News
«My Family was killed because we were Armenians»
08.02.2018
The memoir of Hayk Aharonyan, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, has been written down by his son Emanuele Sergio Aharonyan. By doing this work he mentions that when these stories are not written down directly by the survivors, they lose their “flavor”.
The father of the person, who wrote the memoir, Hayk Aharonyan, was born on May 25, 1905, in Sebastia, attended an Armenian private school. One day Turks told them, that they were deporting all the Armenians. They offered to the family to convert to Islam and stay, but Hayk’s father Manuel, answered, that he was born Christian and would die Christian. During the Armenian Genocide, Aharonyan lost eighty-four relatives. Only one, Levon Darbinyan, succeeded to cross the Russian border and to find shelter in Eastern Armenia.
A Turk took Hayk to his farm in Malatya, where he worked nine years for him. He mentioned that by this the Turk saved his life, as six-seven years old children or over were killed because they would remember, that they were Armenians and Christians. After shooting two neighbors by the master's indication, he was offered to escape to Malatya. 19 years old Hayk encountered many difficulties and returned to Sebastia. He went to his father’s house and found out, that a Turkish family was leaving there. When he announced, that the house belonged to his family, the Turks answered to him: “Giavur (infidel) go away, otherwise we will cut your head off”.
President of the National Council of Switzerland Paid Tribute to the Memory of Victims of the Armenian Genocide
06.02.2018
The delegation led by Dominique de Buman, President of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation, accompanied by Lucas Gasser, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republ;ic of Armenia, and Shirak Torosyan, Member of the Armenian Parliament, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.
The guests were welcomed by Gevorg Vardanyan, AGMI Acting Director, and introduced to the history of construction of the memorial complex and its symbolism.
Dominique de Buman laid a wreath at the Genocide Monument, and put flowers at the eternal fire, by honoring the memory of the innocent martyrs with a minute of silence.
Self-Defense օf Marash, January - February 1920
31.01.2018
Marash was one of the densely-populated and rich cities of historic Cilicia. Before the Armenian Genocide it had about 40.000 Armenian population, which was engaged in crafts, trade and agriculture.
In 1915 Marash Armenians were deported from their native city, many of them were massacred during deportation. A part of Armenians (about 25.000 people) that had been deported from Marash in 1915 and legionaries who had fought in French army, returned to city after the defeat of Turkey in WWI and the conclusion of Mudros Treaty in October 30, 1918, as soon as the Turks left Cilicia.
With the extension of Kemalist-nationalist movement Turkish authorities started devising plans for removing French garrison from Marash at the point of bayonet and massacring Armenian population of the city. In order to carry out those plans Turkish authorities first armed local Muslim mobs, instilled hatred against Marash Armenians by organizing constant disturbances.
Unique Archive donated to the Armenian genocide Museum-Institute
30.01.2018
Thanks to the efforts of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, the Archive of the American-Armenian family, who survived the Armenian Genocide, has been donated to the Museum. American-Armenian Susan Solakyan donated a great history of her big family to The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, which includes memoirs, documents and photos.
Of course he is sure, that their family relics appear in caring hands, and the goal is to transfer the most important thing, the memory, to the generations.
Over one-century-old history of Tomas and Estern Mkrtchyan, who were from Mezre (Kharberd province), from being deported from their historical homeland up to settling in the United States, is rich with the accurate historical information, as well as the most severe manifestations of human loss.
Dear Visitor,
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute will be closed on January 28th, 2018.
Sincerely,
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
“Atlas of the Armenian Genocide” is published
27.01.2018
Atlas of the Armenian Genocide in English language was published by Babken Harutyunyan Laboratory of Armenian Historical Geography and Cartography. The research has been carried out by Vardan Mkhitaryan, head of Laboratory.
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute has participated in the preparation of the Atlas. The Atlas presents various issues and historical events related to the Armenian Genocide: Armenian-Turkish war, Hamidian massacres, massacres of eastern Armenians, May victories, massacres of Armenians in Baku, cultural genocide, formation of Diaspora etc. Atlas also includes agreements, documents and pictures. The role of Armenians in the Ottoman and Russian Empires is also presented in the Atlas. There is also a reference to the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide in the last part of the publication.
Awarding Ceremony of the Winners of the International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice 2017 was Held at AGMI
26.01.2018
Awarding ceremony of the winners of the International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice (ICEFA Lidice) was held at the temporary exhibition hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. Peter Mikiska, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Armenia, hosted the ceremony and handed over the prizes to the winners.
AGMI Acting Director Gevorg Vardanyan gave a welcome speech, stressing the role of such events in shaping children’s worldview. Gevorg Vardanyan expressed his great whish that all children in the world live in peace and never see tragedies like Lidice.
The Ambassador thanked the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute for supporting the event. The 45th edition (2017) of the exhibition was dedicated to the theme of “Traveling”.
Every Armenian is a Document-said Lusie Chakir (Ashotyan), Hrant Dink’s maternal-grandmother, Survivor of Armenian Genocide: Episodes from Her Life
19.01.2018
“Hrant, darling, I don’t remember much about 1915 events, but my biography, as well as those of many other survivors, are documents about the genocide”.
Lusi(n)e Chakir(Chaqr) was a daughter of Efendi Manuel Ashotyan, a craftsman and a father of five from Gyurunts. She was the only daughter of her father, and he used to call her Ahchig (Aghchik (girl in Armenian)), thus her name remained Aghchik. She was one of those little Armenian survivor-girls chosen from the deportation caravans and handled to the Qangal orphanage in Sebastia.
Lusie Chakir was Hrant Dink’s maternal-grandmother.
It was 1915. Lusie’s elder brother Artashes had moved to the USA to get education. As her relatives recalled based on her stories, the entire family was impatiently waiting for a letter from Artashes. In the evening there was a knock on the door, but a policeman instead of a postman was standing on the door.
Newly Discovered Photos
24.12.2017
Nearly 25 new photos depicting the evacuation of the participants of Musa Dagh heroic battle by the French warships have been discovered by the efforts of the Armenian Genocide Museum -Institute. The original photos were taken by the French navy officer in September 1915.
The photos depict evacuation of the Armenian civilians by the boats to the warships.
The new photos will be available to the public in April 2018.
US Cinemas announced premiere: “Alice in Hungerland”
What did the silent movie tell about Armenian Genocide?
05.12.2017
In 1915 a number of prominent Americans at the request of Henry Morgenthau, the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, founded the Near East Relief Committee, which aimed “to provide relief and to assist in the repatriation, rehabilitation, and the reestablishment of suffering and dependent people of the Near East and adjacent areas, as well as to provide for the care of orphans and widows …” For the purpose of organizing donations and fundraising, the members of the Relief Committee began a large-scale campaign.
For more effective fundraising conditions were created at the end of World War I. It provided the broader layers of the society an opportunity better to understand the Near East tragedy through photographs and moving pictures. Using the power of visual image and realizing the impact of photographs of desperate Armenian refugees and orphans to capture the sentiments of the society, documentary and feature films were screened.
In order to create such movies the Committee members, photographers, producers and filmmakers were sent to the Near East. In 1921, Mrs. Florence Spencer Duryea, as a member of the film crew of the Near East Relief Committee, arrived in Constantinople. Mrs. Florence Spencer Duryea was with the organization from the very first years of the Committee's creation, and was particularly interested in Armenian refugees and orphans. Being the National Director of Women’s Organizations for the institution, she frequently spoke about Near East Relief’s work and was quoted in prominent publications such as the New York Times and the Woman Citizen.