Tag Archives: Armenian Genocide

Honoring Armenian Genocide Memorial Day

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For those who have been reading my blog, you already know that I’m deeply proud of my Armenian heritage. But if you’re new to Book Club Babe, today is the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a horrific tragedy in which over 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

I won’t go into too much detail of the historical event, since I’ve already done so in last year’s post, but I encourage you to educate yourself on the genocide, given that Turkey, the United States, and many other countries still fail to recognize it as such.

But this year, I didn’t want to dwell on my ongoing frustration with the American government valuing military alliances over human rights. Instead, I wanted to share some fun facts on Armenians and their culture. It’s a shame that most of the world has never even heard of this country, met any of its amazing people, or eaten any of its delicious food!

So let’s jump right into the trivia!

Capital city of Yerevan

10 Fun Facts about Armenia

1.     Armenia is a tiny country, only about 11,500 square miles. That’s smaller than the state of Maryland!

2.     Written records of the Armenian language date back to the 5th century CE. It has since evolved to have 38 letters, much to the dismay of Armenian-language learners.

3.     And despite its tiny geographical size, two Armenian dialects exist: Eastern and Western. Some differences are seen in a swapping of letters, from b to p and k to g (For example, you say “hello” as “barev” in Eastern and “parev” in Western).

4.     Armenians call their country “Hayastan,” which has led to the modern members of the diaspora to refer to themselves as “Hyes.” So if you see a bumper sticker declaring “Hye Pride”–no, it’s not a misspelled proclamation of drug abuse!

5.     On the flip side, anyone who is not a “Hye” is called an “odar,” an outsider.

6.     The national currency is the Armenian Dram. The rate as of today is $1 USD = $416 AMD.

7.     Armenia officially achieved independence in 1991, after thousands of years of being controlled by “Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, Persians, Ottoman Turks, and Russians.”

8.     The Armenian Genocide is a reminder of how different the country is compared to its neighbors. Labeled as everything from Eastern European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern, it’s difficult to explain its geograpical uniqueness. But to this day, it remains predominantly Christian, despite horrendous efforts to change that through ethnic cleansing.

9.     The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world’s oldest national church and observes  Christmas on January 6th to coincide with the Epiphany. The Roman Catholic Church also observed this date until the 4th century CE when it allegedly changed the date to December 25th to undermine pagan winter solstice celebrations like Saturnalia.

10.     There are some fabulous famous people of Armenian descent. The easiest way to tell is to spot surnames that end in “-ian” or “-yan,” which means “issued from-” So “Petrosian” is the Armenian version of “Peterson.”

Cher in Armenia, 1993

Here’s a list of celebrities of Armenian heritage:

  • Andre Agassi, tennis player
  • Ross Bagdasarian, creator of “Alvin and the Chipmunks”
  • Cher (Cherylin Sarkissian), singer/actress
  • System of a Down, rock band
  • Dita von Teese, burlesque artist
  • Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. (adopted by Armenian woman, Clara Hagopian, who taught him the language)
  • Princess Diana (ok, she’s only 1/64th Armenian, but once a Hye, always a Hye!)

So there’s plenty of other famous Armenians besides the Kardashians! (Thank goodness!)

Took the words right out of my mouth, Kourtney!

Anyways, I hope that you learned a lot about my culture. Please share these fun facts with everyone you meet today to honor Armenian Genocide Memorial Day!

Book Review: The Sandcastle Girls

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Image via Goodreads

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One of the best feelings when you’re reading is when the story gains momentum and you just have to keep going until you finish it. This was one of those stories, and I’m so glad. As an Armenian, I had very high expectations of Chris Bohjalian’s The Sandcastle Girls, because it addresses the historical tragedy closest to my heart.

Bohjalian certainly doesn’t disappoint when it comes to discussing, as he puts it, “The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About.” Although Turkey, the United States, and various other countries refrain from calling the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians a “genocide,” that’s exactly what it was. Between 1915 and 1923, we lost over half of our population, forever impacting future generations.

These multiple generations are all included in The Sandcastle Girls, since the author writes two stories concurrently. Laura Petrosian is writing a novel in the present-day about her grandparents, Armenian engineer Armen Petrosian and Bostonian volunteer Elizabeth Endicott.

In 1915, Armen has escaped the clutches of the Turks, killing men and losing his wife and daughter in the process. He meets Elizabeth in Aleppo, Syria, where her, her father, and other Americans are doing their best to help the survivors. The two quickly fall in love, but when Armen decides to fight in the war, their relationship must withstand great distance and the uncertainty of whether they’ll ever meet again.

