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The Haverhill Gazette (Massachusetts)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
April12, 2012 Thursday
Students stunned by tales of genocide
by Alex Lippa, The Haverhill Gazette, Mass.
April 12--As Haverhill High School senior Michelle Chennault sat in
the school auditorium, she was stunned at the stories she heard from
the speakers on stage.
She was among more than 100 students who listened to four people tell
there stories about how they or their ancestors escaped genocide in
four different countries. The human rights forum on Monday was
organized and moderated by retired Haverhill Gazette reporter Tom
Vartabedian. It is the second consecutive year in which Vartabedian
has organized a group of speakers to talk at Haverhill High about
genocides.
Most touching to Chennault was the story of Jasmina Cesic, who
survived the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s.
"These genocides happened when I was only 2 or 3 years old and I had
never even heard about them," Chennault said. "It just shocked me
because I was only a toddler and I had no idea what was happening that
entire time."
Cesic was living in the Yugoslavian city of Visegrad in 1992 when the
country's government began to fall apart. Constant fighting between
Serbs and Muslims led to more than 25,000 deaths of Bosnian Muslims
between 1992 and 1995. Cesic was able to escape and come to the United
States in 1993, but she left behind her husband, two brothers, uncle
and grandmother who had all been killed in the genocide.
Not only did she lose her loved ones -- she also lost her right arm.
Cesic told the story about how she and her husband were waiting for
the bus one morning to go to work when they were shot at from a
passing armored car. Her husband was killed and Cesic was badly
wounded. She lost her right arm and had wounds to both of her legs.
She was in the hospital for 25 days. She came to the United States in
1993, after the U.S. started a program for Bosnian refugees who needed
medical treatment.
Rwandan refugee Claude Kaitare spoke about his experience in Rwanda
during 1994. Kaitare was living there when President Juvenal
Habyarimana's plane was shot down, sparking genocide throughout the
small country in east Africa. Although he was only 12 at the time,
Kaitare played a vital role in keeping his friends and family alive.
Kaitare was too young to even have an ID card listing his ethnicity,
so he was able to pass through certain roadblocks to access
marketplaces and acquire necessary supplies. He then passed back
through the road blocks to deliver those supplies to relatives and
friends who were staying at a refugee camp. He did that for three
months until the genocide was over. Kaitare eventually moved to Kenya
where he studied English, before coming to the United States.
"To actually see someone there who had experienced genocide and was
able to talk to us about that was really amazing," said Haverhill High
sophomore Nathalia Ulysse.
Ulysse said she enjoyed hearing the speakers because it genocide not a
subject that is usually touched on during her classroom learning.
Also speaking to the students was Jim Vanderpol, a holocaust survivor
of World War II from the Netherlands. Vanderpol described his
experience as similar to that of Anne Frank, who was famous for hiding
from the Nazis in an attic for several months. Frank did not survive
the holocaust, but Vanderpol did by hiding in a chimney in Amsterdam.
The final speaker was George Aghjayan, who had ancestors in the
ArmenianGenocide during the early 20th century. Aghjayan focused on
the importance of getting the genocide recognized in the United
States. Only 44 of the 50 states recognize the events from 1915 to
1923 as a genocide. Turkey has a major opposition to the genocide
being recognized and the fear of damaging relations with Turkey has
halted a bill which would recognize theArmeniantragedy in the United
States.
TheArmenianGenocide will be commemorated at St. Gregory the
Illuminator Church on April 17, as has been the case for the last 97
years. Mayor James Fiorentini will speak at the ceremony and the
Armenianflag will be raised.
From: Baghdasarian
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
April12, 2012 Thursday
Students stunned by tales of genocide
by Alex Lippa, The Haverhill Gazette, Mass.
April 12--As Haverhill High School senior Michelle Chennault sat in
the school auditorium, she was stunned at the stories she heard from
the speakers on stage.
She was among more than 100 students who listened to four people tell
there stories about how they or their ancestors escaped genocide in
four different countries. The human rights forum on Monday was
organized and moderated by retired Haverhill Gazette reporter Tom
Vartabedian. It is the second consecutive year in which Vartabedian
has organized a group of speakers to talk at Haverhill High about
genocides.
Most touching to Chennault was the story of Jasmina Cesic, who
survived the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s.
"These genocides happened when I was only 2 or 3 years old and I had
never even heard about them," Chennault said. "It just shocked me
because I was only a toddler and I had no idea what was happening that
entire time."
Cesic was living in the Yugoslavian city of Visegrad in 1992 when the
country's government began to fall apart. Constant fighting between
Serbs and Muslims led to more than 25,000 deaths of Bosnian Muslims
between 1992 and 1995. Cesic was able to escape and come to the United
States in 1993, but she left behind her husband, two brothers, uncle
and grandmother who had all been killed in the genocide.
Not only did she lose her loved ones -- she also lost her right arm.
Cesic told the story about how she and her husband were waiting for
the bus one morning to go to work when they were shot at from a
passing armored car. Her husband was killed and Cesic was badly
wounded. She lost her right arm and had wounds to both of her legs.
She was in the hospital for 25 days. She came to the United States in
1993, after the U.S. started a program for Bosnian refugees who needed
medical treatment.
Rwandan refugee Claude Kaitare spoke about his experience in Rwanda
during 1994. Kaitare was living there when President Juvenal
Habyarimana's plane was shot down, sparking genocide throughout the
small country in east Africa. Although he was only 12 at the time,
Kaitare played a vital role in keeping his friends and family alive.
Kaitare was too young to even have an ID card listing his ethnicity,
so he was able to pass through certain roadblocks to access
marketplaces and acquire necessary supplies. He then passed back
through the road blocks to deliver those supplies to relatives and
friends who were staying at a refugee camp. He did that for three
months until the genocide was over. Kaitare eventually moved to Kenya
where he studied English, before coming to the United States.
"To actually see someone there who had experienced genocide and was
able to talk to us about that was really amazing," said Haverhill High
sophomore Nathalia Ulysse.
Ulysse said she enjoyed hearing the speakers because it genocide not a
subject that is usually touched on during her classroom learning.
Also speaking to the students was Jim Vanderpol, a holocaust survivor
of World War II from the Netherlands. Vanderpol described his
experience as similar to that of Anne Frank, who was famous for hiding
from the Nazis in an attic for several months. Frank did not survive
the holocaust, but Vanderpol did by hiding in a chimney in Amsterdam.
The final speaker was George Aghjayan, who had ancestors in the
ArmenianGenocide during the early 20th century. Aghjayan focused on
the importance of getting the genocide recognized in the United
States. Only 44 of the 50 states recognize the events from 1915 to
1923 as a genocide. Turkey has a major opposition to the genocide
being recognized and the fear of damaging relations with Turkey has
halted a bill which would recognize theArmeniantragedy in the United
States.
TheArmenianGenocide will be commemorated at St. Gregory the
Illuminator Church on April 17, as has been the case for the last 97
years. Mayor James Fiorentini will speak at the ceremony and the
Armenianflag will be raised.
From: Baghdasarian