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ARCHBISHOP HIGHLIGHTS ARMENIAN EXPERIENCE IN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE
By staff writers
Ekklesia
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14023
Jan 27 2011
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams ,has issued a statement
marking Holocaust Memorial Day, which emphasises the need to hear the
'Untold Stories' of those who suffered similar tragedies to those
experienced during the Shoah - the calculated mass murder of European
Jews and other groups by the Nazis during World War 2.
"If the stories are not told over and again, we lose the memory
of those who suffered and we risk losing something that protects
our humanity...I commend for our remembrance the untold stories of
Jewish people living in Britain during the medieval era, those of the
Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal tragedies of many other
contexts in our deeply damaged world today," declared Dr Williams.
Among the crimes he mentioned was the Armenian genocide of 1915-23, for
which there has been a longstanding campaign for full international
recognition. At present the Turkish government still denies the
genocidal nature of what occurred, despite overwhelming historical
evidence.
Campaigners say that hearing the hidden crimes and unheard voices is
vital to the task of challenging and ending the kind of systematic
murder visited on 6 million Jews and others during the Nazi Holocaust
- which remains unique in scale and execution - but also many other
victims, including recent ones such as those in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, where 5.4 million people have been killed since 1998;
Cambodia, where an estimated 1.7 million were murdered by the Khmer
Rouge between 1975 and 1979; the war in Bosnia in the 1990s which
claimed at least 98,000 lives; Burundi, with 50,000 deaths in 1993
and Rwanda, which saw 800,000 deaths in 1994, due to tribal conflict.
Dr Williams' inclusion of Armenia in his statement was welcomed by
Dr Harry Hagopian, an ecumenical, legal and political expert on the
region. He told Ekklesia that those who still carried the memory
of these events and those working to reverse the climate of denial
around them would be "profoundly grateful" to the Archbishop for
his acknowledgment.
In November last year, Dr Hagopian gave the Constantinople Lecture
2010, sponsored by the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, on
the theme of 'The Armenian Genocide: A way forward?' The lecture was
published by Ekklesia (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/ConstantinopleLecture)
and others.
The annual Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain, and related observances
across the world, have been marked across the country, in local
communities and places of worship, on 27 January 2011.
The full text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's message is as follows:
"On this national Holocaust Memorial Day we are asked to remember
the 'Untold Stories' from other genocides that have occurred
since the Holocaust. The poems of Paul Celan attempt to express the
inexpressible: to tell the 'Untold Story' that chronicles each detail
of human degradation and loss during the Holocaust. Although other
poets have spoken for those killed in Armenia, Cambodia and Darfur,
many stories from these and other genocidal events remain untold. They
do not lessen or relativise the unique horror of the Holocaust,
but rather serve to remind us of the loss of humanity that remains
present in our midst to this day.
"Testimony, poetry and autobiography allow us to attend to the distinct
stories of individuals rather than trying to comprehend the statistics
of different genocides of recent history. Writers like Paul Celan and
Etty Hillesum create the most vivid remembrance because their voices
are so distinct and their suffering can be felt in every detail of
their work.
"Sometimes objects and mementos themselves can carry a story and the
recently launched Jewish Museum in Camden displays hand-crafted sacred
objects alongside small items carried by Jewish children on the kinder
transport as they escaped from Germany. The crafted objects, such as a
roll of scripture in a silver fish case, reveal something of the soul
of the craftsman. The children's toys likewise still carry the marks
of the soul of their owner. But there at least are the memorials of
survivors. It is impossible ever to forget the sight at Auschwitz of
children's toys taken from those killed in the camp. Who can speak
of what they signify of pain and degradation?
"The Jewish Museum presents an overview of Jewish life in Britain
starting with immigrations first recorded in 1066. There is no Paul
Celan or Etty Hillesum telling the story of medieval Jews in Britain.
However, the timeline on the wall preserves an important memorial
of events now almost completely lost to public awareness - who can
now tell the full story of the blood libel case surrounding William
of Norwich in the 12th century or of King Edward's expulsion of all
Jews from England? If the stories are not told over and again, we
lose the memory of those who suffered and we risk losing something
that protects our humanity.
"On this 2011 Holocaust Memorial Day I commend for our remembrance
the untold stories of Jewish people living in Britain during the
medieval era, those of the Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal
tragedies of many other contexts in our deeply damaged world today."
