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We Remember The Armenian Genocide

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  • We Remember The Armenian Genocide

    WE REMEMBER THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    Duke Chronicle
    March 2 2015

    By Stephen Ghazikhanian on March 2, 2015

    "One day the gendarmes [Ottoman military police] came, and chased
    us out of our house. They didn't tell us where we were going, just
    to get out of the house," recounted Yeranouhi Kazanjian Najarian,
    an Armenian Genocide survivor, in a recorded testimonial from the
    early 1980s. She and her two sisters were the sole survivors from her
    entire family--both her grandmothers were buried alive, her father
    imprisoned and never seen again. Her mother, brother, and sister were
    herded into the mountains with thousands of other Armenians and forced
    to walk hundreds of miles south towards concentration camps. During
    the deportation, her mother was left in the mountains to die and her
    brother beheaded. While it has been over thirty years since Yeranouhi
    recorded this testimonial, and only months short of a century since
    these events took place, Yeranouhi's words will always be remembered.

    The atrocities Yeranouhi described were part of a systematic
    extermination campaign by the Ottoman government against the
    Armenians. Up to 1.5 million Armenians perished as a result of
    outright killings or death marches through the Syrian Desert to
    concentration camps in Deir ez-Zor. The Armenian Genocide marked the
    first genocide of the 20th century. Ottoman success in eradicating
    the Armenians from their historic homeland and the lack of sufficient
    international outrage about these acts against humanity perpetuated
    genocide throughout the 20th century and 21st century in WWII Europe,
    Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and Darfur. As means of justifying his
    horrific actions, Hitler asked "Who, after all, speaks today of the
    annihilation of the Armenians?"

    It is our duty to tell the story of the Armenians. It is our duty
    to remember each victim of genocide and to honor each survivor, for
    these acts of commemoration are crucial in preventing future acts of
    genocide and mass atrocities. The Coalition for Preserving Memory, an
    organization founded by Duke students, is dedicated to memorializing
    genocide victims from the 20th and 21st centuries in a way that will
    be meaningful and relevant to future generations. CPM unites our
    diverse Duke community to remember those who have unjustly perished.

    It is our responsibility to make the promise of "Never Again"
    a reality.

    We invite you to join us in observing the 100th anniversary of the
    Armenian Genocide and commemorating its victims with an event entitled
    "Stories of Survival". It will take place on Tuesday, March 3rd, at
    6:30pm in Sanford School of Public Policy Room 05. At the event, we
    will hear panelists from the Duke and Triangle communities, including
    Yeranouhi's grandson, Jeff Essen T'74, share their family narratives
    about the Armenian Genocide. With these harrowing descriptions of
    destruction and moving stories of survival, we will honor the memory
    of the genocide's victims and survivors, remembering humanity at its
    worst to inspire humanity at its best.

    Stephen Ghazikhanian is a Trinity junior.

    http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2015/03/02/we-remember-armenian-genocide

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