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NAASR TALK PAYS TRIBUTE TO LEMKIN
Posted on October 27, 2011 by Editor
Mirror-Spectator Staff
Khatchig Mouradian
By Alin K. Gregorian
BELMONT, Mass. - Khatchig Mouradian, a doctoral student at the
Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University,
presented a talk on October 6 at the National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR) on the links between human rights activist
and lawyer Raphael Lemkin and the discourse both within and outside
the Armenian community on the Armenian Genocide.
Mouradian, the editor of the Armenian Weekly, drew from various
sources, including the archives of Armenian newspapers as well as
Lemkin's correspondence with the editors of those newspapers on how the
Armenian experience helped the Polish-born, Jewish Yale professor to
craft the word genocide to define the events that befell the Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire and the new Turkish Republic. In addition, he
delved into the Armenians' perception of the word genocide and how
and when they started using it. In addition, he also spoke about the
collaboration between Armenian-Americans and Lemkin in his tireless
efforts to have the US ratify the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, more commonly known as the
Genocide Convention.
Mouradian said Lemkin and his efforts, which cost him so much during
his life, inspired him to turn from journalism to academia.
"Lemkin knew about the Genocide, was influenced by the Genocide and
dedicated his life" to "make Genocide a crime punishable by law,"
Mouradian said. The issue was especially resonant with Lemkin because
he had lost so many family members during the Holocaust.
On December 11, 1946, thanks to his efforts, the United Nations General
Assembly passed the Genocide Convention. After that, Lemkin was more
and more in touch with the Armenian press, trying to galvanize them
into action to push the US to ratify the Genocide Convention. He
corresponded regularly with the editors of the Armenian papers and
started interviewing survivors, including a woman in Watertown who
was the only person to be spared in her family. In addition, he also
wanted Turkey to ratify the Genocide Convention.
Ironically, he succeeded with Turkey, but not with the US. It was
not until 1988 that the US ratified it.
The issue of defining and avenging the crimes against the Armenians,
Mouradian noted, for Lemkin came to a head with the case of Soghomon
Tehlirian, who assassinated Talaat Pasha, one of the three of Ottoman
leaders who devised the policy of Armenian extermination. Tehlirian
assassinated Talaat in Berlin where he had fled after being found
guilty of crimes by a military court in Turkey. Tehlirian was
traumatized by witnessing the deaths of all his family members,
which the court found, absolved him of guilt.
Lemkin was a student in Lvov, then part of Poland and now part of
Ukraine, when the assassination took place in March 1921. The events
made him think what recourse individuals had against any government
which had put into place a policy of extermination. From that starting
point, he dedicated himself to first defining that mass extermination
and then making sure that it was punishable. He also wanted to help
the Armenian people get some sort of justice, even if only symbolic.
Among the reasons the US used for not ratifying the convention were
that they referred to a territory under Soviet rule and that they
were afraid the descendents of slaves would use the measure in court
to receive compensation.
Mouradian listed some of the many phrases Armenians have used since
the tragic events took place, some of which are still in usage,
including Medz Yeghern, Aghed, Medz Voghperkutyun, Hayaspanoutiun
and Chart. As for Medz Yeghern, he said, Armenians often use it but
it became "a four-letter word" once Pope Benedict XV and President
Barack Obama used it in order to avoid using the word "genocide."
Mouradian detailed the numerous instances in which Armenian
publications started using the translation of genocide
(tzeghaspanutiun) to refer to the events of 1915-1923. One of the
first examples, he said, was in Haratch in 1945.
Interestingly, he said several people wrote letters to the editors
of Armenian publications at the time - the height of the Cold War -
asking them not to use the word genocide, as it would cause problems
for the US and help the Soviet Union.
"The US forgot Lemkin. He was someone who should have been nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize, but by the mid-1950s, it was over for him,"
he concluded.
From: Baghdasarian
Posted on October 27, 2011 by Editor
Mirror-Spectator Staff
Khatchig Mouradian
By Alin K. Gregorian
BELMONT, Mass. - Khatchig Mouradian, a doctoral student at the
Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University,
presented a talk on October 6 at the National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR) on the links between human rights activist
and lawyer Raphael Lemkin and the discourse both within and outside
the Armenian community on the Armenian Genocide.
Mouradian, the editor of the Armenian Weekly, drew from various
sources, including the archives of Armenian newspapers as well as
Lemkin's correspondence with the editors of those newspapers on how the
Armenian experience helped the Polish-born, Jewish Yale professor to
craft the word genocide to define the events that befell the Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire and the new Turkish Republic. In addition, he
delved into the Armenians' perception of the word genocide and how
and when they started using it. In addition, he also spoke about the
collaboration between Armenian-Americans and Lemkin in his tireless
efforts to have the US ratify the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, more commonly known as the
Genocide Convention.
Mouradian said Lemkin and his efforts, which cost him so much during
his life, inspired him to turn from journalism to academia.
"Lemkin knew about the Genocide, was influenced by the Genocide and
dedicated his life" to "make Genocide a crime punishable by law,"
Mouradian said. The issue was especially resonant with Lemkin because
he had lost so many family members during the Holocaust.
On December 11, 1946, thanks to his efforts, the United Nations General
Assembly passed the Genocide Convention. After that, Lemkin was more
and more in touch with the Armenian press, trying to galvanize them
into action to push the US to ratify the Genocide Convention. He
corresponded regularly with the editors of the Armenian papers and
started interviewing survivors, including a woman in Watertown who
was the only person to be spared in her family. In addition, he also
wanted Turkey to ratify the Genocide Convention.
Ironically, he succeeded with Turkey, but not with the US. It was
not until 1988 that the US ratified it.
The issue of defining and avenging the crimes against the Armenians,
Mouradian noted, for Lemkin came to a head with the case of Soghomon
Tehlirian, who assassinated Talaat Pasha, one of the three of Ottoman
leaders who devised the policy of Armenian extermination. Tehlirian
assassinated Talaat in Berlin where he had fled after being found
guilty of crimes by a military court in Turkey. Tehlirian was
traumatized by witnessing the deaths of all his family members,
which the court found, absolved him of guilt.
Lemkin was a student in Lvov, then part of Poland and now part of
Ukraine, when the assassination took place in March 1921. The events
made him think what recourse individuals had against any government
which had put into place a policy of extermination. From that starting
point, he dedicated himself to first defining that mass extermination
and then making sure that it was punishable. He also wanted to help
the Armenian people get some sort of justice, even if only symbolic.
Among the reasons the US used for not ratifying the convention were
that they referred to a territory under Soviet rule and that they
were afraid the descendents of slaves would use the measure in court
to receive compensation.
Mouradian listed some of the many phrases Armenians have used since
the tragic events took place, some of which are still in usage,
including Medz Yeghern, Aghed, Medz Voghperkutyun, Hayaspanoutiun
and Chart. As for Medz Yeghern, he said, Armenians often use it but
it became "a four-letter word" once Pope Benedict XV and President
Barack Obama used it in order to avoid using the word "genocide."
Mouradian detailed the numerous instances in which Armenian
publications started using the translation of genocide
(tzeghaspanutiun) to refer to the events of 1915-1923. One of the
first examples, he said, was in Haratch in 1945.
Interestingly, he said several people wrote letters to the editors
of Armenian publications at the time - the height of the Cold War -
asking them not to use the word genocide, as it would cause problems
for the US and help the Soviet Union.
"The US forgot Lemkin. He was someone who should have been nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize, but by the mid-1950s, it was over for him,"
he concluded.
From: Baghdasarian