Of course, the reader knows that they’re eventually reunited, otherwise Laura would not have been born and able to share her memories of her grandparents. From describing delicious cheese boregs to offering anecdotes of contemporary tension between Armenians and Turks, I appreciated such a devotion to our culture.

Even though my own family escaped the genocide before the death marches began, I related so much to this story. Having Armenian ancestry seems to be essential to our people, whether they’re full-blooded Hyes (Armenians) or part-odars (outsiders). Bohjalian does an excellent job explaining the nuances of our diaspora, and I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to learn more about it.

Obviously, this book won’t be for everybody. If you have a weak constitution, you probably won’t be able to handle the graphic scenes of rape, torture, dismemberment, disease, and death. Before the pace picked up, I would have to read this story in small amounts, just to save myself from becoming too emotionally overwhelmed. As many other readers have pointed out, this is not a beach read, but it’s a read that makes you simply grateful that you’re alive.

Some have called The Sandcastle Girls formulaic and melodramatic, its characters annoying and two-dimensional. Others dislike the flipping back and forth between past and present. I, on the other hand, argue that the book effectively weaves together this family’s lineage, but whether it’s 1915 or 2012, people are not always likeable or relatable. They make mistakes, and this genocide was one of the biggest mistakes in human history.

It’s easy to call this a wartime love story, but I think it’s also disrespectful to narrow it down like that. Bohjalian simultaneously educates his audience with historical research and vividly paints the picture of the desolate desert where  over a million Armenians met their doom. I know that I’m biased, but The Sandcastle Girls is so much bigger than boy-meets-girl, and if you read it, I hope you’ll agree.

I won’t spoil the meaning of the book’s title, but I think that a sandcastle is an apt metaphor for Armenia. We may have been trodded and trampled on in the past, but we were a shining beacon of hope in that desert, and we’ll continue to rebuild. For a race to experience such horror, we have become even more industrious, hard-working, and thankful for each day.

And even if those who wish us ill try to demolish the sandcastle and brush away the sandy remains as if it had never existed, what they’ll fail to erase is our memories. That, to me, is the most powerful weapon of all.

Top 5 (Literary) Things I’m Thankful for This Year

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I’m ashamed of myself for putting off blogging for so long–it’s amazing how fast this month has flown by! It’s been an exciting time for the company I work for, because not only has it made some valuable sales and acquisitions, it has also officially been rewarded the honor of creating the fastest supercomputer in the world!

I’ve also kept myself busy after work hours: I’m now half-way into Chris Bohjalian’s The Sandcastle Girls. It’s Bohjalian’s first novel about the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century, and my first time reading about it in something other than historical texts. Since we’re both Armenians, or “Hyes,” I understand just how vital this experience is for our community.

Much like the Jews, the Armenians are a race bound by tragedy. The genocide is the single most important event in our history, and unlike the Holocaust, it remains unrecognized by its instigator Turkey and the greater portion of the globe–including the United States.

I won’t delve into the details (which you can read about in my memorial post here), but I will say that I feel culturally obligated to read this tale, as well as emotionally exhausted after pages and pages of cruelty, pain, and sorrow. As much as I chuckle about the similarities between my family and the narrator’s, it’s an arduous journey when the horrors of almost 100  years ago are depicted as vividly as if they occurred right before your eyes.

I think that The Sandcastle Girls is a perfect read for me during Thanksgiving, because it makes me so aware of all the good in my life. To celebrate the holiday, I’d like to share the top 5 literary things I’m thankful for this year:

1.  I’m thankful for my good health, considering that I have sight and hearing to read and listen to books, as well as capable limbs to drive to the store, grab a tome off the shelf, and cradle it in my hands.

2.  I’m thankful that I had parents and teachers who encouraged me to enjoy learning for learning’s sake, and motivate me to challenge myself intellectually.

3.  I’m thankful that I live in a country that values the freedom of speech and expression. As much as the crazies have tried to ban certain books, I do not live in Fahrenheit 451 where I can be arrested and disposed of simply for reading. This shouldn’t be a luxury in the rest of the world; it should be a right.

4.  I’m thankful that I live in a time period where women are not only allowed to write, they are just as celebrated and successful as their male counterparts. I’m not saying that we don’t have a long feminist road ahead of us (since female authors are still judged by the reproductive choices), but at least we can get Rowling-rich without needing psuedonyms.

