On April 24, more than 100 people gathered to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the first-time raising of the Armenian flag on the ceremonial flagpole at Newton City Hall. Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian led the ceremony. A group of teenagers, representing the Boston Chapter of the Homenetmen Armenian Athletic and Scouts, carried Armenian and American flags as well as those of their organization. One of their members, Seven Dulgarian, sang the Armenian National Anthem. Armenian clergy from Watertown, Cambridge, Belmont, and North Andover were on hand to bless the Armenian flag.
On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman forces began the persecution of Armenians by rounding up intellectuals, teachers, and community leaders and killing them. It was the beginning of the genocide of Armenian Christians under Ottoman rule. The period in which the greatest degree of genocide — often called the first of the Twentieth Century — is said to have endured until 1916. The prevailing Ottoman government considered that, as Christians, the Armenians might join forces with World War I Allies, whereas its government was fighting on the side of Germany, Austro-Hungary. Even after 1916, Armenians continued to be attacked, starved, removed from their villages, and persecuted until 1923 with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey. Their numbers decreased from 1.5 million by a staggering 669,000 or as by many as 1.2 million people.
Mayor Fuller called the commemoration “a day of resilience” and spoke of her pride in standing with Sheriff Koutoujian and the Armenian clergy. “Culture and strength enrich our own community,” she said. Hunan Arshakian, the Grand Commander of the Nights of Vartan, who also spoke, added “Men who understand that remembrance comes with responsibility …we must speak.”
Sheriff Koutoujian thanked Mayor Fuller for the event, praising her for ensuring that “Newton is welcoming and vibrant to ALL residents.” He gave special thanks to Ellen Ishkanian, the Mayor’s Director of Community Communications, whom he credited with putting “a lot of effort into this event.” Among the people he acknowledged was “Anoush Knaian from the St. Stephen’s Women’s Guild, who provided the amazing food” (table covered with homemade baklava, cookies, and sandwiches.)
Sheriff Koutoujian continued,“I stand here today because of those who came before, the proud grandson of Armenian Immigrants,” who escaped Armenia in 1918, three years into the genocide. His grandfather had said: “America is the greatest country in the world because you can be anything you want to be.” For his family, that proved to be prophetic. The Sheriff’s father, also Peter, was the town clerk in Waltham for thirty years and served as the head of Newton’s Election Department as well. He was the first of his family to be born here; his older siblings were born in Armenia. Sheriff Koutoujian recalled his father describing his teaching his mother how to sign her name in English for her American passport and citizenship papers. “If not for my grandparents’ bravery and tenacity, I might not be standing here today. All of my successes and hard work point back to my family….and, for those who did not survive the Genocide, it is a continuing fulfillment of our promise that we will remember you.” He said the history of Armenians in America “is a shining example of how immigration contributes to the strength and success of this nation.”
All four of Ellen Ishkanian’s grandparents were born in Armenia. Her maternal grandmother’s story is especially reflective of the Genocide’s cruelty. She was the sole survivor of the Ottoman attack on her family. When she was a child, Ottoman forces shot her father in front of her and took her mother and siblings away, never to be seen again. Alone, with no family, her grandmother was taken in by Armenian nuns and ultimately spirited out of the country to a convent in France. The French nuns cared for her until she was in her teens and then sent her by boat to the United States with a piece of paper that said: Watertown. Her grandparents on her father’s side made their way to Watertown, where her grandfather worked at the Hood Rubber Plant, joining many other Armenian refugees. When her father served in the American army during World War II, he wrote letters in Armenian to his mother since her grandmother never learned English. Although her grandfather wrote daily letters, her grandmother did not receive them until after the war. They had all been opened and read by censors to be sure they contained nothing harmful to the American cause. Ms. Ishkanian reflected on the fact that Armenians – who often assume they have family relationships even if they do not have proof – “came to a country that welcomed us and gave us opportunity.”
As with Ms. Ishkanian, Newton resident Ara Ishanyan said that all four of his grandparents were Armenian Genocide survivors. His family fled Sivas, Turkey, and came to the United States. A Newton resident, Mr. Ishanyan told Fig City News that the flag raising honored both those who perished and those who survived “finding the strength to start anew outside their homeland and create the diaspora of today.” Moreover, he said, “It is emblematic of the perseverance to the Armenian people.” Rather than erase them, Armenians have endured and now have their own country, the Republic of Armenia. Echoing the sentiments of Sheriff Koutoujian and Ms. Ishkanian, Mr. Ishanyan said that the flag raising “Is a reminder that America welcomed our ancestors who were persecuted and driven from their homelands. …As their descendants, we should be grateful for their sacrifices and the nation that gives us so much today.”
Newton resident Karina Sarkisyan Simonian proposed the idea to commemorate the 110th Anniversary of the Genocide, and she and Ara Ishanyan formed the planning committee along with Associate City of Newton Engineer John Daghlian and Ellen Ishkanian.
