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Tampa Tribune, FL
April 27 2008
Before The Holocaust
By KURT LOFT
The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 27, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - The systematic murder of European Jews by the Nazis
forms what may be the darkest chapter in human history, but it by no
means exhausted mankind's capacity for genocide.
>From the massacre of American Indians to the Boer War to Darfur,
governments have shown not just malevolence, but also a penchant for
evil that often escapes description, much less our ability to
understand it. This is why social historians focus on the message of
these terrible events and why each new generation must look it in the
eye.
So it is with "The Greatest Crime of the War: The Armenian Genocide
During World War I," a new exhibition at the Florida Holocaust
Museum. Often overshadowed by the Holocaust of World War II, the fate
of the Armenians at the hands of the Turkish government remains
central to man's inhumanity to man, says Erin Blankenship, the
museum's curator of exhibitions and collections.
"For so long, Armenians have been struggling to have this recognized,"
she says. "It's important for an institution like ours to say, 'Yes,
this happened before the Holocaust, and we can learn from it.'"
Human rights groups around the world each year honor the victims of
genocide on April 24, when, in 1915, more than 200 Armenian
intellectuals were arrested by the Committee of Union and Progress, a
reformist political power within the Ottoman Empire. Also known as the
Young Turks, the group labeled the Armenians a threat to the empire's
security and began the planned expulsion of an entire people from
their 2,500-year-old homeland.
An estimated 2 million Armenians were forced to march southwest into
what is now the Syrian desert, where most succumbed to thirst, hunger
and exposure. The horrors and indignities suffered by the fleeing
population -- torture and rape were common -- underscore the vehemence
of the perpetrators. Many others died within their own borders,
bringing the estimated total number of deaths to about 1.5 million.
The exhibit begins with the history of the Armenian people and follows
the political and international events leading up to World War I and
tensions in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). The exhibit makes strong
use of photos -- families being deported, stoic orphans -- to explain
the scale of human suffering.
It ends with panels discussing the denial and lack of justice
surrounding the mass deaths, how the event prompted an international
outcry of "crimes against humanity," and its legacy today.
Turkey does not deny that many Armenians died but says that most of
the deaths were part of the general unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire. Some countries are sympathetic to Turkey's position.
The United States, which was aligned with Turkey during the Cold War,
has not officially recognized the events as a genocide. Last year, the
House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution labeling it a
genocide. Turkey reacted by warning that the action threatens its
strategic partnership with the United States.
By recognizing the Armenians' plight as a planned destruction of a
nation's people, societies can better understand similar events that
followed -- and those that wait to unfold, says Carolyn Bass, the
museum's director.
"Hitler himself said, 'Who remembers the Armenians?' but he was able
to build his own philosophy on it," she says. "Nothing happens in a
vacuum. You need to study all holocausts and what could have been done
to stop them."
ON VIEW
The Greatest Crime
of the War
WHEN: Through Oct. 19; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
WHERE: Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. S., St. Petersburg
HOW MUCH: $12; $6 for students, free for ages 6 and younger; (727) 820-0100
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/27 /tr-before-the-holocaust/
April 27 2008
Before The Holocaust
By KURT LOFT
The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 27, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - The systematic murder of European Jews by the Nazis
forms what may be the darkest chapter in human history, but it by no
means exhausted mankind's capacity for genocide.
>From the massacre of American Indians to the Boer War to Darfur,
governments have shown not just malevolence, but also a penchant for
evil that often escapes description, much less our ability to
understand it. This is why social historians focus on the message of
these terrible events and why each new generation must look it in the
eye.
So it is with "The Greatest Crime of the War: The Armenian Genocide
During World War I," a new exhibition at the Florida Holocaust
Museum. Often overshadowed by the Holocaust of World War II, the fate
of the Armenians at the hands of the Turkish government remains
central to man's inhumanity to man, says Erin Blankenship, the
museum's curator of exhibitions and collections.
"For so long, Armenians have been struggling to have this recognized,"
she says. "It's important for an institution like ours to say, 'Yes,
this happened before the Holocaust, and we can learn from it.'"
Human rights groups around the world each year honor the victims of
genocide on April 24, when, in 1915, more than 200 Armenian
intellectuals were arrested by the Committee of Union and Progress, a
reformist political power within the Ottoman Empire. Also known as the
Young Turks, the group labeled the Armenians a threat to the empire's
security and began the planned expulsion of an entire people from
their 2,500-year-old homeland.
An estimated 2 million Armenians were forced to march southwest into
what is now the Syrian desert, where most succumbed to thirst, hunger
and exposure. The horrors and indignities suffered by the fleeing
population -- torture and rape were common -- underscore the vehemence
of the perpetrators. Many others died within their own borders,
bringing the estimated total number of deaths to about 1.5 million.
The exhibit begins with the history of the Armenian people and follows
the political and international events leading up to World War I and
tensions in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). The exhibit makes strong
use of photos -- families being deported, stoic orphans -- to explain
the scale of human suffering.
It ends with panels discussing the denial and lack of justice
surrounding the mass deaths, how the event prompted an international
outcry of "crimes against humanity," and its legacy today.
Turkey does not deny that many Armenians died but says that most of
the deaths were part of the general unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire. Some countries are sympathetic to Turkey's position.
The United States, which was aligned with Turkey during the Cold War,
has not officially recognized the events as a genocide. Last year, the
House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution labeling it a
genocide. Turkey reacted by warning that the action threatens its
strategic partnership with the United States.
By recognizing the Armenians' plight as a planned destruction of a
nation's people, societies can better understand similar events that
followed -- and those that wait to unfold, says Carolyn Bass, the
museum's director.
"Hitler himself said, 'Who remembers the Armenians?' but he was able
to build his own philosophy on it," she says. "Nothing happens in a
vacuum. You need to study all holocausts and what could have been done
to stop them."
ON VIEW
The Greatest Crime
of the War
WHEN: Through Oct. 19; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
WHERE: Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. S., St. Petersburg
HOW MUCH: $12; $6 for students, free for ages 6 and younger; (727) 820-0100
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/27 /tr-before-the-holocaust/