[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 66 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E903-E904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 13, 2011

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to memorialize and record a 
courageous story of survival of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian 
Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulted 
in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children. As the 
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau documented at 
the time, it was a campaign of ``race extermination.''
  The campaign to annihilate the Armenian people failed, as illustrated 
by the proud Armenian nation and prosperous diaspora. It is difficult 
if not impossible to find an Armenian family not touched by the 
genocide, and while there are some survivors still with us, it is 
imperative that we record their stories. Through the Armenian Genocide 
Congressional Record Project, I hope to document the harrowing stories 
of the survivors in an effort to preserve their accounts and to help 
educate the Members of Congress now and in the future of the necessity 
of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
  This is one of those stories:

                      Submitted by Mary Boghossian

       Dear Congressman Schiff,
       I am writing you because I admire your longstanding support 
     of Armenians and Americans. My parents, Toros and Santoukht, 
     my husband, Hagop, his mother, Ani, and his two older 
     sisters, Vartouhi and Dikranouhi, were survivors of the 
     Armenian genocide.
       As you know, it is important to remember how the Armenian 
     Christian population was treated by the Turkish government 
     from 1895 through 1923. Over one and a half million Armenian 
     men, women, and children underwent unspeakable suffering. 
     They were deported from their homes, slaughtered, butchered, 
     enslaved, and more, without consideration of guilt or 
     innocence. Among those who suffered immeasurably were my 
     parents and my husband's family.
       My father was born in 1895 in Turkey. During the Armenian 
     massacre in 1915, the Turkish government was going to take 
     him away on a death march in the desert. Fortunately, he was 
     hidden behind the door in a house and the Turkish soldiers 
     did not see him, so they left. God saved him and he escaped. 
     At the age of 20, he lost his innocent beloved family along 
     with their belongings. The trauma was so great that he 
     refused to discuss it with his family members for a long 
     time.
       My mother was born in 1905 in Turkey. In 1915, my mother's 
     brother was included with all the people that were marching 
     during the deportation by the Turkish government. My mother 
     started running after him while he was being marched away. 
     She never caught up to him, and never saw him again. At the 
     age of 10, she became an orphan and did not know if any of 
     her family members were dead or alive.
       My parents met and were married in Greece, had 7 children, 
     24 grandchildren. They were married over 63 years and lived 
     over 90 years.
       My husband was born in 1910 in Turkey. His parents had 
     three sons and three daughters. My husband always reminded us 
     what happened to his family in the days following April 24, 
     1915, the conventional starting date of the Armenian 
     Genocide.

[[Page E904]]

       He said to us: ``During the massacre, the Turkish 
     government took away my innocent father and my older brother 
     and they never returned home. They were murdered by the 
     Turkish government. My younger brother died of cold and 
     hunger and there was no one around to bury him. My second 
     oldest sister was married to a Turkish man by force and she 
     died of hunger and cold as well. All of our belongings: home, 
     money, jewelry, clothing and our historic homeland, were 
     taken away by the Turks.''
       My husband was an eyewitness to the massacre. He was 
     exposed to a terrible tragedy. It changed his entire life. He 
     saw bodies buried below the ground with their heads exposed 
     to the sun. He saw men, women, and children lying on the 
     ground dead.
       The surviving members of my husband's family, his mother 
     and two older sisters, ended up in a refugee camp. His mother 
     worked hard for several years just so they could stay alive. 
     She was a beautiful woman, and had offers to marry several 
     Turkish and Armenian men, but refused to remarry. In the 
     1920s they were fortunate to emigrate to Israel, and then to 
     the United States in the 1960s.
       My husband experienced a great deal of sadness, tragedy, 
     depression, and loneliness. He always loved his family and 
     this country with all his heart. He acknowledged all the 
     Presidents of the U.S. by hanging their pictures on the wall 
     of our home. To him, these men stood for freedom. The freedom 
     this Country gave him allowed him to live like a human being, 
     and express his thoughts. It gave him the courage to speak 
     freely and never be silent again about his beloved families.
       As you know, the ``Aloha state'' proclamation makes Hawaii 
     the 42nd state to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Countries 
     around the world such as Switzerland, France, Canada, Italy, 
     Sweden, Russia and others, have passed a resolution 
     recognizing the Armenian genocide and proclaim a Day of 
     Remembrance every year on April 24.
       The U.S. government should have the willingness to join 
     with countries around the world, and formally acknowledge and 
     commemorate the Armenian genocide each and every year on 
     April 24. If it is not taught in our school and if we ignore 
     the history then we are destined to repeat the mistakes of 
     the past.
       Thank you for supporting the remembrance of the Armenian 
     Genocide.
       Sincerely,
       Mary.

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