The Math Whiz behind the bar

The Herald Journal (Logan, Utah)
Wednesday, January 19, 2005

By Pat Bohm Trostle

If you’ve ever wondered what was going through the mind of the man
serving drinks behind the bar, know that you wouldn’t have a chance of
guessing right if the bar were Sultan’s Tavern and the man Ara
Shahbazian.

The longtime owner of Sultan’s has just come up with a try at solving
one of the most famous mathematical puzzlers of the last four
centuries, Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Sitting in the quiet of Sultan’s on a weekday morning, Ara reminisced
about the long road that led him to settle in Logan. Born in Iran of
Armenian parents, Ara became quixotically interested in math when he
failed it in 10th grade.

“Mathematics was the weakest part of my education in secondary
school,” he remembered. In his school at the time, if a student failed
one course, he had to stay back a grade. Ara recalled that humiliating
time.

“The whole year, I had to sit with kids a year younger than me,” he
said. But, he continued cheerfully, “Quitters never win and winners
never quit.”

In 1983, Ara earned a bachelor’s in mathematics at Utah State
University. He followed up four years later with a second degree in
computer science.

So how does a double-degreed college graduate wind up a tavern keeper?

“I hate teaching,” he admitted. “I don’t have the patience to walk a
person through the steps.”

Asked what he thought he was good at, he exploded with laughter —
“Eating!”

And for another thing, living a full life. After graduating in 1983,
Ara celebrated by bicycling from Logan to Peekskill, N.Y. Twenty-five
hundred miles in 22 days, he recalled. And far from boring, either.

“I saw so many beautiful girls,” he said.

To mark the achievement of his computer science degree, he took a
little stroll — from Logan to Yellowstone.

As wild as that sounds, it fits with the rest of Ara’s stories about
his life. He said that when he was growing up, he was far from a model
child.

“I was the black sheep of the family. I smoked anything I could get a
hand on, I drank, womanized, skipped my classes. When I was younger, I
was not a good child. My grandpa told me once, ‘You are not
worthless. We can always use you as a bad example.'”

But Ara has few regrets about his wild, youthful times.

“It’s life, you just value life, what you do,” he said. “You had your
fun — what are you going to say — I want to give that up? That was
fun, it was my life. Everybody has skeletons hiding in the closet.”

But some of us bring our skeletons out and dance with them.

“I tell everyone in here (Sultan’s),” he said.

He learned tolerance early, growing up as a member of the Armenian
Orthodox Christian minority in the predominantly Islamic culture of
Iran.

“Moslems in Iran, in a way, they’re the most liberal people,” he
said. “Moslems are very understanding people, tolerant of other
religions.”

Although followers of Islam do not drink alcohol, Ara recalled how
Iranian law accommodated the customs of other religions.

“The Christians and the Jews — because their religions allow them to
drink, they’re allowed to produce their own alcohol for their own
consumption. So my dad and my mom, being Christians, were permitted
by law to have alcohol, to drink alcohol and to produce alcohol. But
you don’t have the right to sell it to a Moslem or take it outside of
the house, to cause a nuisance,” he explained.

Ara came to Logan to join his brother, who was studying engineering at
USU. Ara himself had left Iran to study in England for two years.

“I wanted to be with my brother,” he said, “so I was accepted at USU
and came here.”

Ara’s parents still live in Iran, although their children are
international.

“One brother lives in Vienna, Austria. He’s the brain of the family, a
writer,” said Ara. “My sister lives in Canada with her husband and
kids in Toronto. She’s a housewife.” His other brother, the engineer,
lives in Seattle, Wash.

Ara said he became interested in Fermat after browsing through a book
about math at Deseret Industries.

“I was willing to pay my 50 cents and took it home,” he said.

Fermat’s Last Theorem is a famous mathematical puzzle. Proposed by
French mathematician Pierre de Fermat more than 350 years ago, it
concerns number theory. Pythagorean numbers are sets of three
numbers, a, b and c (such as 3, 4, and 5), for which the equation a 2
+ b 2 = c 2 is true. In the margin of the chapter he was reading,
Fermat penciled a note that he had discovered a proof for a variation
of the equation, which was too long to fit in the margin. The
variation was that for whole exponents over 2, no set of positive
integers could fit the equation. For example, no positive integers, a,
b, and c, exist that would make the following equation true: a3 + b3 =
c3.

For almost 400 years, mathematicians tried to prove or find an
exception to what Fermat proposed. Andrew Wiles, an English
mathematician at Princeton University, finally proved Fermat’s theorem
in 1994. However, even those who attempted without success to solve
the problem over the years helped to make important mathematical
discoveries.

Ara believes he has proved the theorem in a much simpler way than did
Wiles, using math that was available in Fermat’s time. Four lines are
at the heart of his proof.

“I proved it four possible ways. I proved it those four possible ways
cannot hold. Since Fermat’s equations all fall in one of these four
categories, they’re all wrong. These four lines, I call them four
bars. And my method of solution, I call it ‘bar-hopping.'”

Ara waited out the burst of laughter from his listeners and continued,
“I’m not joking! I prove the first one cannot hold. Then I use the
fact that I just proved it, to prove the third one cannot hold, in
this arrangement. I use them against each other.”

However much Ara wants to confirm his proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem,
he also wants the world to believe that Fermat had been the first to
prove it.

“The one thing I want out of this,” he said, “is to give credit to
Fermat — he knew the answer. He wasn’t a liar, he wasn’t wrong in his
solution, he was a noble man.”

Ara’s proof is now in the hands of the USU Math Department, and he has
talked to department head Russell Thompson.

“The professors here are brilliant, so they can check my work.
Dr. Thompson, I appreciate his time. He said if it was right, it would
be fascinating,” Ara confided.

Another math professor, Larry Cannon, noted, “There is a long and
honorable tradition of amateurs. An amateur is one who loves, in this
case, mathematics. Fine mathematics has been done over the years by
amateurs. Fermat’s (theorem) is easy to understand, but devilishly
hard to prove. Ara is in great company … Whether or not he proves
Fermat’s (theorem), this kind of exploration and curiosity is great.”

Music lover who celebrated French composers

Obituary: Felix Aprahamian

The Guardian
Friday January 21, 2005

By John Amis

In a way, Felix Aprahamian, who has died aged 90, was an amateur, a
lover. A lover of music; also of men and, occasionally, women. He
loved the good things of life, but music came first – listening to it,
printed copies of it, books on it, and those who made it.

Felix was born in London. His father was a carpet dealer, an immigrant
Armenian, his mother an adorable rotund lady, a great cook and a good
mother to her three children, Francis, Florence and Felix. Felix was
her favourite: she indulged him, and he repaid her by staying with
her; in fact he lived in the same house in Muswell Hill for 85 years,
the house that he called, with Poe-faced humour, the House of Usher.

Indeed, the house nearly did fall once, when Felix, desperate for more
space for the ever-increasing amount of books and music, fitted up the
loft for more of the same. Cracks appeared in the structure, and the
loft had to be emptied.

