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Shoah Foundation to archive testimonies from Armenian Genocide survivors
By Susan Abram Staff Writerdailynews.com
Posted: 04/01/2012 10:34:50 AM PDT
April 1, 2012 6:39 PM GMT Updated: 04/01/2012 11:39:02 AM PDT
The question would forever link one crime against humanity to another.
"Our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the
physical destruction of the enemy," Adolf Hitler said in his 1939
speech to justify his proposed invasion of Poland.
"Only thus shall we gain the living space which we need. Who, after
all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
More than 70 years after Hitler asked that question, the voices of
Armenians who survived the Genocide that began in 1915 will join the
testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust of World War II, as
part of a collaboration between the Shoah Foundation Institute and the
USC Institute of Armenian Studies Leadership Council.
"These testimonies exist because (the survivors) wanted the world to
know that this happened," said Stephen Smith, executive director for
the Shoah Foundation Institute, at the University of Southern
California.
The voices and images not only strengthen evidence that such
atrocities occurred, but also will show how crimes against humanity
are born out of bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance if gone unnoticed,
Smith said.
Founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994, the Shoah Foundation Institute
includes more than 52,000 digitized testimonies of the survivors and
witnesses of the Holocaust. It took more than 15 years not only to
record the accounts, but also to index them properly so that scholars,
journalists and those serious about learning could find specific
stories by name, birth place or experience.
The foundation is now conducting a similar project with more than 400
films made by J. Michael Hagopian. He was a small child when his
mother hid him in a well from Turkish soldiers who raided the village
of Kharberd in what was then Western Armenia, now part of Turkey.
He survived and migrated to the United States and became a filmmaker
who recorded the experience of Genocide survivors and witnesses.
Filmmaker Carla Garapedian, who worked with Hagopian and is leading
the Armenian Film Foundation's effort to digitize the work, called the
availability of the accounts significant.
"This is the first time that Armenian Genocide interviews will be made
available on such a wide network, so that universities around the
world will be able to access them," she said. "This is an important
moment in terms of educating the public, from the point of view of
survivors and witnesses. ... In understanding genocide in that
comparative way, we may be able to prevent it."
An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died from 1915-23 in what has been
called the first genocide of the 20th century.
The Turkish government maintains the deaths were a consequence of
betrayal and civil unrest in what was then the Ottoman Empire.
Armenians, however, say the killings involved the systematic cleansing
of Christians, which included Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. But the
word genocide has become politicized, with both the United States and
Turkish governments refusing to call it such. Armenian-American
activists have said the U.S. government won't officially recognize the
killings as genocide because it would hurt relations with Turkey, a
NATO ally.
In an interview with the Daily News in 2010, months before his death,
Hagopian said the accounts he filmed should be enough proof of what
occurred.
"The evidence against Turkey is enormous," Hagopian said. "The Germans
have admitted what had happened (during the Holocaust). The Turks have
to admit it so that there is remorse, and after that atonement and
then forgiveness.
"They can't kill babies and take wives and not face retribution."
Samples of survivor and witness testimonies include recollections of
babies pulled from their mother's arms by Turkish soldiers then thrown
into the air, and caught by a bayonet at the end of a rifle. There are
memories of bloodied bodies floating down a river, and the systematic
torture of intellectuals.
What makes Hagopian's films that much more connected to the
testimonies to the Holocaust is that he was encouraged to record
survivors' accounts by Armin Wegner - a German soldier. Wegner was an
Army medic who was stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War
I. While there, he took hundreds of photographs documenting what was
happening to the Armenians, which eventually resulted in his
arrest. But he was able to sneak the photographs out.
Hagopian's first film that related to the genocide was an interview
with Wegner.
Both of their contributions, as well as the Shoah Foundation, will be
honored at a gala and fundraiser on April 15 by the USC Institute of
Armenian Studies' Leadership Council. Funds raised will go toward the
continued work of digitizing Hagopian's footage.
"Wegner is very much a real symbol for what we're doing," Smith
said. "Wegner was Hitler's (symbolic) nemesis. He was there and
photographed the Armenian Genocide. While Hitler is saying who now
remembers the Armenians, Wegner says he remembers the Armenians."
The digitalization process, which includes indexing key words in
Hagopian's films, should be completed in about two years, said Jerry
Papazian, an advisory board member with the USC Institute of Armenian
Studies Leadership Council.
"This (project) so defines who we are, this horrible thing that
happened to our ancestors," Papazian said. "Our theme has been `Don't
let their voices be forgotten'."
The Shoah Foundation Institute also is working to archive witness
accounts of the massacres in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. The goal
is to make people aware of what can happen if the world closes its
eyes and turns its back.
"I'm delighted that the Armenian community trusts us with their
personal community legacy," Smith said. "Trust is the first step. When
you don't trust, that's the breeding ground for bigotry, prejudice,
and intolerance."
