Blog 12: Armenian Genocide, Very Painful Memories.
Hello everyone, this is Dr.Samir K. Ghossein with you again on blog 12: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE,
Very Painful Memories.
24 April, Canada is commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
Sincere thanks to the Canadian government, who in 2015 under the leadership of the Right Honourable former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, unanimously passed motion M - 587 making April to be Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month, and designating 24 April as Armenian Genocide Month, (motion proposed by then Conservative Mississauga-Streetsville, Ontario MP. Brad Butt).
The dark chapters through the history of mankind are countless, they could amount to an enormous dark book, one that includes wars, and brutal tyrants.
Without a doubt, the highest level of savagery in that book is; planned and premeditated ethnic, and religious cleansing.
The Armenian Genocide is well documented for every one to check. from the first order issued by the Turks to annihilate all Armenians, into the changing of names of towns, and the total destruction of religious, cultural and historical edifices.
Documents of proof of this Genocide include: Eyewitness accounts of events by: Heads of states, government officials, diplomats, doctors, participants overwhelmed with guilt, soldiers, jailers, farmers, and the testimonies of the Kurds that at one time participated in these crimes, but later became the subject of discrimination, and uprooting by the Turks.
The unconscionable acts of the Turks are well engraved in the minds of all generations of Armenians, and others around the world.
Well calculated Genocide, using methods hard to believe could be the product of human beings. I would encourage anthropologists, and biologists to research that species of Turks.
The starvation of entire villages (A common practise by the Turks), they applied the scorched earth policy, burning all farming products, killing all domestic animals, poisoning water, rounding up groups of people and burning them alive, making sure the news of the massacres reach others, so they start running for their lives, only to be captured, and placed in concentration camps, then driven out to the desert. Thousands of Armenians perished on that journey, from diseases and poisoned food.
The Turks applied the buffalo hunt method, they drove people to the edge and pushed them off high cliffs.
As for Armenian children, the Turks had a special way of murdering them, they placed each child alive in a bag and took all of them off shore, then drowned them alive, thousands of corpses later were found washed a shore,
Many of the Armenian babies were taken by Arab villagers, they grew up not knowing their families, their religion or origin.
With blatant disregard to human dignity, flagrant dismissive stance to any regional and international objection, decrees were issued by the Turks to erase the Armenian race by all means possible. Germany, and other governments collaborated with the Turks.
The orders of the Turks to exterminate Armenians, are similar to the orders issued by Hitler to exterminate the Polish speaking race, Jews and Gypsies. Assuming that with time it will be all forgotten. "After all who remembers the extermination of the Armenians" (Adolph Hitler 22 August 1939).
The Armenian Genocide officially took place from 1915 to 1918, but the truth is; it started way prior to these dates, and it continued up till 1936, when the Turks led by Moustafa Kemal Ata Turk, occupied the district of Alexandretta in Syria, a district in which thousands of Armenians from Cilicia found refuge, to be chased away again by the same gangs of Turks. That district included the city of Antioch, a Holy Christian city that housed the two thousand year old original Holy See of the Apostle Peter. ( where Saint Peter lived). Neglected remnants of that structure still exist today. (A question for the Christian world to pursue).
The Turks never stopped their criminal acts, in 1974 they invaded Cyprus, massacred, then chased away the rest of the Christians, and created a Turkish enclave in the north.
At this moment the Turks are attempting to annex a part of northern Syria along its border with that country. Never ending, direct and indirect crimes, and invasions, throughout their history from 1300AD. till today. They never contributed to the places they occupied but with backwardness. They had and still have nothing to offer but barbaric ideology of invasion, massacres, interference in the internal affairs of other countries. They were instrumental in the creation of ISIS, hoping in the long run to eliminate the Kurds, working tirelessly to destabilise regimes in the region, creating a refugee crises, to exploit and use, as bargaining chip with the European Union. Ruthless bunch them Turks.
I was nine years old when my grand father told me; " Son I was your age when the massacres against your family and your people started in Giligia" ( the way he pronounced Cilicia)". He recounted to me all he remembered, He showed me a note book and told me " When I die this notebook will be yours, in it you will read all about the history of your family, the good times, and the bad times".
I did not make much of it at the time, I remember not even feeling anything.
