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PEABODY REMEMBERS THOSE KILLED IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Robert Cook
Peabody City Hall
24 Lowell St, Peabody, MA
/listings/peabody-city-hall
775596
/locations/4173215
Government, The Neighborhood Files
Peabody Remembers Those Killed in Armenian Genocide
City officials, residents gather at City Hall to remember the 96th
anniversary of the Armenian massacre of 1915
The number of Peabody residents of Armenian heritage with ties to
those who survived the Armenian massacre inflicted by Ottoman-Turkish
soldiers on April 24, 1915 may be small, but the pain of remembrance
they feel is still great.
Several members of this community gathered with city officials at
City Hall on Wednesday morning to first raise the Armenian flag in
front of City Hall and then remember the atrocities of that day and
the genocide that followed that killed more than 1.5 million men,
women and children from 1915 to 1923.
Mayor Michael Bonfanti said yesterday's ceremony was the 10th one
he has presided over as mayor. The city first started to remember
the Armenian genocide in 1991 when former Mayor Peter Torigian,
whose parents were Armenian immigrants who survived the genocide,
decided it was needed.
Bonfanti said that as more people who have ties to that horrific period
in Armenian history pass away, it will become even more critical
to make sure what happened is never forgotten so it doesn't happen
anywhere again in the world.
"Millions of innocent human beings died and we must never forget,"
Bonfanti said.
The Rev. Karenkin Bedourain of St. Gregory Church in North Andover
said the Armenian people's hope for justice to make those responsible
accountable has never diminished even as the anniversary of the 1915
nears 100 years.
"God's anger will keep reminding us and others that there are other
nations that are thirsty for justice," he said. "Now we are demanding
justice and all reperations from the world, and particularly murderous
Turkey which continues to deny the fact."
Bedourain said it is important for the world to fully acknowledge
that the Armenian massacre of 1915 and the genocide that followed
did happen.
"The world can be saved when it begins to practice justice and the
truth," he said.
The Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915 when the Ottoman Empire
in Turkey decided it wanted to systematically wipe out the Armenian
race. The first 250 Armenians were massacred on that day and millions
of others were subsequently uprooted from their homes and forced to
march for hundreds of miles without food or water to Syria.
Armenians who survived the massacre and genocide that followed often
saw their families decimated by these atrocities. Some families
couldn't even stay together and sent their children to live with
relatives in other countries or to orphanages.
While 20 nations recognize the Armenian massacre and genocide, the
United States does not. Gary Barrett, who serves as the district
director for Congressman John Tierney, read a statement from Tierney
where he said that each year he supports legislation on Capitol Hill
that would make the United State recognize those things did happen,
but so far such legislation has never made it out of Congress.
Deacon Avedis Garavanian, also of St. Gregory Church in North
Andover, delivered an emotional account of how children of parents
who survived the Armenian genocide struggle to explain that period
to their families and how the psychological scars carried by their
parents are transferred to their children.
He said 27 members of his family died as a result of those atrocities.
Garavanian said his father was often unable able to discuss what he had
experienced as a child during the massacre. He said that every April
his father would not leave their house. He recalled that whenever
he asked his father about what he saw and his father said nothing,
that was just as bad as what he would eventually learn.
"Sometimes silence is deadly."
Finally, when he was driving his father to Hartford, Conn., in 1982,
Garavanian once asked his father what happened and this time his
father finally shared some of those terrible memories with his son.
Garavanian said his father told him that he came home to find Turkish
soldiers killing some of his siblings, his grandparents and one
soldier hit him in the eye with the butt of his rifle, which caused
him to lose one eye.
Even today, Garavanian said he finds it very hard to share what he
learned from his father with his own children whenever they ask him
about the massacre.
"It is a terrible way for anyone, and we are all God's children,
to grow up without a sense of what we are all about," Garavanian said
From: A. Papazian
By Robert Cook
Peabody City Hall
24 Lowell St, Peabody, MA
/listings/peabody-city-hall
775596
/locations/4173215
Government, The Neighborhood Files
Peabody Remembers Those Killed in Armenian Genocide
City officials, residents gather at City Hall to remember the 96th
anniversary of the Armenian massacre of 1915
The number of Peabody residents of Armenian heritage with ties to
those who survived the Armenian massacre inflicted by Ottoman-Turkish
soldiers on April 24, 1915 may be small, but the pain of remembrance
they feel is still great.
Several members of this community gathered with city officials at
City Hall on Wednesday morning to first raise the Armenian flag in
front of City Hall and then remember the atrocities of that day and
the genocide that followed that killed more than 1.5 million men,
women and children from 1915 to 1923.
Mayor Michael Bonfanti said yesterday's ceremony was the 10th one
he has presided over as mayor. The city first started to remember
the Armenian genocide in 1991 when former Mayor Peter Torigian,
whose parents were Armenian immigrants who survived the genocide,
decided it was needed.
Bonfanti said that as more people who have ties to that horrific period
in Armenian history pass away, it will become even more critical
to make sure what happened is never forgotten so it doesn't happen
anywhere again in the world.
"Millions of innocent human beings died and we must never forget,"
Bonfanti said.
The Rev. Karenkin Bedourain of St. Gregory Church in North Andover
said the Armenian people's hope for justice to make those responsible
accountable has never diminished even as the anniversary of the 1915
nears 100 years.
"God's anger will keep reminding us and others that there are other
nations that are thirsty for justice," he said. "Now we are demanding
justice and all reperations from the world, and particularly murderous
Turkey which continues to deny the fact."
Bedourain said it is important for the world to fully acknowledge
that the Armenian massacre of 1915 and the genocide that followed
did happen.
"The world can be saved when it begins to practice justice and the
truth," he said.
The Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915 when the Ottoman Empire
in Turkey decided it wanted to systematically wipe out the Armenian
race. The first 250 Armenians were massacred on that day and millions
of others were subsequently uprooted from their homes and forced to
march for hundreds of miles without food or water to Syria.
Armenians who survived the massacre and genocide that followed often
saw their families decimated by these atrocities. Some families
couldn't even stay together and sent their children to live with
relatives in other countries or to orphanages.
While 20 nations recognize the Armenian massacre and genocide, the
United States does not. Gary Barrett, who serves as the district
director for Congressman John Tierney, read a statement from Tierney
where he said that each year he supports legislation on Capitol Hill
that would make the United State recognize those things did happen,
but so far such legislation has never made it out of Congress.
Deacon Avedis Garavanian, also of St. Gregory Church in North
Andover, delivered an emotional account of how children of parents
who survived the Armenian genocide struggle to explain that period
to their families and how the psychological scars carried by their
parents are transferred to their children.
He said 27 members of his family died as a result of those atrocities.
Garavanian said his father was often unable able to discuss what he had
experienced as a child during the massacre. He said that every April
his father would not leave their house. He recalled that whenever
he asked his father about what he saw and his father said nothing,
that was just as bad as what he would eventually learn.
"Sometimes silence is deadly."
Finally, when he was driving his father to Hartford, Conn., in 1982,
Garavanian once asked his father what happened and this time his
father finally shared some of those terrible memories with his son.
Garavanian said his father told him that he came home to find Turkish
soldiers killing some of his siblings, his grandparents and one
soldier hit him in the eye with the butt of his rifle, which caused
him to lose one eye.
Even today, Garavanian said he finds it very hard to share what he
learned from his father with his own children whenever they ask him
about the massacre.
"It is a terrible way for anyone, and we are all God's children,
to grow up without a sense of what we are all about," Garavanian said
From: A. Papazian