Shoah Foundation to archive testimonies from Armenian Genocide survivors
By Susan Abram Staff Writerdailynews.com
Posted: 04/01/2012 10:34:50 AM PDT
April 1, 2012 6:39 PM GMT Updated: 04/01/2012 11:39:02 AM PDT
The question would forever link one crime against humanity to another.
"Our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the
physical destruction of the enemy," Adolf Hitler said in his 1939
speech to justify his proposed invasion of Poland.
"Only thus shall we gain the living space which we need. Who, after
all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
More than 70 years after Hitler asked that question, the voices of
Armenians who survived the Genocide that began in 1915 will join the
testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust of World War II, as
part of a collaboration between the Shoah Foundation Institute and the
USC Institute of Armenian Studies Leadership Council.
"These testimonies exist because (the survivors) wanted the world to
know that this happened," said Stephen Smith, executive director for
the Shoah Foundation Institute, at the University of Southern
California.
The voices and images not only strengthen evidence that such
atrocities occurred, but also will show how crimes against humanity
are born out of bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance if gone unnoticed,
Smith said.
Founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994, the Shoah Foundation Institute
includes more than 52,000 digitized testimonies of the survivors and
witnesses of the Holocaust. It took more than 15 years not only to
record the accounts, but also to index them properly so that scholars,
journalists and those serious about learning could find specific
stories by name, birth place or experience.
The foundation is now conducting a similar project with more than 400
films made by J. Michael Hagopian. He was a small child when his
mother hid him in a well from Turkish soldiers who raided the village
of Kharberd in what was then Western Armenia, now part of Turkey.
He survived and migrated to the United States and became a filmmaker
who recorded the experience of Genocide survivors and witnesses.
Filmmaker Carla Garapedian, who worked with Hagopian and is leading
the Armenian Film Foundation's effort to digitize the work, called the
availability of the accounts significant.
"This is the first time that Armenian Genocide interviews will be made
available on such a wide network, so that universities around the
world will be able to access them," she said. "This is an important
moment in terms of educating the public, from the point of view of
survivors and witnesses. ... In understanding genocide in that
comparative way, we may be able to prevent it."
An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died from 1915-23 in what has been
called the first genocide of the 20th century.
The Turkish government maintains the deaths were a consequence of
betrayal and civil unrest in what was then the Ottoman Empire.
Armenians, however, say the killings involved the systematic cleansing
of Christians, which included Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. But the
word genocide has become politicized, with both the United States and
Turkish governments refusing to call it such. Armenian-American
activists have said the U.S. government won't officially recognize the
killings as genocide because it would hurt relations with Turkey, a
NATO ally.
In an interview with the Daily News in 2010, months before his death,
Hagopian said the accounts he filmed should be enough proof of what
occurred.
"The evidence against Turkey is enormous," Hagopian said. "The Germans
have admitted what had happened (during the Holocaust). The Turks have
to admit it so that there is remorse, and after that atonement and
then forgiveness.
"They can't kill babies and take wives and not face retribution."
Samples of survivor and witness testimonies include recollections of
babies pulled from their mother's arms by Turkish soldiers then thrown
into the air, and caught by a bayonet at the end of a rifle. There are
memories of bloodied bodies floating down a river, and the systematic
torture of intellectuals.
What makes Hagopian's films that much more connected to the
testimonies to the Holocaust is that he was encouraged to record
survivors' accounts by Armin Wegner - a German soldier. Wegner was an
Army medic who was stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War
I. While there, he took hundreds of photographs documenting what was
happening to the Armenians, which eventually resulted in his
arrest. But he was able to sneak the photographs out.
Hagopian's first film that related to the genocide was an interview
with Wegner.
Both of their contributions, as well as the Shoah Foundation, will be
honored at a gala and fundraiser on April 15 by the USC Institute of
Armenian Studies' Leadership Council. Funds raised will go toward the
continued work of digitizing Hagopian's footage.
"Wegner is very much a real symbol for what we're doing," Smith
said. "Wegner was Hitler's (symbolic) nemesis. He was there and
photographed the Armenian Genocide. While Hitler is saying who now
remembers the Armenians, Wegner says he remembers the Armenians."
The digitalization process, which includes indexing key words in
Hagopian's films, should be completed in about two years, said Jerry
Papazian, an advisory board member with the USC Institute of Armenian
Studies Leadership Council.
"This (project) so defines who we are, this horrible thing that
happened to our ancestors," Papazian said. "Our theme has been `Don't
let their voices be forgotten'."
The Shoah Foundation Institute also is working to archive witness
accounts of the massacres in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. The goal
is to make people aware of what can happen if the world closes its
eyes and turns its back.
"I'm delighted that the Armenian community trusts us with their
personal community legacy," Smith said. "Trust is the first step. When
you don't trust, that's the breeding ground for bigotry, prejudice,
and intolerance."