On the night of April 23 and 24, 1915, Armenian political, religious, educational, and intellectual leaders in Istanbul were arrested, deported, and mercilessly put to death. Next, the Turkish government ordered the deportation of the Armenian people to "relocation centers" - which was actually the barren deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia. The Armenians were driven out brutally from the length of the empire. Secrecy, surprise, deception, torture, dehumanization, rape and pillage were all a part of the process.
The greatest torment was reserved for the women and children, who were driven for months over mountains and deserts, often dehumanized by being stripped naked and repeatedly preyed upon and abused. Intentionally deprived of food and water, they fell by the hundreds of thousands along the routes to the desert.