Werfel's novel made him famous among Armenians, according to his biographer, Peter Stephan Jungk. Citing Father Bezdikian, an Armenian priest living in Venice, Italy whose grandfather served and fought during the siege: "Franz Werfel is the national hero of the Armenian people. His great book is a kind of consolation to us—no, not a consolation, there is no such thing—but it is of eminent importance to us that this book exists. It guarantees that it can never be forgotten, never, what happened to our people." Ascherson stated "For Armenians, it remains unique and precious: for all its minor inaccuracies, it’s the one work whose urgency and passion keeps the truth of their genocide before the eyes of a world that would prefer to forget about it."