ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBEREDMEREDITH BLAKE

Greenwich Time, CT
April 24 2008

When Hermon Hosvepian was forced by Ottoman Turkish soldiers to
march through the Syrian desert without food or clothing with her
two daughters, all she could do was focus on staying alive.

Her husband had been taken from their home and killed. And during
the grueling march across the desert, one of her daughters died and
one night, while she slept, the other one was taken.

Her daughter Catherine Papalian, who was born in the United States,
recounted this story yesterday at a flag raising held outside town
hall to memorialize the victims of the Armenian Genocide, when 1.5
million to 2 million Armenians living under Turkish rule within the
Ottoman Empire were killed or starved to death from 1915 to 1923.

This morning more than 40 people, most of Armenian descent, gathered
in front of Town Hall and shared stories about their parents and
grandparents who survived.

Sara Mushegian, who organized the event, said her grandparents were
able to escape, spending years in the protective custody of American
authorities in Constantinople. But others were not as fortunate. George
Papailian’s father’s first wife killed herself, out of fear, knowing
the fate that lay ahead, he said.

"There are so many horror stories," said Harry Nakashian, who said
his mother, at 11 or 12, remembered opening the door of her house,
and saw five children dead in a street, who out of thirst, drank some
kind of toxic fluid and died.

Nakashian’s father never could talk about the atrocities, he said.

Mushegian said that organizing the flag raising, honoring the victims
and survivors of the genocide is an important part of Armenian
heritage.

"I feel it’s my duty," she said. "It’s about raising awareness. People
know a little, but they don’t really know."

During the event, First Selectmen Peter Tesei read a proclamation
declaring April 24 Armenian Martyrs’ Day. The flag, with the colors
of red, blue and orange, was raised with the sounds of the Armenian
national anthem.

April 24, 1915, holds special significance since it was the day
that the Turkish government placed under arrest over 200 Armenian
community leaders in Constantinople. It is seen as the start of the
government-ordered genocide.