It was an ordinary double-fronted building, but inside it was a shrine
where Music was worshipped. There were side altars devoted to tropical
fish, and the small garden was exotic, with rare plants and more fish
in pools. The music room had an organ, inherited from the organist
André Marchal and transplanted from Hendaye, in the French Basque
country, for the use of the blind organist David Liddle, a protege of
Felix’s.

There were also two pianos, on which the likes of the composers
Olivier Messiaen, Benjamin Britten, Francis Poulenc and soloist
Monique Haas had played, as well as Felix himself – he would regale
you with Ravel’s Ondine at the drop of a hat. He would also point out
a plane tree in front of the house which Poulenc had baptised one day
in an emergency.

Felix’s education was self-administered rather than academic. His
father had got him a job in the metal market, but already at 17 Felix
was pouring his energies into being assistant secretary of the Organ
Music Society. His three passions at that time were the organ, French
music and Frederick Delius (he visited the old composer at
Grez-sur-Loing, south of Paris).

When I first met Felix, he was concert director of the London
Philharmonic Orchestra. During those precarious war years the
programmes had to be popular, but sometimes Felix was allowed his
head, and he would spread himself in the empty dress circle, following
the scores of Debussy, Delius and Bax. In the 1940s he was
effervescent, and if his activities and behaviour had appeared in a
novel, you would say it was overwritten. He lived in a constant flurry
and bustle, rushing from one place to another, finding the best food
in those days when the bill could not exceed five shillings; it was
lunch with Michael Tippett, tea with William Walton, dinner with
conductors Victor de Sabata or Charles Munch, and sometimes
consultations with Sir Thomas Beecham about Felix going to Paris to
engage singers for recordings.

Felix knew where to shop, where to find rare books or scores. He was
remarkable especially for his generosity: he helped dozens of young
musicians, gave them advice, made introductions for them, gave them
books and scores, fed them and sometimes put them up at the House of
Usher. Nothing was too much trouble. The general impression was of
somebody who was a mixture of characters from Proust and PG Wodehouse.

His finest achievement was that he made British music lovers more
familiar with French music. Working with Toni Mayer, cultural attaché
at the embassy in London, Felix organised over a hundred concerts for
the Free French during the second world war. Not just Debussy and
Ravel, but also Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Roussel, Florent Schmitt, not
forgetting Baroque masters such as Rameau and Couperin, through
Berlioz to all of Les Six and on to Messiaen. For the audiences it was
like an education that had previously been manquée .

Felix left his mark in fastidious details: a stylist when it came to
the programme notes and the design of flyaways and posters – even the
tickets looked elegant. The artists were the divine soprano Maggie
Teyte in the Indian summer of her career, tenor Peter Pears and
Britten, the Zorian Quartet, piano accompanist Gerald Moore, and
Tippett with his Morley College Choir (Felix sometimes sang bass with
them). Later, with the liberation of Paris, baritones Pierre Bernac
and Gérard Souzay, cellist Pierre Fournier, pianists Yvonne Lefebure,
Poulenc, Messiaen and his eventual wife Yvonne Loriod – these were
nuits alcyoniennes, to coin a phrase.

From 1946 to 1984, Felix joined United Music Publishers, agents for
most of the music publishers in Paris. He also became second string
critic for the Sunday Times (1948-89), and was notable for his purple
patches when inspired, enthusing about much and deprecating the
mandarins’ cheers for atonal music and the sort of pieces that
encouraged instrumentalists to make squeaks and burps that previously
they had tried not to make when learning to play.

As time went on, Felix somewhat blotted his book by being late with
his copy and even on occasion reviewing performances by artists who
had dropped out at the last moment. He ignored his friends’ demands
that he write an autobiography, because he could not fashion his
anecdotes and recollections in such a way that the events and
personalities came off the page.

One memory, as he often told it, was how he nearly met Peter Warlock
on the steps of the British Museum. In these stories Felix could be a
bit far-fetched. But then Felix was far-fetched. His last years,
sadly, were plagued by strokes and loss of hearing, but he could still
recall a life devoted to music and musicians; and in which he was
honoured by the French government, president of the Delius Society,
and held in great affection by all of his many friends.

Felix Aprahamian, music critic, organiser and publicist, born June 1
1914; died January 15 2005.

,12723,1395232,00.html?gusrc=rss

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IS THERE A REAL DANGER OF US INVASION TO IRAN?

Azg/arm
21 Jan 05

A famous publicist, Seymour Hersh, published an article in The New
Yorker recently titled “The Coming Wars” where he claimed that the US
intelligenceis carrying out secret operations in the territory of
Iran. American special agents have penetrated the eastern regions of
the country in summer of 2004, the author claims.

The Pentagon confronted the article vigorously and the White House
stated that the article contains a number of “inaccuracies”. President
George W. Bush’s interview to NBC followed.”I hope we can solve it
diplomatically, but I will never take any option off the table,” Bush
said, “if it continues to stonewall the international community about
the existence of its nuclear weapons program.”

Iranian defense minister, Ali Shamkhani, challenged Bush’s statement
immediately saying: “The military potential of our country will not
allow any state to attack Iran”. The minister called Bush’s statements
the result of the psychological war waged against the people of Iran.

There is a difference between elaborating nuclear programs for
peaceful aims and using the nuclear power to make a weapon. Sergey
Lavrov, foreign minister of Russia, soon after Bush’s statement
confirmed Iran’s peaceful plans of nuclear power usage. But Washington
is interested with Iran’s plansthe least. What concerns the States
most of all is Iran’s self-confidence and the popularity of religious
administration. The last fact gives no way to outsiders to topple the
Islamic administration from inside, and Washington can do nothing but
threatening Iran with invasion.

By removing the Islamic regime of Iran, the US will put the Middle
East at Israel’s service. The American’s should not forget that Iran
has a population 3 times as many as Iraq and a far greater territory.

In today’s situation, when the US has to keep tight control over Kabul
and Iyad Allawu in Iraq, it’s hardly possible that Bush will venture
toinvade Iran, even though that is the only way to fit the region to a
desired model.

Removing the possibility of direct danger for Iran, we may assume that
Washington is more concerned with the Iraqi elections of January 30
and Bush’s striving to secure “fair” election by restraining the
pro-Iranian Shiites in order to keep Shiites back from looking ways
out if the country appears on the edge of falling into parts and the
Shiites of Iran, 60 percent of its population, from trying to
influence the elections and the last, keep Iran back from the
processes in Northern Iraq that lead to creation of the Kurdish state
and meanwhile turn the Kurds into the basis of reconstructed Iraq.

Before the Iraqi war, the US was yearning to see Iran isolated,
economically deteriorated and deprived of region’s support. After the
war, America launched its tactics of threats in order to limit Iran’s
chances to intervene in the regional processes and to instill the
irreversibility of regime change in the Iranians’ conscience.

