Yerganian, who witnessed the Armenian Genocide, sought refuge in the Caucasus.[5] In 1917 he enlisted for the Armenian volunteer detachments and fought for General Dro in the Battle of Bash Abaran. With a victory over the Ottoman forces and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Armenia in 1918, Yerganian enlisted in the executive body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation that was instrumental in the establishment of Operation Nemesis, a covert operation aimed at assassinating all key organizers of massacres against Armenians both in Azerbaijan and in the Ottoman Empire.[2][5]