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Armenian Genocide survivor gets citation from Waltham's Koutoujian

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  • Armenian Genocide survivor gets citation from Waltham's Koutoujian

    Wicked Local, MA
    Jan 6 2014


    Armenian Genocide survivor gets citation from Waltham's Koutoujian


    WALTHAM -

    On the 101st birthday of Armenian Genocide survivor Vahram Nahikian,
    his family and friends gathered at Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church
    in Belmont to hear his family's survival story shared by his
    granddaughter Anaide Nahikian, and to see him receive a citation from
    Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian of Waltham.

    Rev. Raphael Andonian of the parish hosted the Dec. 8 ceremony.

    `I was honored to join Mr. Nahikian and his family as our community
    gathered to celebrate his birthday and his contribution to our shared
    heritage,' said Koutoujian, a parishioner at Holy Cross who is
    actively involved in the Armenian American community. `His personal
    account of the extreme hardships suffered by our ancestors allows us
    to remain connected to the events that changed the destiny of our
    people.'

    The gathering was arranged by Lalig Musserian of Belmont, the
    coordinator of the committee for the 29th annual Massachusetts State
    House Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. That event, to have been
    held April 19 to recognize the 98th anniversary of the genocide, was
    canceled because of the Boston Marathon bombings. Since that time,
    Musserian and fellow Belmont resident Jirair Hovsepian have been
    reaching out to survivors making it possible for them to receive their
    Armenian Martyrs Day Proclamations.

    "It is an incredible experience to me to meet with genocide survivors.
    I look through their eyes and feel that I can see all the horrors
    those eyes have seen. I can almost hear the echoes of cries for help,
    which never came. And when those eyes are still able to smile and look
    beyond the pain. I am humbled by the strength and power of the human
    spirit," Musserian said of the gathering for Vahram Nahikian.

    That experience was told vividly by Nahikian's granddaughter Anaide
    Nahikian, as she recounted the family's story.

    "A survivor himself, Vahram Nahikian also represents the persecution
    and sacrifice of two generations before him: his father, Dr. Nechan
    Nahiguian, an intellectual and leader who was killed during his
    resistance in the 1915 genocide, along with most of his family
    members, and his grandfather, Priest Der Vahram Nahiguian, martyr for
    his faith and killed with his family in the 1895 Hamidian Massacres."

    Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, presented a proclamation from
    Gov. Deval Patrick.

    "It is very meaningful to show respect to the survivors and always
    uplifting for me to do so,' Brownsberger said. `It reminds us how
    fortunate we are and helps us to keep in the front of our minds the
    goal of preventing future genocide."

    The commemoration committee is already planning the 99th State House
    Commemoration that will take place on Friday, April 11, 2014.

    http://www.wickedlocal.com/waltham/news/x1275656288/Armenian-Genocide-survivor-gets-citation-from-Walthams-Koutoujian

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