By Hakob Chakrian

Agence France Presse
20 janvier 2005 jeudi 9:03 AM GMT

Les rivaux arménien et azerbaïdjanais en Irak pour plaire aux
Etats-Unis (PAPIER D’ANGLE)

BAKOU 20 jan

Chez elles, les armées arménienne et azerbaïdjanaise ne se voient
qu’à travers les lunettes de leurs fusils pointés le long d’une des
lignes de cessez-le-feu les plus dangereuses du monde, mais en Irak
elles combattent pour une cause commune: gagner la sympathie des
Etats-Unis.

Cette semaine, un groupe de 46 soldats arméniens se sont joints à la
coalition dirigée par les Etats-Unis en Irak, où sont déployés depuis
2004 une centaine de soldats de la paix de l’Azerbaïdjan, ennemi de
longue date de l’Arménie.

Bien qu’officiellement Bakou et Erevan soient présents en Irak pour
aider à stabiliser la situation dans le pays, pour les deux rivaux il
s’agit surtout d’une opération de charme auprès de l’Oncle Sam.

L’Arménie comme l’Azerbaïdjan ont beaucoup à gagner d’une bonne
relation avec les Etats-Unis dans leur quête pour faire pencher la
communauté internationale en leur faveur dans le conflit qui les
oppose au sujet de l’enclave azerbaïdjanaise à majorité arménienne du
Nagorny Karabakh, aujourd’hui contrôlée de facto par Erevan.

Les deux anciennes républiques soviétiques ont mené une guerre
sanglante au début des années 1990 qui s’est soldée par 30.000 morts
et quelques deux millions de déplacés.

Depuis la signature d’un cessez-le-feu en 1994, les deux nations du
Caucase se livrent une guerre des mots en même temps qu’ils naviguent
dans des eaux diplomatiques difficiles entre Moscou et Washington,
lequel a renforcé son influence dans l’ex-URSS depuis deux ans.

“L’Arménie a envoyé des troupes en Irak après que les Etats-Unis lui
aient dit ¨ou vous êtes avec nous, ou vous êtes un (Viktor)
Ianoukovitch”, affirme un ancien chef de la diplomatie
azerbaïdjanaise, dans une référence au candidat ukrainien pro-russe
qui a perdu fin décembre la présidentielle ukrainienne face à un
candidat pro-occidental.

Depuis que des candidats qui n’étaient pas appuyés par Moscou ont été
portés au pouvoir dans la république séparatiste géorgienne
d’Abkhazie en janvier, en Ukraine le mois dernier et en Géorgie il y
a un an, le président arménien Robert Kotcharian a commencé à
chercher des appuis en Occident pour garder le pouvoir dans son pays,
estiment des experts.

“La question irakienne pousse l’Arménie à réfléchir sur un choix:
soit elle poursuit une politique pro-russe, soit elle se retire de la
zone d’influence russe”, estime Agasi Enkoïan, politologue à Erevan.

En ce qui concerne l’Azerbaïdjan, “nous sommes ennemis, mais cela ne
nous empêche pas de nous battre ensemble dans un pays tiers”, ajoute
M. Enkoïan.

Un analyste militaire basé à Bakou estime quant à lui que les deux
nations pourront bénéficier de leur expérience avec les missions de
paix en Irak si jamais un accord est trouvé concernant le Karabakh.

“Un jour les militaires devront comprendre la différence entre une
ligne de front et une frontière nationale, ce qui n’est pas le cas
aujourd’hui”, soutient Azad Iasazadé.

Mais le bilan de la coopération entre les deux pays depuis la
signature du cessez-le-feu n’est guère brillant et M. Iasazadé craint
que les passions encore très intenses ne provoquent d’autres
violences entre Arméniens et Azerbaïdjanais en Irak.

L’Azerbaïdjan et l’Arménie coopèrent avec l’Otan au sein du
Partenariat pour la Paix, mais des exercices prévus l’an dernier en
Azerbaïdjan avaient dû être annulés après ce dernier eût jugé
indésirable la présence de militaires arméniens sur son territoire.

Un officier azerbaïdjanais est jugé en Hongrie pour le meurtre à
coups de hache d’un officier arménien qui suivait une formation
financée par l’Otan à Budapest.

“Ils n’avaient pas de fusils là-bas, mais en Irak ils en auront”, met
en garde M. Isazadé.

NEWS Press
20 janvier 2005

ONU : 148 Etats Membres pour la commémoration du 60e anniversaire de
la libération des camps nazis

ONU Organisation des Nations Unies

Pour la première fois dans l’histoire de l’ONU, l’Assemblée générale
a décidé de tenir, le lundi 24 janvier 2005, une session
commémorative extraordinaire. Il s’agit de la commémoration du 60e
anniversaire de la libération des camps de concentration nazis. Cette
décision a été approuvée par 148 des 191 Etats Membres. Elle marque
peut-être le début de la commémoration, à l’Assemblée, d’autres
événements.

En présence des représentants des pays qui ont pris l’initiative de
cette session extraordinaire – Australie, Canada, Etats-Unis,
Fédération de Russie, Israël, Nouvelle-Zélande et Union européenne -,
le Secrétaire général a souligné aujourd’hui, lors d’une rencontre
avec la presse, « l’importance qu’il attache à la commémoration du
60e anniversaire de la libération des camps de concentration nazis
dans une session extraordinaire de l’Assemblée générale ».

Cette commémoration aura, selon lui, « une signification profonde »
pour plusieurs raisons. « Premièrement, parce que la fondation de
l’Organisation des Nations Unies est une réponse directe à
l’Holocauste. Notre Charte a été écrite alors que le monde découvrait
l’horreur des camps », a-t-il rappelé.

« Deuxièmement, il est essentiel, pour chacun de nous, de nous
souvenir, de réfléchir et de tirer les leçons de ce qui s’est passé
il y a 60 ans. Le mal qui a mené à l’extermination de six millions de
Juifs dans ces camps menace encore aujourd’hui chacun d’entre nous.
Ce n’est pas quelque chose que nous pouvons reléguer à un passé
lointain et oublier. Chaque génération doit se tenir sur ses gardes
pour s’assurer qu’une telle chose ne se reproduise jamais plus »,
a-t-il expliqué.

« Troisièmement, cette session devra aussi être vue comme
l’expression de nos engagements à édifier une Organisation des
Nations Unies qui puisse réagir rapidement et efficacement à un
génocide et à d’autres violations graves des droits de l’homme. Bien
entendu, cette tche est loin d’être accomplie », a-t-il reconnu.

De son côté, Jean Ping, Président de l’Assemblée générale, a fait
remarquer que « c’était la première fois qu’une session commémorative
extraordinaire était organisée à l’Assemblée générale ». « C’est dire
l’importance de cette commémoration », a-t-il ajouté.

Le Président de l’Assemblée a par ailleurs expliqué qu’il fallait
l’accord d’une majorité des Etats Membres pour décider de la tenue
d’une telle session. Mercredi dernier, 148 Etats Membres sur 191 s’y
sont déclarés favorables.

Dans un message transmis le 11 janvier dernier par son porte-parole,
le Secrétaire général s’était déclaré « satisfait » d’annoncer qu’une
majorité d’Etats Membres avait donné son accord à la convocation de
cette session extraordinaire.

