[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 7, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF PASSAGE THROUGH 
                             HELL: A MEMOIR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 7, 2005

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce the publication of an 
English translation of Passage Through Hell: A Memoir. The original 
version was written in 1955 by Armenian poet, educator and author Armen 
Anush. It has been published by Hagop and Klar Manjikian on the 
occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
  Armen Anush was an eyewitness to the deportation and massacre of 
Armenians by the Turks during 1915-1916. On April 24, 1915, the Turkish 
government began to arrest Armenian community members and political 
leaders. Many were executed without ever being charged with crimes. 
Then the government deported most Armenians from Turkish Armenia, 
ordering that they resettle in what is now Syria. Many deportees never 
reached that destination.
  From 1915 to 1918, more than a million Armenians died of starvation 
and disease on long marches, or were massacred outright by Turkish 
forces. From 1918 to 1923, Armenians continued to suffer at the hands 
of the Turkish military, which eventually removed all remaining 
Armenians from Turkey. The Armenian Genocide was a tragedy not only for 
the Armenian people but a tragedy for all humanity. Passage Through 
Hell: A Memoir is critically important because it recounts the horrors 
of genocide and the psychological impact it had on the survivors.
  I hope the day will soon come when it is not just the survivors who 
honor the dead but also when those whose ancestors perpetrated the 
horrors acknowledge their terrible responsibility and commemorate the 
memory of genocide's victims. This book should be read by all whose 
ancestors were in any way involved and by everyone who cares about 
understanding history.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in paying tribute 
to Hagop and Klar Manjikian for making this important book available in 
English.

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