Now it is painful to understand what my family and my people went through. It is unsettling Just the thought of someone knowing that, he or she could be slaughtered at any moment.
One chapter of the atrocities was; the painful, perilous journey of Armenian families, wondering aimlessly in the open desert, with absolute nothing, their fellow man and their God have forsaken them.
In a time of desperation? no hope, no mercy, just death all around, what do you do when you are running away from death, while knowing that death could appear at any time, most of them surrendered their last breath, sand covered the bodies of the lucky few, perhaps preserving the remaining part of their dignity. then they are gone, as if they never existed, as if they were never born, total unknown, dismissed by all.
My grand father, a young boy, in the desert, with his mother, father, five brothers, and two sisters. My grand father remembered walking on the hot sand, the sun striking with a very high temperature, high enough to fry an egg in seconds, He remembered walking, and suddenly his mother fell to the ground, her eyes wide open looking at him, her lips were moving she was telling him something, He could not hear the words, He placed his hands over his ears shaking his head to the left, then to the right, thinking perhaps the sand have blocked his hearing, but to no avail, not a sound, He could not hear any noise around him, "I lost my hearing" He screamed, "I am deaf". In this confusion, He realised that his mother's lips were no longer moving, she is motionless, lifeless, she is dead, "my mother is dead", He whispered, and observed his mother's hand extended reaching out, and with one finger pointing east.
He looked in that direction, only to see an Arab man on a horse, taking his baby brother Wahan, who was born during that journey,"Hey"; He yelled; "this is my brother Wahan, bring him back" but the man quickly disappeared.(Wahan was found many years later, a miserable end to a sad story).
My grand father looked ahead, thinking and wondering, what was his mother trying to tell him,
No luck on that front, things have gone from bad to worth when his father fell to the ground, He was dead, and so did his brothers Krikor, Hratch, Garabed, Aram, and his two sisters as well, all dead now, the only surviving members of his family are; He and his brother Wahan.
There He was, my grand father nine years old, lost his family, deaf, and alone in this world, alone in the desert, He remembered his mother's hand pointing east, then He took that direction, He reached Aleppo, only to find out that the Turks have already issued a decree ordering the governor of that province to eliminate all Armenians, not to spear anyone including babies and children, He started running again, away from the Turks, He kept going east, He reached Deir Zor, but kept running because the same orders of elimination covered all the territories.
Man, what do you do? when you are nine, nothing above but striking sun during the day, unbearable desert cold during the night, no food, no water, nothing around but death, and the possibility of dying at any moment, at the hands of nature, the Turks, the criminal gangs, and prisoners, which by the way, were all released to continue the criminal acts of the Turks. "What do I do"? my grand father asked himself many times.
From the depth of despair, He looks up to the sky, He said:
"I looked up, I asked Jesus who kept me alive, to guide me, in the name of Saint Trdat",(Tiridates III 250-350AD)," in the name of Saint Simon the Stylite" (390-459AD),"guide me". He lowered his head, He looked straight in the direction of a strong wind, He said "I swear to all that is mighty, in the distance I saw Saint Simon waving to me with one hand, and pointing the way with the other, despite the loss of my hearing, I could hear Saint Simon with a thunderous captivating voice saying :Go south my son, Go south, you will be safe in the land of Maroun, (Saint Maroun 350-410AD) land of Aram, I will be with you on your journey, have no fear son, good will overcome, keep the faith and trust in that".
This was a page from one chapter in the life of my grand father, Trdat (Tiridates) Shahinian - Fermanian. An Armenian Genocide Survivor. Many chapters yet to be told. (Massacres, Disease, Wahan, the Family Name, St Simon, the rich untold history, the notebook, the land, and so on).
All countries should condemn the crimes committed by the Turks.
To Israel I say: What's the holdup, you know what a genocide is, more than any one in the world, what is keeping you from officially recognising the Armenian Genocide?
Sadly, I can tell you that; the forces of darkness are lurking in the shadows, ready at any moment to repeat the crimes of the Turks, in the name of ethnic purity and religious supremacy.
I wish no one is ever subjected to such barbaric, savage atrocities in the world, I bare no ill will to anyone, I just want the victims to be honoured and remembered, I want the Turks to admit and apologise.
Send me comments, ask questions, follow my blogs, and share them with others. As you noticed I do not adhere to having commercials on my blogs, because I have no say it what might appear.