From: A. Papazian
By staff writers
Ekklesia
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14023
Jan 27 2011
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams ,has issued a statement
marking Holocaust Memorial Day, which emphasises the need to hear the
'Untold Stories' of those who suffered similar tragedies to those
experienced during the Shoah - the calculated mass murder of European
Jews and other groups by the Nazis during World War 2.
"If the stories are not told over and again, we lose the memory
of those who suffered and we risk losing something that protects
our humanity...I commend for our remembrance the untold stories of
Jewish people living in Britain during the medieval era, those of the
Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal tragedies of many other
contexts in our deeply damaged world today," declared Dr Williams.
Among the crimes he mentioned was the Armenian genocide of 1915-23, for
which there has been a longstanding campaign for full international
recognition. At present the Turkish government still denies the
genocidal nature of what occurred, despite overwhelming historical
evidence.
Campaigners say that hearing the hidden crimes and unheard voices is
vital to the task of challenging and ending the kind of systematic
murder visited on 6 million Jews and others during the Nazi Holocaust
- which remains unique in scale and execution - but also many other
victims, including recent ones such as those in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, where 5.4 million people have been killed since 1998;
Cambodia, where an estimated 1.7 million were murdered by the Khmer
Rouge between 1975 and 1979; the war in Bosnia in the 1990s which
claimed at least 98,000 lives; Burundi, with 50,000 deaths in 1993
and Rwanda, which saw 800,000 deaths in 1994, due to tribal conflict.
Dr Williams' inclusion of Armenia in his statement was welcomed by
Dr Harry Hagopian, an ecumenical, legal and political expert on the
region. He told Ekklesia that those who still carried the memory
of these events and those working to reverse the climate of denial
around them would be "profoundly grateful" to the Archbishop for
his acknowledgment.
In November last year, Dr Hagopian gave the Constantinople Lecture
2010, sponsored by the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, on
the theme of 'The Armenian Genocide: A way forward?' The lecture was
published by Ekklesia (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/ConstantinopleLecture)
and others.
The annual Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain, and related observances
across the world, have been marked across the country, in local
communities and places of worship, on 27 January 2011.
The full text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's message is as follows:
"On this national Holocaust Memorial Day we are asked to remember
the 'Untold Stories' from other genocides that have occurred
since the Holocaust. The poems of Paul Celan attempt to express the
inexpressible: to tell the 'Untold Story' that chronicles each detail
of human degradation and loss during the Holocaust. Although other
poets have spoken for those killed in Armenia, Cambodia and Darfur,
many stories from these and other genocidal events remain untold. They
do not lessen or relativise the unique horror of the Holocaust,
but rather serve to remind us of the loss of humanity that remains
present in our midst to this day.
"Testimony, poetry and autobiography allow us to attend to the distinct
stories of individuals rather than trying to comprehend the statistics
of different genocides of recent history. Writers like Paul Celan and
Etty Hillesum create the most vivid remembrance because their voices
are so distinct and their suffering can be felt in every detail of
their work.
"Sometimes objects and mementos themselves can carry a story and the
recently launched Jewish Museum in Camden displays hand-crafted sacred
objects alongside small items carried by Jewish children on the kinder
transport as they escaped from Germany. The crafted objects, such as a
roll of scripture in a silver fish case, reveal something of the soul
of the craftsman. The children's toys likewise still carry the marks
of the soul of their owner. But there at least are the memorials of
survivors. It is impossible ever to forget the sight at Auschwitz of
children's toys taken from those killed in the camp. Who can speak
of what they signify of pain and degradation?
"The Jewish Museum presents an overview of Jewish life in Britain
starting with immigrations first recorded in 1066. There is no Paul
Celan or Etty Hillesum telling the story of medieval Jews in Britain.
However, the timeline on the wall preserves an important memorial
of events now almost completely lost to public awareness - who can
now tell the full story of the blood libel case surrounding William
of Norwich in the 12th century or of King Edward's expulsion of all
Jews from England? If the stories are not told over and again, we
lose the memory of those who suffered and we risk losing something
that protects our humanity.
"On this 2011 Holocaust Memorial Day I commend for our remembrance
the untold stories of Jewish people living in Britain during the
medieval era, those of the Holocaust and the stories from the genocidal
tragedies of many other contexts in our deeply damaged world today."
From: A. Papazian