S’adressant à la presse, au Siège de l’ONU à New York, Tom Lantos,
réprésentant démocrate et membre de la Commission des relations
internationales au Congrès américain, avait rendu hommage « à la
détermination exprimée par le Secrétaire général de tout faire pour
réaliser la convocation de cette session » et s’était déclaré «
consterné par l’opposition de certains pays arabes à cette session »,
reflétant, selon lui, un manque de conscience et de perspective
historique « difficiles à comprendre dans la communauté
internationale ».

Répondant à la question d’un journaliste qui demandait aujourd’hui si
cette commémoration marquerait le début d’autres commémorations comme
celle par exemple du génocide arménien, le Secrétaire général a
avancé « qu’il serait possible qu’à l’avenir, les Etats Membres
commémorent d’autres événements ».

Parallèlement à la session extraordinaire de l’Assemblée générale,
deux expositions sont organisées au Siège de l’ONU à new York. «
Auschwitz, the depth of the Abyss » est une collection de
photographies et de peintures des camps d’Auschwitz et Majdanek. «
Afterwards, it’s just a part of you », inaugurée hier, montre des
photos prises par des groupes de jeunes qui ont visité les camps.

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Jan 20 2005

Analysis: Moscow Sheds Light On Karabakh Talks
By Liz Fuller

In order not to risk jeopardizing any rapprochement that has been
achieved, the participants in what has come to be known as the
“Prague process” of ministerial level talks under the aegis of the
OSCE Minsk Group on approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict
have until now abided by a gentlemen’s agreement not to divulge to
the press the specific topics under discussion.

In line with that agreement, neither Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian nor his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov have
divulged any details of their most recent talks in Prague on 10-11
January. But four days after those talks, the Russian Foreign
Ministry issued a press release
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listing specific issues under discussion, adding that on some of
those issues the two sides’ positions have become closer.

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service after meeting with Mammadyarov
on 11 January, Oskanian characterized the mood of the talks as
“positive.” He said that “full agreement” has not yet been reached on
the principles of a settlement, but that “there is a general
framework of issues, but as this meeting showed, they need to be
consolidated.” He added that “it is still too early to disclose any
details.” Briefing journalists in Yerevan the following day, Oskanian
predicted that settlement talks this year will be “quite intensive,”
thus marking a qualitative shift to a new, more serious phase of
discussions. Noyan Tapan quoted him as saying that “all elements”
related to a peaceful solution of the conflict are on the table,
without listing those elements.

Oskanian further noted that Azerbaijani media frequently misrepresent
the nature and focus of the talks, and that “everyone” — presumably
meaning both Mammadyarov and the U.S., Russian, and French
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group — agree that “officials should
be more circumspect when making statements.”

On 13 January, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov
similarly briefed journalists in Baku on the Prague talks. Azimov
said that while Baku insists that any solution to the conflict must
preserve Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, the restoration of
territorial integrity alone will not solve all problems: in that
context he mentioned specifically the future peaceful coexistence of
the Armenian population of Karabakh and those Azerbaijanis who fled
the region over a decade ago when the conflict first turned violent
and hope to return there.

Azimov also listed issues that could form part of a hypothetical
solution to the conflict. He said that if Armenian troops are
withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory, Azerbaijan would be ready to
restore economic and other relations with Armenia. He was quoted by
zerkalo.az as saying that “a little later, the question of the return
to the region of the Azerbaijani population and the coexistence of
the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Nagorno-Karabakh must be
addressed. Once interregional ties and ties between Nagorno-Karabakh
and Armenia [on the one hand] and the government of Azerbaijan are
established, it will be possible to achieve a normalization of the
situation and set about seeking a solution to other political
questions.” Whether Oskanian and Mammadyarov have discussed that
specific sequence of events is not clear, however.

Azimov dismissed as “speculation” reports that the liberation of
three of the seven districts of Azerbaijan currently under Armenian
control is under discussion: he said that “in the course of the
Prague process the question of liberating all seven districts
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh at the first stage is being discussed.”
According to echo-az.com, Azimov likewise denied that the possibility
of holding a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh on the region’s future
status was addressed in Prague, and he expressed regret that such
“unreliable information” finds its way into the press. In an article
published in “Le Figaro” last month, former Spanish Foreign Minister
Ana Palacio and Pierre Lellouche, who is NATO Parliamentary Assembly
president, argued that the Karabakh conflict differs fundamentally
from those in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdniester, and that
“the Europeans, Americans, and Russians should jointly defend a
compromise [settlement] that would give Armenia temporary control of
Karabakh in exchange for the withdrawal of Armenian forces from
Azerbaijani territory, [with] the final status of Karabakh to be
decided by its inhabitants in a referendum in five or 10 years’
time.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry press release listed among the
“contentious issues” under discussion: the withdrawal of [Armenian]
troops, demilitarization of the previously occupied territories,
international security guarantees for the Armenian population of
Karabakh, and the unrecognized republic’s future status vis-a-vis
Azerbaijan. The press release reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to
contribute, together with the other two Minsk Group co-chairs, to
“deepening the mutual understanding between Armenia and Azerbaijan”
with a view to bringing about a peaceful solution to the conflict.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER – January 20, 2005

BIBLE SEMINAR AT ST. SARKIS CHURCH
The subtle religious and linguistic beauty of the Holy Bible will be the
subject of a seminar at St. Sarkis Church in Douglaston, New York, on
Saturday, January 29, co-sponsored by the Christian Education Committee
(CEC) of St. Sarkis Church and the Armenian Religious Education Council
(AREC) of the Prelacy. Archdeacon Shant Kazanjian, director of AREC, will
conduct the seminar.
Deacon Shant will present a brief overview of the Bible and its use in
the Armenian Apostolic Church. He will also explore the differences between
the Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic versions of the scriptures, and will
discuss Bible study aids.
The seminar will begin at 10 a.m. at St. Sarkis Church, 38-65 234th
Street, Douglaston, New York, and conclude at 3 p.m. A light lunch and
coffee will be served. All are welcome.
For information contact the St. Sarkis Church office, 718-224-2275.

ST. STEPHEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
GALA IS SATURDAY, JANUARY 29
St. Stephen Armenian Elementary School (Watertown, Massachusetts) will
celebrate its 20th anniversary with a gala celebration on Saturday, January
29, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The event is under the auspices His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan
who will attend the gala to bring his congratulatory words on this occasion.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
Visit the school web site for information about the school
and the 20th anniversary gala on January 29.

SIAMANTO ACADEMY STUDENTS HEAR GUEST LECTURERS
Following an edifying lecture on Gomidas Vartabed in December by
ethnomusicologist Krikor Pidedjian, the Siamanto Academy students will
participate in the second lecture/workshop by renowned actress and writer
Nora Armani on Saturday, January 29. The first lecture by Ms. Armani
included an overview of Armenian theatre and a workshop that captivated the
students attention. The roster of other recent guest lecturers has included:
Major Aram Sarafian, Ara Jigarian, artist Kevork Mourad, Associated Press
photographer Harry Koundakjian, NK Arts Neery Melkonian, Tony Vartanian of
the ANCA, and art historian Dr. Sylvie Merian.