Very Painful Memories.
24 April, Canada is commemorating the Armenian Genocide.
Sincere thanks to the Canadian government, who in 2015 under the leadership of the Right Honourable former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, unanimously passed motion M - 587 making April to be Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month, and designating 24 April as Armenian Genocide Month, (motion proposed by then Conservative Mississauga-Streetsville, Ontario MP. Brad Butt).
The dark chapters through the history of mankind are countless, they could amount to an enormous dark book, one that includes wars, and brutal tyrants.
Without a doubt, the highest level of savagery in that book is; planned and premeditated ethnic, and religious cleansing.
The Armenian Genocide is well documented for every one to check. from the first order issued by the Turks to annihilate all Armenians, into the changing of names of towns, and the total destruction of religious, cultural and historical edifices.
Documents of proof of this Genocide include: Eyewitness accounts of events by: Heads of states, government officials, diplomats, doctors, participants overwhelmed with guilt, soldiers, jailers, farmers, and the testimonies of the Kurds that at one time participated in these crimes, but later became the subject of discrimination, and uprooting by the Turks.
The unconscionable acts of the Turks are well engraved in the minds of all generations of Armenians, and others around the world.
Well calculated Genocide, using methods hard to believe could be the product of human beings. I would encourage anthropologists, and biologists to research that species of Turks.
The starvation of entire villages (A common practise by the Turks), they applied the scorched earth policy, burning all farming products, killing all domestic animals, poisoning water, rounding up groups of people and burning them alive, making sure the news of the massacres reach others, so they start running for their lives, only to be captured, and placed in concentration camps, then driven out to the desert. Thousands of Armenians perished on that journey, from diseases and poisoned food.
The Turks applied the buffalo hunt method, they drove people to the edge and pushed them off high cliffs.
As for Armenian children, the Turks had a special way of murdering them, they placed each child alive in a bag and took all of them off shore, then drowned them alive, thousands of corpses later were found washed a shore,
Many of the Armenian babies were taken by Arab villagers, they grew up not knowing their families, their religion or origin.
With blatant disregard to human dignity, flagrant dismissive stance to any regional and international objection, decrees were issued by the Turks to erase the Armenian race by all means possible. Germany, and other governments collaborated with the Turks.
The orders of the Turks to exterminate Armenians, are similar to the orders issued by Hitler to exterminate the Polish speaking race, Jews and Gypsies. Assuming that with time it will be all forgotten. "After all who remembers the extermination of the Armenians" (Adolph Hitler 22 August 1939).
The Armenian Genocide officially took place from 1915 to 1918, but the truth is; it started way prior to these dates, and it continued up till 1936, when the Turks led by Moustafa Kemal Ata Turk, occupied the district of Alexandretta in Syria, a district in which thousands of Armenians from Cilicia found refuge, to be chased away again by the same gangs of Turks. That district included the city of Antioch, a Holy Christian city that housed the two thousand year old original Holy See of the Apostle Peter. ( where Saint Peter lived). Neglected remnants of that structure still exist today. (A question for the Christian world to pursue).
The Turks never stopped their criminal acts, in 1974 they invaded Cyprus, massacred, then chased away the rest of the Christians, and created a Turkish enclave in the north.
At this moment the Turks are attempting to annex a part of northern Syria along its border with that country. Never ending, direct and indirect crimes, and invasions, throughout their history from 1300AD. till today. They never contributed to the places they occupied but with backwardness. They had and still have nothing to offer but barbaric ideology of invasion, massacres, interference in the internal affairs of other countries. They were instrumental in the creation of ISIS, hoping in the long run to eliminate the Kurds, working tirelessly to destabilise regimes in the region, creating a refugee crises, to exploit and use, as bargaining chip with the European Union. Ruthless bunch them Turks.
I was nine years old when my grand father told me; " Son I was your age when the massacres against your family and your people started in Giligia" ( the way he pronounced Cilicia)". He recounted to me all he remembered, He showed me a note book and told me " When I die this notebook will be yours, in it you will read all about the history of your family, the good times, and the bad times".
I did not make much of it at the time, I remember not even feeling anything.
Now it is painful to understand what my family and my people went through. It is unsettling Just the thought of someone knowing that, he or she could be slaughtered at any moment.
