Armenian Assembly of America and Armenian National Institute Pay Tribute to Vahakn Dadrian (1926-2019)

ARMENIAN
ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 6, 2019

Contact:
Danielle Saroyan

Telephone:
(202) 393-3434

Web: www.aaainc.org

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA AND
ARMENIAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE PAY TRIBUTE TO VAHAKN DADRIAN (1926-2019)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly) and the Armenian National Institute (ANI) join in paying tribute to
Dr. Vahakn Dadrian, the internationally renowned scholar of the Armenian
Genocide who passed away on August 2 at the age of 93.

The author
of a set of critically important books and articles on the Armenian Genocide,
Dr. Vahakn Dadrian was a central figure in the emergence of the field of
genocide studies in general.

He wrote
several groundbreaking works which forcefully demonstrated the state-wide
mechanisms the Young Turk regime implemented in the course of World War One in
order to eradicate the Armenian population of Armenia and Anatolia.  The
History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia
to the Caucasus (1995); German Responsibility in the Armenian
Genocide: A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity (1996);
and Warrant for Genocide: The Key Elements of the Turko-Armenian
Conflict (1998), among other works, constitute the landmark studies
that transformed the discipline of genocide studies by introducing a compelling
body of evidence hitherto unexamined by scholarship. 

With his
formidable grasp of sources in multiple languages he erected a mountain of
evidence extracted from archival repositories, and augmented by a wide reading
of documentary and testimonial evidence, including the commissioners of the
crimes themselves. In a number of articles in academic journals and in the
series edited by Dr. Israel Charny titled Genocide: A Critical
Bibliographic Review, Dadrian laid out the evidence from German and
Austrian sources, which he regarded central to proving the conspiratorial
nature of the Young Turk regime since Germany and Austria-Hungary were joined
with the Ottoman Empire as allies during WWI and thereby had greater access and
insight into the plans of the Turkish government.

By
methodically constructing this body of evidence and demonstrating numerous
parallels with the genocidal policies of the Nazi regime in conceiving and
implementing the Holocaust as a crime specifically intended to destroy the
Jewish populations under their rule, Dadrian single-handedly began to forge the
comparative study of the problem of genocide. In the face of early skepticism
about his theories, over the course of the years he successfully argued his
case in multiple academic venues until such time as by the year 2000, 126 Holocaust specialists joined him in a public petition affirming
"the incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide" and urging
"Western Democracies to officially recognize it."

Firmly
persuasive in his scholarship, Dadrian also fearlessly challenged deniers by using
official Turkish documents to make the point. By the same skill and patience
with which he built his evidence, he demolished the false arguments and exposed
the distortion of facts and evidence that formed the basis of a persistent
denial of the Armenian Genocide by Turkish authorities and their academic
cohorts. He summarized his finding in The Key Elements in the Turkish
Denial of the Armenian Genocide: A Case Study of Distortion and Falsification,
published in 1999 by the Zoryan Institute, where he served for many years as
Director of Genocide Research.

Dadrian's
authoritative investigations were published in a number of legal journals,
including the Yale Journal of International Law. His 1989
book-length article, Genocide as a Problem of National and
International Law: The World War I Armenian Case and its Contemporary Legal
Ramifications proved a watershed event in historical and legal
disciplines, securing his reputation as an internationally-recognized
authority.

Speaking on
behalf of the Assembly, its Board of Trustees Co-Chairman Van Z.
Krikorian, reflecting upon the Yale Journal article said
as follows: "This seminal publication also played a remarkable political
role in altering United States policy and distancing it from echoing the
Turkish government's views. I remember Congressman Charles Pashayan of
California handing President George H.W. Bush a copy of Dadrian's publication
and I am convinced of its contributive role in bringing about an improvement in
U.S. policy by destroying the credibility of those in the U.S. government
denying the Armenian Genocide which reduced their position to no longer denying
the historical facts. The brilliance of this work was an exposition of Turkey's
own trial records in unprecedented detail demonstrating the guilty finding of
the indictments of the intentional annihilation of the Armenian people by the
Young Turk leadership. Every person frustrated by the denial of the Armenian
Genocide owes Professor Dadrian a debt of gratitude for countering this
insidious practice."