SERIES OF MEETINGS IN ANTELIAS
A series of meetings, presided by His Holiness Aram I, have taken place
this past week at the Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon.
The agenda of the meeting of the Religious Executive Council covered reports
pertaining to Christian Education, Ecumenical Relations, and the Youth, as
well as programs and concerns related to different spheres of religious
life.
The meeting of the Lay Executive Council studied questions and projects
related to finances, social services, and public relations.
During the joint meeting of the Religious and Lay Committees, diocesan
primates and lay representatives, a number of issues about the overall
activities of the Catholicosate were discussed. In his remarks, His Holiness
emphasized the importance of responsibility, accountability, and
self-critical assessment, in the work of the Catholicosate on a global and
diocesan level.

PRELATE OFFERS DAILY MORNING PRAYER SESSIONS
DURING CARIBBEAN CRUISE
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan offered Morning Prayer services during the
one-week cruise in the Caribbean. His Eminence was gratified by the number
of people who attended the daily service each morning to participate in the
service and hear the message of the day, before beginning the activities of
the day.
Archbishop Oshagan said it was a good experience to see so many
Armenians coming together to enjoy a very well organized and planned
vacation.

PRELATE WILL GO TO FLORIDA TOMORROW
Archbishop Oshagan will travel to Florida tomorrow, January 21, to
preside over meetings with the architects for the St. John Church in Boynton
Beach.

PRELATE WILL ATTEND MEETINGS IN VATICAN
Archbishop Oshagan will travel overseas to attend meetings at the
Vatican from January 24 to 30. The meetings are between the Oriental
Orthodox Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Papers will be presented on various aspects of communion, the meaning of
sister churches, the meaning of church families, and common ecumenical
goals.
The Cilician See will be represented by Archbishop Oshagan and Bishop
Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Holy See of Cilicia.

22nd MUSICAL ARMENIA CONCERT SERIES:
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW
The 2005 Musical Armenia concert, the 22nd performance in the series,
will take place Sunday, January 30, 2 pm, at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie
Hall, New York City. The concert will feature the baritone Oshin Gregorian
and the works of the composer Eric Hachikian, performed by the Motyl Chamber
Ensemble.
Mr. Gregorian will perform works by Gomidas, Mozart, Donizetti, Puccini,
Ravel, Ganatchian, Gregorian, and Sayat Nova.
The Motyl Chamber Ensemble will perform some works of Eric Hachikian,
including Voyage to Amasia and Saint Sarkis Suite.
Reserve your tickets now by contacting Sophie at the Prelacy,
212-689-7810.

GHEVONTIANK CLERGY CONFERENCE
WILL CONVENE IN MONTREAL
The annual Gevontiank Clergy Conference will convene in Montreal,
Canada, January 31 to February 2. Participating in the conference will be
the clergy of the Eastern, Western, and Canadian Prelacies. The theme of the
conference will focus on the past, present and future mission of the
Cilician Seminary.

PRELATE WILL VISIT ST. SARKIS CHURCH THIS SUNDAY
This Sunday, January 23, Archbishop Oshagan will officiate the Divine
Liturgy at St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New York, in observance of the
name day of the church. His Eminence will be assisted by the pastor of the
church, V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian. The morning services begin at 10
am followed by the Badarak at 10:30 am.
His Eminence will also preside over the blessing of the veils of the
choir members. A luncheon will follow the church services. For information
and reservations contact the church office, 718-224-2275.

PARISHIONER IS HEADED TO AFGHANISTAN
A message from St. Gregory Church of Merrimack Valley (North Andover,
Massachusetts) informs us that a member of that parish, Felix Gregorian,
will be heading to Afghanistan next month. The message states:
As some of you may or may not know we have a fellow parishioner who is
in the process of heading to Afghanistan. Felix Gregorian is currently in
Texas and should be there until sometime in February before heading
overseas. Below is his mailing and email address where he can be reached.
Feel free to send him letters/emails to keep in touch and let him know what’s
going on in our church/community. He would love to hear from all of you,
regardless of whether you have known him forever or have never met him. Let
us give him our support and let him know that he and his family are in our
thoughts and prayers.
ILT Felix Gregorian
ANA ETT 3Bgde 5BN CSSI
650th ASG Bldg 4228
Ft. Hood, TX 76544
[email protected]

ZULAL TO PERFORM IN NEW YORK CITY
ZULAL, the Armenian a cappella folk trio, will perform next Wednesday,
January 26, 7:30 pm, at Satalla, 37 W. 26th St., New York City.
Zulal, which means clarity, is receiving raves and critical acclaim
following performances in various parts of the United States and Canada. The
three talented performers, Anais Tekerian, Teni Apelian and Yeraz Markarian,
keep true to the folk tradition while providing fresh perspectives and
harmonies. We saw them in their New Jersey performance last year and found
their performance to be exciting, informative, and entertaining.

PAPER ON STEPANOS SIWNECI IN JOURNAL
The latest edition of the scholarly journal, Le Museon, (Volume 117,
Issue 3), includes a paper entitled Origen’s Commentaries as Sources for
Stepanos Siwneci’s Commentary on the Gospels, by Michael Papazian.
Stepanos Siwneci (c. 688-735) was the author of some of the earliest
surviving Armenian biblical commentaries. Professor Papazian is chairman of
the Religion and Philosophy Department at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.

ST. SARKIS, ST. ADOM, ST. SOUKIAS
It is a busy week for the Armenian Church in the remembrance of saints,
including St. Sarkis the Warrior, Sts. Adom and Generals, and Sts. Soukias
and Martyrs.

ST. SARKIS THE WARRIOR
This Saturday, the Armenian Church remembers St. Sarkis the Warrior and
his son, St. Mardiros. It is a moveable feast day that generally occurs
between January 11 and February 15. It follows the five-day Fast of
Catechumens. Although the Fast is not connected to St. Sarkis, it has become
to be associated with this saint who enjoy a special popularity among the
Armenians. Sarkis lived during the fourth century and was from Cappadocia in
Asia Minor. He rose through the military ranks as a consequence of his
valiant campaigns on behalf of the Emperor Constantine. With the accession
of Emperor Julian, Sarkis took refuge in Armenia with his son, Mardiros.
Later he and his son went to Persia to join the Persian army in fighting
Emperor Julian. Both fought with exceptional bravery. The Persian king
(Shapur II) tried to convince them to abandon their Christrian faith and
embrace Zorastrianism. Both refused, and father and son were martyred.
Loyal Christian soldiers who went to retrieve the body, were killed as
well. Eventually, Christians found the body and sent it to Assyria, where it
remained until the fifth century, when Mesrob Mashdots received the remains
and moved them to the city of Garpi in Armenia. The famed Garpi Monastery,
erected over the site of the grave, stands to this day.
St. Sarkis is revered and there are many Armenian churches throughout
the world dedicated to his memory.

