Armenian and Ottoman history leading to and following the genocide of 1915. Unlike most Armenians, the Dildilians were allowed to convert to Islam and stayed behind while their friends, colleagues and other family members perished in the death marches of 1915-1916. Their remarkable story is one of survival against the overwhelming odds and survival in the face of peril.

 Opening hours: 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, and until 7.30pm on Tuesdays