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WE'RE THE BENEFICIARIES OF REGION'S LAST SURVIVOR
Miami Herald, FL
Dec 25 2014
By HAROUT JACK SAMRA
Annually, Armenians around the world gather on April 24 to commemorate
the Armenian Genocide. Survivors of this national calamity stand at the
front of each assembly as symbols of a people's capacity to survive.
With each passing year in South Florida, with the commemoration
reaching its centennial, survivors have grown fewer. Two weeks before
Christmas, South Florida's last known Armenian genocide survivor died.
Harry Pilafian was born in Tekirdag, in Thrace, during the final
years of the Ottoman Empire. His mother and father had fled their
home to Damascus in 1918. Their first son, James, was born in that
ancient city.
During a period of calm, the family, like so many others, tried to
return home. This is when Pilafian was born.
Before long, the genocidal campaign resumed, and the family was forced
to leave home for the last time. With the support of an American
sponsor, the family came to the United States.
Raised in Massachusetts, Pilafian enrolled in the U.S. Navy at 17
and served in World War II and the Korean War. His service in the
European theater -- the site of history's next genocidal atrocity,
the Holocaust -- began off the coast of North Africa during Operation
Torch, the first significant U.S. offensive of the Second World War.
Just four days after the beginning of Torch, Pilafian's ship, the
USS Hugh L. Scott, was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Pilafian , the
ship's communications officer, remained on board to signal SOS until
ordered off the ship by his commander. Fifty-nine officers and crewmen
were killed. Pilafian was among the last to escape the sinking ship.
After the war, Pilafian settled in Miami, which he had first visited
during training. During 65 years of marriage to Audrey, their family
grew to four children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
After two decades in the Navy, his service continued as a public
school teacher.
In his influential book, Man's Search for Meaning, the psychologist
and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote of the human capacity to
survive, even in the face of existential anxiety.
As with the survivors of the Holocaust, whose numbers are shrinking
steadily, the survivors of the Armenian genocide represented a
historical link. They were our "greatest generation."
Despite witnessing unspeakable evil, with every laugh or smile they
confirmed Frankl's affirmation that "everything can be taken from a
man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Each survivor invariably chose his or her own way in the face of
circumstances that we, the beneficiaries of their courage, can only
describe as unimaginable. In some measure, we begin to realize fully
only when they are gone how much they have affected our lives and
communities.
Over the years, perhaps it was easy to take for granted the gathered
survivors whose very presence was a rebuke to the destructive
aspirations of their persecutors. They were, after all, parents and
grandparents, friends and neighbors.
They were ordinary in every way, except they were extraordinary.
In his final days, Pilafian's family recorded his recollections. Early
in the video, he briefly mentioned his birth in Tekirdag and described
his family's passage to the United States.
Remembering the generosity of the American sponsor who made this
journey of a lifetime possible, he paused, looked directly into the
camera, and seemingly past the camera, at the faces of his gathered
family.
As if reflecting on the preceding 90 years, he whispered, "Thank God."
Harout Jack Samra is a Miami-based attorney focusing on international
dispute resolution and arbitration.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article4986462.html
From: A. Papazian
Miami Herald, FL
Dec 25 2014
By HAROUT JACK SAMRA
Annually, Armenians around the world gather on April 24 to commemorate
the Armenian Genocide. Survivors of this national calamity stand at the
front of each assembly as symbols of a people's capacity to survive.
With each passing year in South Florida, with the commemoration
reaching its centennial, survivors have grown fewer. Two weeks before
Christmas, South Florida's last known Armenian genocide survivor died.
Harry Pilafian was born in Tekirdag, in Thrace, during the final
years of the Ottoman Empire. His mother and father had fled their
home to Damascus in 1918. Their first son, James, was born in that
ancient city.
During a period of calm, the family, like so many others, tried to
return home. This is when Pilafian was born.
Before long, the genocidal campaign resumed, and the family was forced
to leave home for the last time. With the support of an American
sponsor, the family came to the United States.
Raised in Massachusetts, Pilafian enrolled in the U.S. Navy at 17
and served in World War II and the Korean War. His service in the
European theater -- the site of history's next genocidal atrocity,
the Holocaust -- began off the coast of North Africa during Operation
Torch, the first significant U.S. offensive of the Second World War.
Just four days after the beginning of Torch, Pilafian's ship, the
USS Hugh L. Scott, was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Pilafian , the
ship's communications officer, remained on board to signal SOS until
ordered off the ship by his commander. Fifty-nine officers and crewmen
were killed. Pilafian was among the last to escape the sinking ship.
After the war, Pilafian settled in Miami, which he had first visited
during training. During 65 years of marriage to Audrey, their family
grew to four children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
After two decades in the Navy, his service continued as a public
school teacher.
In his influential book, Man's Search for Meaning, the psychologist
and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote of the human capacity to
survive, even in the face of existential anxiety.
As with the survivors of the Holocaust, whose numbers are shrinking
steadily, the survivors of the Armenian genocide represented a
historical link. They were our "greatest generation."
Despite witnessing unspeakable evil, with every laugh or smile they
confirmed Frankl's affirmation that "everything can be taken from a
man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Each survivor invariably chose his or her own way in the face of
circumstances that we, the beneficiaries of their courage, can only
describe as unimaginable. In some measure, we begin to realize fully
only when they are gone how much they have affected our lives and
communities.
Over the years, perhaps it was easy to take for granted the gathered
survivors whose very presence was a rebuke to the destructive
aspirations of their persecutors. They were, after all, parents and
grandparents, friends and neighbors.
They were ordinary in every way, except they were extraordinary.
In his final days, Pilafian's family recorded his recollections. Early
in the video, he briefly mentioned his birth in Tekirdag and described
his family's passage to the United States.
Remembering the generosity of the American sponsor who made this
journey of a lifetime possible, he paused, looked directly into the
camera, and seemingly past the camera, at the faces of his gathered
family.
As if reflecting on the preceding 90 years, he whispered, "Thank God."
Harout Jack Samra is a Miami-based attorney focusing on international
dispute resolution and arbitration.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article4986462.html
From: A. Papazian