GEORGE W. BUSH INAUGURATED TODAY
George W. Bush was inaugurated to his second term of office as President
of the United States today at noon.
In his second inaugural speech to the nation, President Bush said,
freedom is not only the right of all people everywhere, and thus a
transcendent cause in itself, but an engine to help America secure. We are
led by events and common sense to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in
our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The
best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the
world.
The President struck an ecumenical tone in describing an America guided
by spiritual as well as secular precepts: Self-government relies, in the
end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in
families supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our
national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of
the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in
reaffirming all that is good and true that came before, ideals of justice
and conduct that are the same today and forever.

The U.S. Constitution has only two requirements for the inauguration:

1. That the president-elect take office at noon on January 20.
2. That the president-elect take a short 35-word oath: I,.do solemnly
swear to faithfully executive the office of president of the United States
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.

George Washington, the first president, added so help me God to the oath and
kissed the Bible. His swearing in took place in 1789 in New York City, which
was the temporary capital. His second inaugural address in 1793 was 135
words, the shortest inaugural address in history.
The longest inaugural address was given by William Henry Harrison in
1841. His 8,445-word address, delivered in cold blustery weather, lasted two
hours. He developed pneumonia soon after and died a month later.
Historians agree that the most eloquent second inaugural address was
delivered by Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1865. This is the with malice
toward none, with charity for all, speech that we have quoted here at other
times, but is worth repeating.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the
right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work
we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have
borne the battle and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
nations.
Lincoln was assassinated a little more than a month later.

Visit our website at

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
01/20/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan to Take AGBU to Court on Melkonian Issue
2) Assistant US Secretary of State’s Statements Hinder Peace Process Says
Karabagh ARF
3) Kentucky Democrat Chandler Joins Armenian Caucus
4) Azeri Ex-Brigade Commander Refuses to Fight Again for Azerbaijan

1) Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan to Take AGBU to Court on Melkonian Issue

LOS ANGELES–Reliable sources have confirmed that, in the matter of the
Garabed
Melkonian Trust, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, in his fiduciary capacity as
Patriarch of Constantinople, filed a lawsuit against New York-based Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU) on January 13, 2005. The suit was filed in the
Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles by
plaintiff Mutafyan’s California-based attorney.
The lawsuit mainly addresses the formal announcement made by the AGBU in
March
2004 that it would be closing the Melkonian Educational Institution in
Nicosia,
Cyprus at the end of the 2005 school year.
In July 1921, wealthy Armenian businessman Garabed Melkonian donated a
gift to
then Patriarch of Constantinople Zaven Der Yeghyayan, to establish and
maintain
Armenian schools, as well as carry out various charitable works for the
Armenian people. In 1924, the value of the gift was at least $3.5 million and
per Melkonian’s request, an Armenian school and orphanage named the Melkonian
Educational Institute was established in Nicosia, Cyprus.
In 1925, Patriarch Der Yeghyayan transferred the entire Melkonian gift,
including the Melkonian Educational Institute, to the AGBU due to the latter’s
expressed ability to better manage the trust’s assets and execute the donor’s
intentions.
The suit, Arch. Mesrob Mutafyan vs. Armenian General Benevolent Union,
petitions to compel AGBU to perform the Trustee’s duties and redress a breach
of trust by payment of money or otherwise.
Asbarez tried to contact Mutafyan for comment but has not yet received a
response.

2) Assistant US Secretary of State’s Statements Hinder Peace Process Says
Karabagh ARF

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Responding to outgoing US Assistant Secretary of State
Elizabeth Jones’s recent statement concerning Mountainous Karabagh Republic
(MKR), Grisha Hayrapetian, a member of the MKR Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) Central Committee (CC), said that the comments are “extremely
damaging to the peace process.”
On Wednesday, Jones called for increased US engagement in resolving regional
conflicts in the former Soviet Union, stating: “It is in Russia’s interest for
these areas–for Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Mountainous
Karabagh–to be stable, for corruption to end there, for the criminal
secessionists who rule there to be removed. It is not appropriate for this
kind
of instability and criminality to exist right in the middle of Europe.”
In the article that appeared in the newspaper Aparazh, Hayerapetian
emphasized
that Jones’s statement contradicts those of high-ranking US officials who have
repeatedly said that democratic process in MKR has advanced significantly,
specifically in contrast to the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan.
He also stressed that the removal of any given country’s leadership
remains an
internal issue for citizens to decide through free elections.

3) Kentucky Democrat Chandler Joins Armenian Caucus

Second term Congressman Serves on House International Relations Committee

NEW YORK (ANCA-ER)–Representative Ben Chandler (D-KY) became the newest
member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues on Wednesday, boosting
the Caucus’s membership to one hundred forty-five.
Congressman Chandler was first elected to the US House in a special election
in February 2004 to replace Rep. Ernie Fletcher, who left his seat to
successfully run for Governor of Kentucky. Chandler was re-elected to
office in
November 2004, with 59% of the vote. Congressman Chandler serves on the
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on International Relations, and the
Select Committee on Homeland Security.
“We welcome Representative Chandler joining the Armenian Issues Caucus and
look forward to working with the Congressman on a number of issues of special
concern to his Armenian American constituents,” said Doug Geogerian, Executive
Director of the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region
(ANCA-ER). “As a member of the Committee on International Relations, we look
forward to his support on gaining official recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, working to foster stronger US-Armenia bilateral relations, and
obtaining a just settlement for the people of Mountainous Karabagh,” said
Geogerian.
Founded in 1995, the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues is a bipartisan
forum for the discussion of policies to foster increased cooperation between
the United States and Armenian governments and to strengthen the enduring
bonds
between the American and Armenian peoples. Its two co-chairs are Congressman
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

4) Azeri Ex-Brigade Commander Refuses to Fight Again for Azerbaijan

BAKU (PanArmenian.net)–“I will not fight for Azerbaijan anymore,” announced
retired Colonel Azer Rustamov, in an interview with Azeri weekly
Obozrevatel.net. “I do not wish to fight and others will not go either.
They’ll
prefer to trade in bazaars.”
Rustamov rose to the rank of full colonel and commander of a brigade in the
Fizuli district, where he served from 1999 to 2001. He resigned from the
military in 2003. “If war breaks out now, I am not sure whether I’ll fight. I
witnessed the attitude showed towards the memory of the killed and those, who
remained invalid after the war,” said Rustamov. “The army, of course, will
fight for a certain period. But what will happen when their depleted ranks
would need to be replenished? Who will go if over two million people now work
in Russia?”
Rustamov is also critical of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy rhetoric. At
present,
he is focused on forming “Combat Brotherhood,” a non-government organization
that would focus on veterans of Afghanistan and other wars.
A veteran of wars in Afghanistan and Karabagh, Rustamov was decorated by both
the Elchibey and Aliyev administrations with the Order of the Red Star,
awarded
for length of service. A group of 100 Chechen volunteers, headed by Shamil
Basayev and Salman Raduyev, significantly helped the Azeri army, according to
Rustamov.