5.  And one just for fun…I’m thankful that I only have to wait three more weeks until my most anticipated movie release of the year, “The Hobbit!” Dwarves and dragons, I’m so excited!!!

The Armenian Genocide continued: Siamanto’s “The Dance”

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The poet Siamanto

I hope you all read my post about the Armenian Genocide earlier today (if not, click here!). Now I would like to share my favorite poem about the genocide, written by Siamanto (Atom Yarjanian) who was murdered by the Turks in 1915. Note: If you are easily disturbed, I would advise you to not read this poem, as it discusses the genocide quite graphically. You have been warned!

“The Dance”

And as her tears drowned in her blue eyes,
On a field of ash where Armenian life was still dying,
This is what the witness of our horror, the German woman narrated:

“This story which I tell you and which cannot be told,
I saw with my cruel human eyes,
From the window of my safe house which looked on hell,
Crushing my teeth from my terrible rage…
With my cruelly human eyes I saw .
It was in Garden city, which was turned to a pile of ashes.
The corpses were piled high to the top of the trees,
And from the waters, from the fountains, from the streams, from the roads,
The rebellious murmur of your blood…
Still speaks now its vengeance into my ears…

O, don’t be shocked when I tell you this story which cannot be told…
Let men understand the crime of man against man,
Under the sun of two days, on the road to the cemetery
The evil of man against man,
Let all the hearts of the world know…
That morning in death’s shadow was a Sunday,
The first and helpless Sunday which rose over the corpses,
When inside my room, from evening to dawn,
Bending over the agony of a girl slashed with a sword,
I was wetting her death with my tears…
Suddenly from afar a black, beastly mob
Brutally whipping the twenty brides who were with them,
Stood in a vineyard singing songs of debauchery.

Leaving the poor dying girl on her mattress,
I approached the balcony of my window which looked on hell…
In the vineyard the black mob became a forest.
A savage roared to the brides: “You must dance,
You must dance when our drum sounds.”
And the whips started wildly cracking on the bodies
Of the Armenian women who were missing death…
Twenty brides, hand in hand, started their round dance…
The tears flowed from their eyes like wounds,
Ah, how much I envied my wounded neighbor,
Because I heard, that with a peaceful moan,
Cursing the universe, the poor beautiful Armenian girl,
To her young dove spirit gave wings toward the stars…
In vain I moved my fists against the mob.
“You must dance”, roared the furious crowd,
“You must dance until your death, lustfully and lasciviously,
Our eyes are thirsty for your movements and your death…”

The twenty beautiful brides fell to the ground exhausted…

“Stand up”, they shrieked, waving their naked swords like snakes…
Then someone brought to the mob a barrel of oil…
O, human justice, let me spit at your forehead…!
They anointed the twenty brides hastily with that liquid…

“You must dance”, they roared, “here is a perfume for you which even Arabia does not have…”
Then they ignited the naked bodies of the brides with a torch,
And the charcoaled corpses rolled from dance to death…

In my terror I closed the shutters of my window like a storm,

And approaching my lonely dead girl I asked:
“How can I dig my eyes out, how can I dig them out, tell me…?”

I love this poem, because it is one of the few first-hand accounts of the genocide, and although it is extremely sad and tragic, it’s evidence of the horrors of the massacres. Again, I urge you to research this historical event and share what you learn with those around you. I have many viewers from all over the world, and we owe it to ourselves to spread this knowledge and promote global recognition.

You can make a difference!

The Armenian Genocide: Not to be Forgotten

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The Armenian Flag

For most people, today is just another Tuesday, but for the Armenian community, it’s the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Because most of you are completely unaware of this event, I’d like to share some information about the tragedy.

Now, even though I’m only 25% Armenian, I identify more with Armenian culture than any within my Caucasian background. Bordered by Turkey, Georgia, Iran, and Azerbaijan, it’s a small country about the size of Maryland. Conquered by everyone from the Persians and Romans to the Soviet Union, it wasn’t officially recognized as its own country until 1991.

While modern Armenia suffers from the second worst economy in the world (Forbes, 2011), its population of over 3.5 million citizens and a large diaspora centered in California (Fresno and Glendale, specifically) has created an extremely close-knit, proud community.

As generations lack the Armenian language and enter in interracial marriages, the culture will lose its prominence, but hopefully, we can continue to share our experiences and educate the world about our people.

One of the ways we can raise awareness is to discuss the single most important event in our history: The Armenian Genocide. Because Armenia is a tiny Christian nation in the Islamic Middle East (rumor has it that Noah’s ark landed on Mt. Ararat), Muslim groups have tried to exterminate their religious enemies.