Admired by
colleagues, sought out by researchers from around the world, and a public
lecturer who was given the podium at universities and the halls of parliaments,
Dadrian was honored with many awards in his lifetime. Upon hearing of Dadrian's
passing, Dr. Israel Charny recalled his friendship by writing:
"I hail his greatness – the audacity of his researches, the steadfastness
of his contributions, and his deep devotion to his people and to justice."
Upon hearing the news of Dadrian's passing, Dr. Michael Gelb,
Associate Editor of Academic Publications and Assistant Editor of Holocaust
and Genocide Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, stated: "it is indeed no mere formality to say that his influence
on the field was inestimable." 

Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, President
of the Society for Armenian Studies, described Dadrian as "the preeminent
scholar of the Armenian Genocide" as well as "the founder of the
field of Armenian Genocide Studies and one of the founders of the field of
Comparative Genocide Studies." President of Armenia, Dr. Armen
Sarkissian, recalling the honorary doctorate bestowed upon him by the
Armenian Academy of Sciences, described him as the "acclaimed researcher
of the Armenian Genocide."

Dadrian's
publications were translated into several languages including Turkish,
effectively making them some of the first works to introduce the subject in
Turkey where an unofficial silence was maintained over the decades. Garo
Paylan, a current Member of Parliament in Turkey, himself of Armenian
background, noted: "His books published in Turkey played an important role
in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

"It is
customary for younger generations to honor the memory of an authority of the
stature of Vahakn Dadrian by speaking on how they stand upon the shoulder of
giants," remarked ANI Director Dr. Rouben Adalian.
"Vahakn Dadrian, however, was a giant of such immense stature and stands
so tall that no one can even think of climbing upon his shoulders."

In May 1976,
along with other prominent scholars such as Richard Hovannisian, Avedis
Sanjian, Shavarsh Toriguian, and Dennis Papazian, Vahakn Dadrian testified
before Congress on the Armenian Genocide. He spoke eloquently and prophetically
of the continuing threat of genocide in front of the then Subcommittee on
Future Foreign Policy Research and Development of the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives.

Clearly, we are moving in a direction where
parallel to the shrinkage of financial, technical and administrative
prerequisites to fashion a genocidal apparatus of destruction, the global
vulnerability of vast masses of people to such destruction is increasing. This
inverse relationship between reduced resources and amplified risks, symbolizing
the explosive marriage of modern industrialism with nationalism, is perhaps the
greatest challenge presenting itself to our present system of international
relations.

Dr. Vahakn Dadrian, 1976

Founded in
1997, the Armenian National Institute (ANI) is a 501(c)(3) educational charity
based in Washington, D.C., and is dedicated to the study, research, and
affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

Established
in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.

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NR#: 2019-032

 

Photo Caption
1: Dr. Vahakn Dadrian speaking at the Library of Congress during the 2000
conference organized by the Armenian National Institute jointly with the
Library of Congress and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

 

Photo
Caption 2: Rouben Adalian, Vahakn Dadrian, Peter Balakian, and Aram Kaloosdian
at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in September 2000

 

Photo
Caption 3: Dr. Vahakn Dadrian testifying in front of the Subcommittee on Future
Foreign Policy Research and Development of the Committee on International
Relations of the House of Representatives in May 1976.  Front row at the desk are Dennis Papazian,
Vahakn Dadrian, Dicran Simsarian, and Leo Sarkisian; Second row from left to
right, Avedis Sanjian, Richard Hovannisian, Shavarsh Toriguian, Haik Kafafian,
Hratch Abrahamian, and Aram Kaloosdian

 

Available
online: http://bit.ly/2TcZOPc