CORRECTION

In Tuesday’s article “Twenty-two Novices Refresh Ranks of ARF,” we
incorrectly
reported that Khajag Dikranian served as the godfather to the novices entering
the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation on January 15; it should
have stated Khajag Dikidjian.

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Agence France Presse — Espanol
1/20/2005

El Papa bendice la nueva estatua de San Gregorio en San Pedro

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO Ene 19

El Papa Juan Pablo II bendijo este miércoles la nueva estatua de San
Gregorio, apóstol de los Armenios, la cual fue instalada en uno de
los nichos exteriores de la basílica de San Pedro.

La statua, de mármol de Carrara, de 5,64 metros de altura y que pesa
20 toneladas, fue realizada por el escultor armeno Kazan Khatechik a
pedido del colegio eclesiástico armenio de Roma.

Nacido en el año 260 y fallecido en el 328 en Armenia, San Gregorio
fue el impulsor de la conversión al cristianismo de su país en el año
301.

Se trata de la octava estatua de santo instalada en los nichos
exteriores de la basílica, que en su interior tiene numerosas obras
de arte antiguas, la mayoría del Renacimiento.

Después de haber bendecido la estatua, el Papa recibió a cerca de
7.000 peregrinos para la tradicional audiencia general de los
miércoles y los invitó a participar espiritualmente, como hace él
mismo, en la semana de oraciones por la unidad de los cristianos que
comenzó el martes en todo el mundo.

La Stampa, Italia
01/20/2005

CREDERE L’INCREDIBILE

Spinelli Barbara

Barbara Spinelli NOI non sappiamo che cosa sia realistico o non
realistico: noi qui stiamo morendo tutti! Vai a dire questo!””. Con
queste parole Leon Feiner, attivista dell’organizzazione Jewish
Socialist Bund, si accomiato’ da Jan Karski nel ’42, dopo l’invasione
nazista della Polonia. Era ormai chiuso nella trappola che Varsavia
era divenuta per gli ebrei, e Karski era la sua unica speranza.

Karski era un diplomatico polacco, cattolico, che nel ’41 era entrato
clandestinamente nel Paese occupato e aveva visto l’essenziale: il
ghetto di Varsavia, il campo di sterminio di Belzec alla frontiera
con l’Ucraina, le stelle gialle, l’uccisione per le strade di donne,
bambini. Era un testimone prezioso e fu incaricato di raccontare gli
eventi a Londra e in America, mostrando i filmati presi nella
spedizione. Non fu ascoltato, se non da pochi.

Non gli credette nessuno, tranne qualche spirito profetico. Fu cosi’
sempre, nei genocidi del XX secolo.

Dopo aver letto il rapporto di Karski e visto i suoi film, Ignacy
Schwarzbart in nome del Consiglio nazionale polacco di Londra invio’
un telegramma al Congresso Ebraico Mondiale, alla fine del ’42:
“”Ebrei in Polonia quasi completamente annientati – STOP – A Belzec
costretti scavare loro tomba suicidio di massa centinaia di bambini
gettati vivi in canali di scolo – STOP – Ebrei nudi trascinati camere
della morte – STOP – Migliaia di vittime quotidiane intera Polonia –
STOP – Credere l’incredibile – STOP””. Credere l’incredibile: ecco la
frase che spiega tanti misteri, nelle reazioni del mondo a Auschwitz.
Che spiega il silenzio, l’indifferenza delle democrazie, dei maestri
di pensiero e di religione. Furono numerosi perfino gli ebrei, a non
credere: negli Stati Uniti, Karski non riusci’ a smuovere Felix
Frankfurter, giudice della Corte Suprema, e Isaiah Berlin – nel ’42
lavorava all’ambasciata britannica di Washington – non vedeva piu’ di
un pogrom, una persecuzione abituale. Stessa reazione l’ebbero
dirigenti sionisti come Nahum Goldman, Chaim Weizmann, David
Ben-Gurion.

Scrive la studiosa Samantha Power, in un libro esemplare, che i
rappresentanti della civilta’ vivevano in “”un crepuscolo tra il
sapere e il non sapere”” (Voci dall’Inferno, Baldini Castoldi Dalai
2004). Questo era dunque il contesto, in cui i contemporanei di
Auschwitz pensavano, operavano, prima della liberazione dei campi
sessant’anni fa.

Questa la sensibilita’ ottenebrata, la mancata percezione del
carattere inedito dell’orrore: il contesto e’ qualcosa che gli
storici non possono ignorare, e che secondo molti giustifica silenzi
e omissioni non solo durante, ma dopo lo sterminio. Lo si e’ potuto
constatare nell’avvincente dibattito aperto dal Corriere della Sera
su Pio XII e l’ordine, nel ’46, di non restituire alle famiglie i
bambini ebrei salvati e battezzati durante il genocidio. La storia
non si giudica con il metro del presente, e’ stato detto. E
certamente non possiamo ignorare tutti quegli ingredienti (il
contesto appunto, o come si dice oggi il comune sentire,
l’orientamento largamente diffuso all’epoca dei fatti) che sono la
stoffa di cui da sempre e’ fatto il Zeitgeist, e cioe’ quello spirito
dei tempi teorizzato da Hegel e descritto da Goethe come
“”predominio”” di un pensiero che “”s’impossessa delle masse”” e non
tollera pareri contrari. Karski e altri non furono ascoltati, e tale
era il Zeitgeist degli Anni 30 e 40. Lo era per vari motivi. Perche’
le sovranita’ degli Stati erano intangibili, e la lotta a Hitler era
contro la sua espansione militare. Il crimine era talmente
inconcepibile da sembrare non possibile.

Gli ebrei erano stati perseguitati tante volte, e non si vide lo
strappo. Ma soprattutto non c’era un nome, per dirlo. Il crimine era
non solo inconcepibile ma ineffabile, dunque condannato a restare nel
crepuscolo tra dire e non dire, agire e non agire. Il richiamo allo
Spirito dei Tempi si comprende, ma non e’ in realta’ di enorme aiuto.
Quel che avvenne durante il genocidio e dopo chiarisce il perche’ di
tante rimozioni (compresa la rimozione in Israele; compresa la
rimozione favorita dai comunisti in Est Europa: nei Lager le lapidi
tacitavano il martirio degli ebrei, giudicato secondario rispetto a
quello dei comunisti), ma e’ utile piu’ per una cura di guarigione
dopo il delitto, che per una cura che lo scongiuri.

La questione davvero cruciale e’ un’altra, e la lezione di Auschwitz
non concerne tanto l’espiazione-riparazione quanto la prevenzione.
Come dice Freud criticando Dostoevskij: quel che conta nell’etica e’
evitare di fare il male, non anelare a lacerate espiazioni. E la
memoria giova se salvaguarda i due ricordi: come si pati’ l’orrore e
lo si penso’ dopo, ma anche come fu intuito e ritenuto scongiurabile
prima, se testimoni e moniti fossero stati ascoltati. Di questo gli
storici non si occupano molto, anche perche’ la figura del testimone
non ha sempre diritto di cittadinanza nei loro archivi. Eppure e’
questo che puo’ aiutare a capire, ad agire: la rievocazione degli
allarmi che furono lanciati da un certo numero di illuminati.

