Morgenthau did what he could to help, but it was not enough. Hundreds of thousands had died, and there was no end in sight. Demoralized, he asked to leave his post. During his farewell meeting with ministers Talaat Pasha and Enver Pasha that January, he raised the issue of the Armenians again. “What’s the use of speaking about them?” Talaat Pasha asked, waving his hand in the air. “We are through with them. That’s all over.”
