BONUS EPISODE: The History of Armenia 22: The Sumgait Pogrom
Added 2023-03-02 07:47:24 +0000 UTC*content warning*
On feb 27, 1988 the seaside town of Sumgait was torn apart by a calculated, organized, and planned explosion of racist violence targeting its Armenian population.
How could such a thing happen in the brotherly world of soviet socialism? Why didn't the government do anything to stop it?
This is the story of the Sumgait Pogrom.
Comments
Thank you for covering this horrific event. My family is Azeri, and lived in Sumgait during the pogrom. They told stories in a round about way and didn't specify many details, but hearing the big picture line up to those stories made my skin crawl. And it is terrifying to learn how organized this effort really was. From what very little I know, Azerbaijan as a state has a lot of its founding identity in the Soviet military response to this pogrom specifically, which is just horrifying. You could argue that the Azerbaijani State has roots in these pogroms in Sumgait and Baku themselves. As difficult as I understand researching this is, I'd be interested in learning more of the roots of the Azerbaijani state as well as how the hatred between Azeris and Armenians began. Unfortunately, much of Armenia's current history involves Azerbaijan, and understanding them seems to me very important. This episode gives a very good glimpse into that already. It's been said before that Azerbaijan is a very modern concept, and it is, but to me that makes it hard to comprehend how that new of a people become so violent in a small amount of time. Again, thank you so much for the work you do. This history is horrific, more so when it is so close to us.
Miss Galiyeva
2023-10-14 04:31:08 +0000 UTCReally makes you wonder if Armenians could ever catch a break and enjoy a stretch of peace.
travis Jennings
2023-03-03 10:44:13 +0000 UTCJesus, for an episode on this podcast to have a content warning...
Sean Holland
2023-03-02 10:05:53 +0000 UTC