Lo studio del loro carattere, del loro metodo. Esaminando le opere di
chi seppe dire l’orrore, si apprende una grande lezione: non e’
necessaria una vista specialmente acuta, ne’ occorre attendere di
avere un’idea sulle idee del genocidio (questo il significato di
vocaboli improbi come concettualizzazione, contestualizzazione della
Shoah). E’ sufficiente avere una quantita’ modica di decenza, non
influenzabile dalle circostanze.

E per istituzioni come il Papa di Roma, e’ sufficiente – lo ricorda
Claudio Magris – rammentare che la Chiesa non e’ figlia del Zeitgeist
ma difende “”verita’ ritenute immutabili””. L’antigiudaismo
tradizionale che allignava nel cristianesimo aveva creato un clima
favorevole all’antisemitismo hitleriano ma non aveva a che fare con
Auschwitz. Qualcosa di nuovo era apparso in Europa, un antisemitismo
che non spingeva gli ebrei ne’ a convertirsi ne’ a fuggire ma che li
chiudeva in spazi chiusi e li annientava. E il nuovo che irrompe nel
presente, solo uno sguardo profetico puo’ intuirlo: non perche’ il
profeta anticipi l’avvenire, ma perche’ sa descrivere il presente.
Solo i profeti e i vigili hanno quel che serve: non una visione
storicizzata dell’etica ma un’immaginazione morale, e la capacita’ di
dare un nome all’Inferno. Non mancarono uomini simili, dotati di
fantasia etica.

Basta ricordare due nomi, a parte Karski. Il primo e’ Arnold
Schonberg: nel libro Un Programma in Quattro Punti per l’Ebraismo,
scritto fra il ’33 e il ’38, il musicista fa la lista meticolosa
degli ebrei minacciati da Hitler che vivono in Germania, Austria,
Europa centro-orientale: “”C’e’ posto nel mondo per circa 7 milioni
di persone? O questi milioni sono condannati alla finale rovina? A
divenire un popolo estinto, affamato, macellato?””. Schonberg fa
capire che non l’eroismo s’impone. Basta un po’ d’anticonformismo, ed
essere “”osservatori svegli, realistici””. Cosi’ l’immaginazione
morale si mette a servizio del realismo, solitamente evocato per
giustificare omissioni. Schonberg aveva visto montare l’antisemitismo
nuovo fin dai primi Anni 20, in Austria. Il secondo e’ Raphael
Lemkin, un giurista polacco che dopo il genocidio degli armeni nel
’15 aveva capito quale disastro puo’ nascere da crimini prima non
visti, poi impuniti.

Poco prima di invadere la Polonia, Hitler aveva rassicurato cosi’ i
comandanti del proprio esercito: “”Chi ricorda ancora, oggi, il
genocidio degli armeni?””. Nessuno lo ricordava perche’ non esisteva
ancora un nome per simile crimine, e solo il nome poteva fondare
secondo Lemkin una giurisprudenza internazionale. Il 24 agosto ’41,
mentre i nazisti avanzavano in Russia, Churchill aveva detto alla
Bbc: “”Interi distretti vengono sterminati, migliaia sono le
esecuzioni a sangue freddo.

Dall’invasione dei Mongoli non s’e’ visto un mattatoio simile. Siamo
in presenza d’un crimine senza nome””. Grazie a Lemkin, il crimine
senza nome ricevera’ invece un nome, gia’ nel ’43: genocidio. E una
volta trovato il nome si potra’ poi legiferare. Nel ’48, l’Onu
approva una Convenzione sul genocidio, e a Norimberga il reato di cui
saranno accusati i nazisti sara’ genocidio. Negli Anni Cinquanta si
trovera’ il nome di Olocausto (lo storico ebreo Poliakov nel ’51, lo
scrittore cattolico Mauriac nel ’58).

Poi, sulla scia del film di Claude Lanzmann, si parlera’ di Shoah.
Dare un nome e’ cruciale, se si vuol far fronte agli stermini prima
che succedano. Per Ruanda e Bosnia non si volle usare la parola
genocidio, perche’ la convenzione Onu comporta il dovere
d’intervento. Anche l’annientamento con armi chimiche di circa
100.000 curdi iracheni nell’87 non fu chiamato genocidio. Furono le
amministrazioni Reagan e Bush senior a opporsi, perche’ Saddam era
allora un prezioso alleato. Divenne nemico da abbattere quando stava
diventando, grazie a ispezioni e sanzioni, nella sostanza innocuo.

Il motivo per cui contano piu’ i prodromi che la successiva
elaborazione della colpa e’ che nel futuro varra’ la pena prevenire
ecatombi simili, piuttosto che trovare il modo piu’ eccelso di
piangere i morti. Per far questo, bisogna non solo dare il nome al
delitto, come ha fatto Lemkin, ma riscrivere un intero vocabolario, a
partire dall’esperienza di Auschwitz.

Bisogna ridefinire la classica politica di potenza e dunque la
sovranita’ assoluta degli Stati, stabilendo che essi non possono fare
qualsiasi cosa sul proprio territorio. Bisogna avere l’immaginazione
morale atta a dire l’indicibile, l’incredibile. Non bisogna dare
colori metafisici agli eventi: Auschwitz e’ uno sterminio di popoli
(ebrei, polacchi, zingari); non e’ ne’ un misterico sacrificio (un
Olocausto) ne’ un’esperienza che riguarda solo gli ebrei. E non sono
coinvolti solo etnie ma modi di essere, di vivere (malati mentali,
omosessuali). Bisogna rivedere il concetto di comune civilta’ umana,
liberandola dagli unanimismi: la civilta’ umana, dice Ignatieff, e’
unita nella coscienza della propria diversita’. Nessun essere sulla
terra si differenzia come gli uomini (per colore di pelle, religione,
stili di vita), ed e’ questo il tesoro da salvare.

E’ perche’ non c’e’ ancora questo vocabolario che tanti tabu’, legati
a Auschwitz, rischiano oggi di cadere. Tra questi: l’eugenetica; o la
tortura dei prigionieri di guerra, costretti a denudarsi e a vedersi
umiliati nella propria religione (Abu Ghraib). Torna infine il
bisogno di capro espiatorio: il bisogno di individuare categorie
nemiche, per appartenenza religiosa o modi di vita.

Come dice Ignatieff, il genocidio comincia con la promessa di creare
un mondo senza diversi, senza nemici, fatto di gente tutta eguale.

Comincia con un’utopia, e quest’utopia mortifera e’ dentro ciascuno
di noi. E siccome l’utopia e’ dentro di noi, e l’orientamento diffuso
tra la gente e i politici tende negli ultimi tempi a assecondarla,
Auschwitz e’ sempre di nuovo possibile.