KEEPING THE MEMORIES ALIVE: THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Daily Illini, Student Paper of the Univ. of Illinois
April 21 2015

By Sarah Foster | Assistant features editor The Daily Illini | 0 comments

They found her in the middle of the Syrian Desert.

She was 2 years old, lying abandoned on the side of the road, when
a group of French nuns first approached her. They were there to save
other stranded children just like her, hoping to bring them back to
French orphanages for safety. Without a family or a home, the girl
had nothing left to do. She had to go.

How did she get here? It was a question the girl often wondered.

She knew a series of abnormal roundups first began in Constantinople
on April 24, 1915, when the Ottoman Empire jailed, tortured and
killed politicians, teachers, writers and clergy. The men came
next; they were tied together with ropes, then shot or stabbed near
the countryside. The girl was in the next group, with other women,
children and the elderly. They were told to pack lightly and be ready
to leave and that they would be taken to safety. Instead, they led
them to this desert.

But there was an even more important question: Why was she here?

Several years later, after analysts and historians looked at the
historic event, she finally knew.

Because she was Armenian.

***

Ashley Megurdichian will always remember the story of her great
grandmother, Attia, who survived what is today known as the Armenian
Genocide.

Her great grandmother’s story contains tragedy and pain but inspires
her to make a difference. It has empowered her to become the president
of the University’s Armenian Student Association and urged her to
document her ancestors’ and relatives’ past.

“I think it is important to spread awareness so that massacres like
this do not happen again,” Megurdichian said. “Not many people are
aware that the Armenian Genocide happened.”

Megurdichian, however, will be able to further this goal throughout
the week, as her organization will sponsor a series of commemorative
events, in works with the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide and Memory
Studies and the Future of Trauma and Memory Studies Reading Group.

The first commemorative event will be a reading of Armenian literature
in various languages and proses Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Helen Makhdoumian, graduate student in English and the event’s primary
organizer, said the event is meant to keep the culture alive. She
said the memories of the victims carry on through literature better
than a textbook or lecture.

“History books cannot give a perspective of the individual and
everyday experiences,” Makhdoumian said. “For some Armenian writers,
literature is a way to honor their elders’ wishes about telling the
story. … Literature becomes a medium through which individuals can
speak through the silences and meditate on these memories of trauma.”

To Makhdoumian, keeping the memories of the Armenians alive means
surviving her grandparents’ stories as well.

Makhdoumian’s grandfather, Krikor, was a child when the uprooting
first began. He lost his family and his brother during the
relocations. Krikor was rescued by a local Kurdish shepherd; he
was stripped of his identity and name but left him with a tattoo,
so he would not forget his true heritage, as both a Christian and an
Armenian. The shepherd protected Krikor for four years, forcing him
to hide in the hay when danger was near.

But even though these memories were painful for her relatives to
remember, Makhdoumian knows they have to be heard.

“Many survivors tasked their children and descendants with stories
to keep the memories alive and make their stories heard. I think many
feared that the world would forget,” Makhdoumian said.

A 2006 documentary by filmmaker Andrew Goldberg will be screened
Friday, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, at 5 p.m.,
and is sponsored by The Future of Trauma and Memory Studies.

Jessica Young, graduate student in English, is the key organizer
behind the documentary showing.

“Trauma issues of genocide are a difficult subject,” Young said. “Not
everyone wants to study them or think about them, but it is necessary
to learn about the politics involved, read about them and make sure
that victims of genocide memories are not lost. We are hoping that
our film can raise that part of awareness.”

Makhdoumian’s passion inspired Young to begin working with the
commemorative events of the Armenian Genocide. But Young has always
known the tragedies of Genocide. Her grandparents were German Jews,
and in the 1930s, they fled their home country to the United States
to escape the impending danger and violence.

“I grew up listening to stories about my family who perished in the
Holocaust,” Young said. “I have grown up with that, and it has made
me sensitive to other issues against police, genocide and trauma. It
was always in the background. They had to fill in the gaps about what
happened to their friends, that they died in a concentration camp or
on their way. When you go through that, there was a lot of fear. It
was not something that they often talked about.”

Young said she believes these commemorative events prevent the
perpetrators from winning.

“If you forget them, the perpetrators win,” Young said. “You have
to commemorate. Without that, it obliterates people, their culture,
their history – and that is what genocide is. You have to fight against
genocide. The sole survivors — remembering and learning about them —
is important to fight against the violence.”

***

Though the events of the Armenian Genocide occurred 100 years ago,
the world is still feeling its affects.

Nearly 1.5 million Armenians died after the events. The remaining
500,000 survivors were scattered across the globe. The Ottoman Empire
kept the acts a secret, as the only primary artifacts and studies
come from first-hand witnesses and journalists on the scene.

In the aftermath, however, Turkey prohibits any conversation about this
event in its history. They believe the events were not act of genocide.

Peter Fritzsche, University professor in history specializing in
topics about holocausts and genocide , said this is preventing the
world from making a difference and moving on.

“Genocides are now remembered by each other,” he said. “People
as nations remember the sorrows and victimization. … What is
unproductive is for Turkey to say, ‘It was not genocide, and you insult
our nation if you refer to it as genocide.’ It is not the requirement
to call it a genocide; the requirement is to discuss it, to put the
issue on the table and to explore it. If it is a slap in the face,
that is good. At least we are bringing the discussion to the table.”

To Megurdichian, the events on campus are the next step to fighting
Turkey’s refusal. It is a way of surviving her grandmother’s stories
and making sure her pain was worthwhile.

“I hope that people will learn about our history and who we are as a
people,” Megurdichian said. “But most importantly, I hope that they
learn about this genocide, so that even if the government cannot
officially recognize it, they will still know the truth.”