His memoirs, It was the Will for the Martyrs (Կտակն էր Նահատակներուն), is a description of his life during the Armenian genocide and the Operation Nemesis.

During the Armenian Genocide, Shirakian was entrusted the job of smuggling weapons and delivering secret messages amongst party members.

According to his memoirs, Vahe Ihsan was "a traitor who was despised by his countrymen, his relatives, and eventually by his own children" and "helped to draw up the list of prominent Armenians who were arrested and deported in 1915.

[4][5][6][7] Shirakian, along with Aram Yerganian, was later given the task to assassinate both Cemal Azmi and Behaeddin Shakir, who were in Berlin.

The memoirs were eventually translated into French (La dette du sang, 1982 and 1984), English (The Legacy, 1976, by Sonia Shiragian) and Italian (Condannato A Uccidere: Memorie di un Patriota Armeno, 2005, by Vasken Pambakian).