One chapter of the atrocities was; the painful, perilous journey of Armenian families, wondering aimlessly in the open desert, with absolute nothing, their fellow man and their God have forsaken them.
In a time of desperation? no hope, no mercy, just death all around, what do you do when you are running away from death, while knowing that death could appear at any time, most of them surrendered their last breath, sand covered the bodies of the lucky few, perhaps preserving the remaining part of their dignity. then they are gone, as if they never existed, as if they were never born, total unknown, dismissed by all.
My grand father, a young boy, in the desert, with his mother, father, five brothers, and two sisters. My grand father remembered walking on the hot sand, the sun striking with a very high temperature, high enough to fry an egg in seconds, He remembered walking, and suddenly his mother fell to the ground, her eyes wide open looking at him, her lips were moving she was telling him something, He could not hear the words, He placed his hands over his ears shaking his head to the left, then to the right, thinking perhaps the sand have blocked his hearing, but to no avail, not a sound, He could not hear any noise around him, "I lost my hearing" He screamed, "I am deaf". In this confusion, He realised that his mother's lips were no longer moving, she is motionless, lifeless, she is dead, "my mother is dead", He whispered, and observed his mother's hand extended reaching out, and with one finger pointing east.
He looked in that direction, only to see an Arab man on a horse, taking his baby brother Wahan, who was born during that journey,"Hey"; He yelled; "this is my brother Wahan, bring him back" but the man quickly disappeared.(Wahan was found many years later, a miserable end to a sad story).
My grand father looked ahead, thinking and wondering, what was his mother trying to tell him,
No luck on that front, things have gone from bad to worth when his father fell to the ground, He was dead, and so did his brothers Krikor, Hratch, Garabed, Aram, and his two sisters as well, all dead now, the only surviving members of his family are; He and his brother Wahan.
There He was, my grand father nine years old, lost his family, deaf, and alone in this world, alone in the desert, He remembered his mother's hand pointing east, then He took that direction, He reached Aleppo, only to find out that the Turks have already issued a decree ordering the governor of that province to eliminate all Armenians, not to spear anyone including babies and children, He started running again, away from the Turks, He kept going east, He reached Deir Zor, but kept running because the same orders of elimination covered all the territories.
Man, what do you do? when you are nine, nothing above but striking sun during the day, unbearable desert cold during the night, no food, no water, nothing around but death, and the possibility of dying at any moment, at the hands of nature, the Turks, the criminal gangs, and prisoners, which by the way, were all released to continue the criminal acts of the Turks. "What do I do"? my grand father asked himself many times.
From the depth of despair, He looks up to the sky, He said:
"I looked up, I asked Jesus who kept me alive, to guide me, in the name of Saint Trdat",(Tiridates III 250-350AD)," in the name of Saint Simon the Stylite" (390-459AD),"guide me". He lowered his head, He looked straight in the direction of a strong wind, He said "I swear to all that is mighty, in the distance I saw Saint Simon waving to me with one hand, and pointing the way with the other, despite the loss of my hearing, I could hear Saint Simon with a thunderous captivating voice saying :Go south my son, Go south, you will be safe in the land of Maroun, (Saint Maroun 350-410AD) land of Aram, I will be with you on your journey, have no fear son, good will overcome, keep the faith and trust in that".
This was a page from one chapter in the life of my grand father, Trdat (Tiridates) Shahinian - Fermanian. An Armenian Genocide Survivor. Many chapters yet to be told. (Massacres, Disease, Wahan, the Family Name, St Simon, the rich untold history, the notebook, the land, and so on).
All countries should condemn the crimes committed by the Turks.
To Israel I say: What's the holdup, you know what a genocide is, more than any one in the world, what is keeping you from officially recognising the Armenian Genocide?
Sadly, I can tell you that; the forces of darkness are lurking in the shadows, ready at any moment to repeat the crimes of the Turks, in the name of ethnic purity and religious supremacy.
I wish no one is ever subjected to such barbaric, savage atrocities in the world, I bare no ill will to anyone, I just want the victims to be honoured and remembered, I want the Turks to admit and apologise.
Send me comments, ask questions, follow my blogs, and share them with others. As you noticed I do not adhere to having commercials on my blogs, because I have no say it what might appear.
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