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DETROIT AREA ARMENIANS MARK 100 YEARS SINCE GENOCIDE
14:53, 30 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Armenian Americans in southeastern Michigan are marking the 100th
anniversary of the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
Turkey.
In the small town where Richard Norsigian's father was born more than
a century ago, there were 84 people with the same surname.
But not long afterward, only a handful of those Norsigians remained
as the Turkish government began exterminating Armenians or exiling
them to other parts of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, he told
the Detroit News.
"After the genocide, there were only eight," Norsigian said.
"Fortunately, my father was sent to the United States when he was 16.
But his entire family in Armenia was either killed or taken."
Norsigian is one of the thousands of Metro Detroiters with ties to
Armenia who are preparing to mark the 100th anniversary of the start
of the Armenian genocide in Turkey on April 24.
Experts estimate 1.5 million people died in the genocide, which began
April 24, 1915, and continued for eight years.
Armenian community leaders and groups in Metro Detroit have organized
events -- including discussions with Armenian filmmakers, Armenian
classical music concerts and a special church service -- to honor
those who lost their lives in the holocaust.
"Armenians have been holding memorials for many, many years," said
Ara Sanjian, an associate professor of history and director of the
Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "But
because it's the 100th anniversary, they are on a much grander scale
all over the world, including Metro Detroit."
The only Armenian research center attached to an American university,
the center was established to document the Armenian genocide and
current Armenian issues.
It's estimated more than 447,000 people in the United States are of
Armenian descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 17,000
make their home in Michigan and nearly 11,000 live in Metro Detroit,
according to the census bureau.
Metro Detroit's Armenian community is the fourth-largest Armenian
population in the U.S., behind those in Los Angeles, New York and
Boston. Most of Metro Detroit's Armenian community is concentrated
in Oakland County.
Despite the passing of a century, the mass killing still resonates
with descendants of the victims.
"The fact that 100 years later you still have to explain and prove
that what happened to your ancestors was a premeditated crime on a
massive scale really incurs a lot of pain for all Armenians," Sanjian
said. "It's also painful for Armenians that those who used violence
have gotten away with it."
Armenians are optimistic Turkey will take responsibility for the
genocide someday, Sanjian said. The attitudes of many individual
Turks about it have changed over the past 20 years, he said.
However, a bigger concern is whether or not Armenians will be able
to hold on to their identity.
"Our group identity, our unique culture is under threat because of
assimilation under the conditions of exile," he said. "Ultimately,
Armenians -- outside the Republic of Armenia -- consist of small
groups that are scattered all around the world."
In Metro Detroit, a number of Armenian community groups and churches
have planned special events to honor the genocide's victims.
The culmination is a special church service on April 24 at St. Mary's
Antiochian Orthodox Basilica in Livonia.
Clergy from various faiths will participate, including Archbishop
Allen Vigneron, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
"It's a commemoration to the memory of the victims," said Norsigian,
who is co-chair of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of
Greater Detroit. "It's also to raise awareness about the genocide."
Robert Kachadourian, a member of the committee, agreed.
"It's an awareness that should be promulgated so the Armenian genocide
is never forgotten," he said.
Like Norsigian, Kachadourian's father survived the genocide, but
most of his family was killed. His father wrote about his experience,
Kachadourian said.
"He was 12 years old when it happened and he lost 55 members of his
family," said Kachadourian, a media consultant and local TV show host.
"After that, he was in servitude -- I call it slavery -- for nine
years before finally escaping and making his way to Dearborn."
The Armenian genocide also had a profound impact on Hayg Oshagan and
his family.
"My grandfather was one of Armenia's leading writers and he was
supposed to be rounded up," said Oshagan, a Wayne State University
professor and a leader in Metro Detroit's Armenian community. "He
escaped because someone, we don't know who, warned him the day before."
"All of us have these stories about how our families made their
way out of death," he said. "The events for the anniversary are an
affirmation of our survival. Even though we're spread across the world,
we are here and we'll continue to be here."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/03/30/detroit-area-armenians-mark-100-years-since-genocide/
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2015/03/28/armenian-genocide-th-anniversary-commemoration-detroit/70618638/
14:53, 30 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Armenian Americans in southeastern Michigan are marking the 100th
anniversary of the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
Turkey.
