An image of the Armenian massacre

On the threshold of the 20th Century, Melkon Jenanyan returns to Konia with his pregnant wife to establish the first protestant church. Melkon builds up his following, grows his family, friendships flourish and all is wonderful in their life. But less than a decade after returning to his homeland, the Turkish army invades their town of Konia, inflicting brutality on Armenians and forcing him to make a decision that will affect the course of his life forever.

Reclaiming Konia is the story of the Armenian experience under the massacres in 1909 and the genocide in 1915. Melkon Jenanyan’s life is a tribute to the aftermath in the lives of those Armenians who escaped death, the guilt they face at being alive when others were dead or dying, and the hope that comes from reclaiming within oneself that wholeness that was lost in trauma.

The Armenian deportations in the 1900s were the first modern genocide, and it is estimated that upwards of 1.5 million Armenians were killed. An entire people and their culture were displaced from their homeland, their stories and experiences scattered throughout the globe.

Reclaiming Konia is a critical piece of 20th Century history that must be told. It is a conglomerate of many real and possible experiences of the Armenians, told against the backdrop of one family who spoke little of one of the greatest crimes against humanity. A crime that Hitler referred to in defense of his actions in Nazi Germany stating "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"