Armenian Golgotha - Grigoris Balakian

An account of Grigoris' life in Turkey during the Armenian genocide.  It traces his experiences from his arrest in Istanbul in 1915 until his departure after the war in 1918.  He also looks at many of the specific methods of deporting and killing the Armenians.  One thing that struck me was the similarity to some of the methods Nazis would adopt later when eliminating the Jews.
It seems a balanced account.  Their are monsters and morally reprehensible deeds on all sides - Turkish, German and Armenian.  There is also kindness, help and critical voices on all sides
Balakian also criticizes the Armenian leadership early on in the book for being so outspoken in their support of the Allies and the Russians at the beginning of the war, and so critical of the Germans and their allies.  He points out the folly of this when living amidst the enemy.
One definite purpose of this genocide was wealth transfer.  Leadership and officials often seem to have grabbed the best part of the wealth from the abandoned homes and also from the caravans as they slowly abandoned what they had brought.  The poorer Turks were left with taking the clothing and the last few personal belongings.  One effect of warning the Armenians before they were to be exiled was that they would pack up their most valuable items and hide gold in their clothes and in their baggage.  It was much easier to confiscate it once the deportation caravans were on route as the victims has gathered it all up beforehand.
Local villagers seem to have also played a willing role in the massacres and inhumane treatment not only for money but also for religious reasons.
The German military does not come off well at all, though the German civilians working on the Baghdad railroad seem to have done what they could to help and protect both Armenian employees and passing caravans.  This experience may have provided some critical insights used by the military and Nazis later.
I come away wondering why the Turkish government had such a fixation on eliminating the Armenians - they continued trying to eliminate every last one right up until the end of the war.  They also continued to chase the leadership arrested in Istanbul in 1915 right up until the end.  After all, this was wartime - to waste so much energy and manpower on chasing down the last few Armenians seems strange, a psychological affliction of some kind.  Similar questions could be asked about the Germans and the Jews.  It went far beyond breaking power and grabbing wealth; almost a bizarre crusade of some kind.