In the small town where Richard Norsigian's father was born more than
a century ago, there were 84 people with the same surname.
But not long afterward, only a handful of those Norsigians remained
as the Turkish government began exterminating Armenians or exiling
them to other parts of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, he told
the Detroit News.
"After the genocide, there were only eight," Norsigian said.
"Fortunately, my father was sent to the United States when he was 16.
But his entire family in Armenia was either killed or taken."
Norsigian is one of the thousands of Metro Detroiters with ties to
Armenia who are preparing to mark the 100th anniversary of the start
of the Armenian genocide in Turkey on April 24.
Experts estimate 1.5 million people died in the genocide, which began
April 24, 1915, and continued for eight years.
Armenian community leaders and groups in Metro Detroit have organized
events -- including discussions with Armenian filmmakers, Armenian
classical music concerts and a special church service -- to honor
those who lost their lives in the holocaust.
"Armenians have been holding memorials for many, many years," said
Ara Sanjian, an associate professor of history and director of the
Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "But
because it's the 100th anniversary, they are on a much grander scale
all over the world, including Metro Detroit."
The only Armenian research center attached to an American university,
the center was established to document the Armenian genocide and
current Armenian issues.
It's estimated more than 447,000 people in the United States are of
Armenian descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 17,000
make their home in Michigan and nearly 11,000 live in Metro Detroit,
according to the census bureau.
Metro Detroit's Armenian community is the fourth-largest Armenian
population in the U.S., behind those in Los Angeles, New York and
Boston. Most of Metro Detroit's Armenian community is concentrated
in Oakland County.
Despite the passing of a century, the mass killing still resonates
with descendants of the victims.
"The fact that 100 years later you still have to explain and prove
that what happened to your ancestors was a premeditated crime on a
massive scale really incurs a lot of pain for all Armenians," Sanjian
said. "It's also painful for Armenians that those who used violence
have gotten away with it."
Armenians are optimistic Turkey will take responsibility for the
genocide someday, Sanjian said. The attitudes of many individual
Turks about it have changed over the past 20 years, he said.
However, a bigger concern is whether or not Armenians will be able
to hold on to their identity.
"Our group identity, our unique culture is under threat because of
assimilation under the conditions of exile," he said. "Ultimately,
Armenians -- outside the Republic of Armenia -- consist of small
groups that are scattered all around the world."
In Metro Detroit, a number of Armenian community groups and churches
have planned special events to honor the genocide's victims.
The culmination is a special church service on April 24 at St. Mary's
Antiochian Orthodox Basilica in Livonia.
Clergy from various faiths will participate, including Archbishop
Allen Vigneron, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
"It's a commemoration to the memory of the victims," said Norsigian,
who is co-chair of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of
Greater Detroit. "It's also to raise awareness about the genocide."
Robert Kachadourian, a member of the committee, agreed.
"It's an awareness that should be promulgated so the Armenian genocide
is never forgotten," he said.
Like Norsigian, Kachadourian's father survived the genocide, but
most of his family was killed. His father wrote about his experience,
Kachadourian said.
"He was 12 years old when it happened and he lost 55 members of his
family," said Kachadourian, a media consultant and local TV show host.
"After that, he was in servitude -- I call it slavery -- for nine
years before finally escaping and making his way to Dearborn."
The Armenian genocide also had a profound impact on Hayg Oshagan and
his family.
"My grandfather was one of Armenia's leading writers and he was
supposed to be rounded up," said Oshagan, a Wayne State University
professor and a leader in Metro Detroit's Armenian community. "He
escaped because someone, we don't know who, warned him the day before."
"All of us have these stories about how our families made their
way out of death," he said. "The events for the anniversary are an
affirmation of our survival. Even though we're spread across the world,
we are here and we'll continue to be here."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/03/30/detroit-area-armenians-mark-100-years-since-genocide/
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2015/03/28/armenian-genocide-th-anniversary-commemoration-detroit/70618638/