Mount Ararat in Armenia

From 1915-1923, about 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Ottoman Turks–predominantly through death marches, mass burnings, drownings, and hangings. I won’t show any graphic photographs of the massacres, but if you Googled images of the Armenian Genocide, you would find plenty of evidence.

Despite this evidence, Turkey and various other countries still continue to deny the existence of this genocide, claiming that the Armenians brought violence upon themselves by initiating conflict. Because of this denial, there’s a strong animosity between Armenia and Turkey. The E.U. has also refused Turkey entry, partly because it has yet to admit its past wrongdoings.

However, even the United States has yet to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, and often refuses to use the term ‘genocide’ in media. President Obama promised during his campaign that he would finally offer recognition, but has not fulfilled that promise.

The reason behind this decision is because the U.S. shares a military base in Turkey, and Turkey has warned the U.S. that if it were to recognize the genocide, that alliance would disintegrate. Most presidents and lawmakers have been too afraid to lose that strategic location in the Middle East.

Why does this 97-year-old event still matter? Unlike the Jewish population, the Armenians did not get the Nuremberg Trials. We suffered just as traumatic of an ethnic-cleansing, but much of the world refuses to acknowledge that it even happened. In fact, Hitler allegedly declared this statement one week before invading Poland in 1939:

Now I dare you to look an Armenian in the face and tell her that she has no reason to feel frustrated, resentful, and upset. Even though my great-grandfather escaped the genocide by fleeing to America with his family (Note: legally, given that he had a job waiting for him when he arrived, as did much of the Armenian community), I have many friends who lost a relative or several. That pain still cuts deep.

We lost half of our population in just a few years, and our culture has never fully recovered. Not to mention, when we as a globe ignore genocide, we silently allow more genocide to continue. And that is an issue everybody should care about.

What do Armenians want? Besides global recognition, many Armenians would appreciate Turkey to pay reparations and include the genocide in schools, since all references have been censored from textbooks. We want to be able to coexist and respect one another’s religious beliefs, so that we can move forward diplomatically. We want the next generation to be more knowledgeable and tolerant of each other’s culture.

And, of course, we never want the Armenian Genocide to be forgotten.

I hope that you have learned a lot about Armenia and its tragedy, so please share this information with somebody today. By raising awareness, we can make the world a better, more tolerant place. And please feel free to comment or ask questions, because this is an issue near and dear to my heart.

Later today, I will also write a post about my favorite poem surrounding the Armenian Genocide. So keep a look out!

Shnorhakal em! (Thank you!)

Masterpiece Monday: Night

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Cover of "Night"

Image via Amazon

Rating: 5 out of 5

In case you didn’t know, Thursday is Holocaust Remembrance Day in America, the origins of which date back to 1978 when President Carter created a memorial commission and established Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel as the chair.

Wiesel is most famous for his memoir Night, published in English in 1960. In the novella, Wiesel recounts his experiences in various internment camps during World War II. He discusses the horrific living conditions, the beatings and murders by the Nazis, and his loss of faith in God and humanity. He even comes to see his own father as more of a burden due to the old man’s ever-waning health.

Eventually, Wiesel was rescued by the US army in 1945, but didn’t speak of his past for ten years. Then he wrote a manuscript of over 800 pages, about 100 of which was composed into Night. The book is actually the first part of a trilogy (Dawn and Day as the sequels, respectively), but I have not personally read them. However, Night is the only part of the series that is not fictional.

I read this story in high school, a couple years before Oprah selected it for her book club. It has become synonymous with the Holocaust, and although it is disturbing and graphic, it effectively conveys the tragedy to the public. In fact, I recently learned that when Spielberg directed “Schindler’s List” in 1993, half of high school students in America were not aware of the genocide, and 20% of them denied its very existence. Those figures have since been disputed.

Regardless of that poll’s results, there are still too many people today who are uneducated regarding the Holocaust and other genocides in history. Too many people today still hide behind their bigotry and say these cultural/religious groups deserved their fates.

I’m not Jewish, but I am Armenian, and Armenians also suffered from genocide during World War I. Allegedly, Hitler was even motivated to annihilate the Jews because the Armenians had been massacred relatively unnoticed by the world. April 24 is Armenian Genocide Recognition Day, so I will be returning to this theme next week.

I just want the world to memorialize those whose lives have been lost, and to do all that it can to prevent such tragedies from occurring again. We should never forget the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and other atrocities, but we should also never stop striving for freedom and peace.

Favorite Quote: “One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.”