Dear Fellow Parishioners,
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the Armenian Genocide, we have the unique opportunity to tell our stories of how our ancestors miraculously survived. The concerted efforts of the Turkish government to compound the atrocities by denying its crimes highlight the need to tell our stories with truth and power. Fortunately, the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (“Chhange”), a nonprofit entity located at Brookdale Community College, understands the enormous significance of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Chhange plans to create an exhibit at their facility at the college to memorialize facts concerning the Armenian genocide through the stories of the descendants of the survivors. This exhibit will open in April 2015, and an expanded version will be part of a permanent comparative genocide exhibit scheduled to open in 2016—featuring the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. To date, we have collected 15 such stories for the Armenian exhibit. However, that is not enough. To reveal the falsehoods of those who deny the genocide, we need as extensive of a record as we can generate.
In light of the above, we urge you to step forward and tell your ancestors’ story if you are the descendant of a survivor. We have examples we can provide of how the ancestors of others in our community survived the genocide that we would be happy to share upon request. In addition, if you do not feel comfortable writing at all, we will arrange to meet with you at church, in your home or anywhere where you feel comfortable so you can tell your story. We will then find a way to transform your explanation into a written story for your review and approval so we can make sure we have told the story accurately and in a way you feel comfortable. Also, if you have pictures of those that survived the Genocide in their youth as well as one in their later years, please provide a copy (or an electronic copy) with the story or ask us to make a copy for you.
If you have any questions about this extraordinarily worthwhile project, feel free to contact John Haytaian at 732 577 0866, Jeff Surenian at 732 267 6740. Also, while we prefer that you email your stories in Word format to John Haytaian at haytaian@optonline.net, we will welcome your stories in any way you prefer.
In closing, there is power in truth. There is also force in words. Let us seize this opportunity to tell our stories accurately and clearly so that they add to the record of truths of what really happened and so that the miracle of our survival is not lost in the shroud of deceits perpetrated by the Turkish government.