New Britain Herald, CT
April 24 2005
90 years after Armenian genocide, 14 survivors honored
By GEORGE MOORE, The Herald Press04/24/2005
HARTFORD — At a ceremony at the Capitol Saturday, Maritza Ohanesian
held tight in her hand an ancient yellowed photograph of a family
portrait taken in 1914.
Ohanesian, who was 9 years old at the time, stood by her father,
mother and four younger siblings near her house in Husenig, Turkey.
A year later, the Armenian genocide began, and Ohanesian’s parents
and siblings were killed one by one.
As the sole survivor, Ohanesian was honored along with 13 other
Armenians who survived the genocide at the 90th Commemoration of the
Armenian Genocide held in the chambers of the State House of
Representatives.
The ceremony was sponsored by state Rep. John C. Geragosian, D-New
Britain, and the Connecticut Armenian Community.
An estimated 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed by the
Turkish Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell issued a official statement in recognition of the
genocide, but the federal government has not officially recognized
the mass killings as genocide, and neither has Turkey.
Keynote speaker, Col. Moorad Mooradian said he considers the Armenian
genocide to continue into this day because it has not been officially
recognized by the American or the Turkish governments.
“We continue in the struggle for truth and justice to get the
Armenian genocide recognized,” he said. “Today we commemorate the
90th year of the longest genocide in history. Genocide scholars call
denial the last stage in genocide. The Turkish government has refused
to acknowledge the genocide.”
Mooradian urged Armenians to continually lobby the U.S. government to
recognize the atrocity.
Ohanesian, who turned 100 in March, received a letter from Vice
President Dick Cheney honoring her as one of the oldest living
survivors of the genocide. The letter was read at the ceremony.
Master of Ceremonies Lt. Col. George Rustigian said this was a step
toward recognition of the genocide, but not in an official capacity.
Genocide survivor Yegsa Mazadoorian, 93, said she was 3 years old
when Ottoman troops captured her mother and her two uncles and later
killed them. Mazadoorian compared the treatment of her family and
other Armenians with the way lambs are rounded up into a flock.
“They opened the door and they put us out like lambs,” she said.
“Nothing to eat. Nothing to drink.”
Both Mazadoorian and Ohanesian were saved by Turkish citizens.
Ohanesian was hidden from troops by a Turkish woman, and was later
cared for at a number of orphanages until she was located by an uncle
living in America and brought here.
Mazadoorian was rescued by a Turkish couple. Because she was so young
when rescued, she grew up speaking the Turkish of her foster parents,
she said. She later learned her native language when she was brought
to an Armenian orphanage. She was eventually located by her father
who was living in America and brought here.
Her son Harry N. Mazadoorian said she continues to speak fluent
Turkish to this day, even though she has not used it extensively in
many decades.
April 24, 1915, is considered the start of the Armenian Genocide,
because it was the day when 200 Armenian leaders in Constantinople
were arrested by the Turkish government. Most of them were executed
later.
The event was made possible by the Armenian Genocide Commemoration
Fund of Connecticut. It can be reached by mail at: P.O. Box 156, West
Hartford, Connecticut, 06137.