PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Students’ Association
Email: [email protected]
NYC: Vartges Saroyan, <[email protected]>
Boston: Dzovinar Derderian <[email protected]>
NEW YORK, NY – The Armenian Students’ Association in cooperation with the
NYU Armenian Club and The Tufts University Armenian Club will host a series
of lecture/discussion events with Mr. Hilmar Kaiser.
The first event will take place on NYU campus in New York at the Kimmel
Center, Room 406 (on Washington Square Park). The discussion will be held
on Thursday, September 30, 2004. The event is to start at 7:00 PM sharp.
Admission is free for ALL.
The second event will be held on Tufts University Campus at Medford, MA
Eaton Hall, Room 206 on Thursday, October 7, 2004. The event is to start at
8:00 P.M. sharp. Admission is free for ALL
Mr. Kaiser, a well-known German researcher of Ottoman and German history
with special emphasis on the Armenian Genocide, as well as late Ottoman
social and economic history, will talk to the ASA guests on the topic of
`Armenian Children and Relief during the Genocide’.
The destruction of the Armenian community during the Genocide did not
necessarily imply the killing of all Armenians. Instead, under certain
circumstances, some, specifically, specific groups of Armenian children,
were spared. Help from abroad also played a crucial role for survival. U.S.
ambassadors Henry Morgenthau and Abram Elkus were instrumental in organizing
and sustaining popular support for the relief work carried out during that
time.
After the war, Morgenthau’s memoirs became a key source for historians. The
memoirs of Elkus, however, remained unknown. The lecture will introduce the
newly discovered and published memoirs of Elkus and place them within the
context of the Armenian Genocide. Moreover, on the basis of secret Ottoman
orders, missionary records, and other evidence, the lecture will show the
various dynamics that determined the survival or death of Armenian children.
Photographs taken by eyewitnesses provide further information on the
prevailing conditions during the genocide and the complexity of the
phenomenon.
Some of the past and current topics of Mr. Kaiser’s research include:
`Imperialism, Racism, and Development Theories. The Construction of a
Dominant Paradigm on Ottoman Armenians’ (published by Gomidas Institute);
`The Baghdad Railway and the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1916. A Case Study in
German Resistance and Complicity, in, Remembrance and Denial. The Case of
the Armenian Genocide’ (edited by Professor Richard Hovannisian) and many
more.
Mr. Kaiser is a founding member of the Committee for the Publication of
Italian Documents on Armenia; holds a position of consultant and researcher
at Armenian Film Foundation; and serves on the Board of the Center for
Contemporary Armenian History in Paris, France.
Both events are co-sponsored by the Armenian Students’ Association branches
in New York / New Jersey / Boston and above mentioned university clubs. The
Armenian Students’ Association is a voluntary organization presenting
lectures, cultural events and social gatherings. A portion of all proceeds
will be contributed to the ASA Scholarship Fund, which grants financial aid
to college students of Armenian descent in the United States.
For information about the event and ASA or information on how to join a
university Armenian club please visit our web page at