SOURCES
The historical record is documented.
1915.world is a recognition project, not a substitute for historical scholarship. The references below provide primary documentation and institutional historical context.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia describes the Armenian Genocide and discusses the scale of the Armenian population and deaths in the Ottoman Empire. Its estimate for deaths during the principal 1915–1916 period is lower than the 1.5 million memorial figure used by many Armenian institutions, reflecting differences in period and methodology.
USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia ↗Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan documents the genocide and uses the memorial figure of approximately 1.5 million Armenians killed during the broader 1915–1923 period. 1915.world uses “1.5 million lives” as memorial language while presenting other scholarly estimates here for context.
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute ↗U.S. diplomatic documentation
U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's July 1915 telegram, preserved by the U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian, reports systematic persecution and deportation of Armenians while the events were taking place.
Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State ↗Why casualty estimates differ
Historical estimates vary according to the geographic scope, time period, source base and method used. The existence of a range in historical estimates does not change the purpose of this project: to make individual recognition visible on a permanent global map.