Tuesday, 24 April 2012

President Obama on Armenian Genocide

Obama didn't use the word Genocide in his statement again

For a fourth straight year, President Obama declined to describe the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as a "genocide," again breaking a campaign pledge he made in 2008.

"We honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were brutally massacred or marched to their deaths in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire," Obama said in a statement today.

The reason for the careful wording: Turkey, a key U.S. ally in Middle Eastern affairs.

Olivier Knox of Yahoo News! reported that "Turkey, a NATO member, fiercely disputes the genocide charge, and has warned that formal U.S. steps to use the term will hamper relations. Turkey's Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan sharply criticized a similar statement from Obama in 2011, taking to Twitter to denounce it as inaccurate, flawed, and one-sided."

Knox and ABC's Jake Tapper noted that Obama used the word "genocide" as an Illinois senator and as a presidential candidate.

"In a January 2008 letter to the Armenian Reporter, Mr. Obama said he shared 'with Armenian Americans -- so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors -- a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide,'" ABC News reported. "'That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history.'"

Here is Obama's full statement on Armenian Remembrance Day:

President Obama Issues Statement on Armenian Remembrance Day

Welcome! in case you have stumbled into my blog, you are reading BEYOND THE BLUE DOMES. I am a "Baby-Boomer" born and raised in Iran and my topics range from my memories growing up in Iran to homeless community in Santa Monica and beyond. My theme is social realities and preserving the history. I'd like to connect with people around the world that share the same passion. I appreciate your comments; you may contact me by email: katya1948@yahoo.com or just leave a comment on my blog. (it's easy if you have a gmail account)

Posted by Weekly Staff on April 24, 2012

Below is the statement issued by President Obama today, in which he continues to avoid referring to the destruction of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as “genocide,” employing the Armenian term Medz Yeghern instead.

Barack Obama

Today, we commemorate the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. In doing so, we honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were brutally massacred or marched to their deaths in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. As we reflect on the unspeakable suffering that took place 97 years ago, we join millions who do the same across the globe and here in America, where it is solemnly commemorated by our states, institutions, communities, and families. Through our words and our deeds, it is our obligation to keep the flame of memory of those who perished burning bright and to ensure that such dark chapters of history are never repeated.

I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915. My view of that history has not changed. A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all of our interests. Moving forward with the future cannot be done without reckoning with the facts of the past. The United States has done so many times in our own history, and I believe we are stronger for it. Some individuals have already taken this courageous step forward. We applaud those Armenians and Turks who have taken this path, and we hope that many more will choose it, with the support of their governments, as well as mine.

Although the lives that were taken can never be returned, the legacy of the Armenian people is one of triumph. Your faith, courage, and strength have enabled you to survive and prosper, establishing vibrant communities around the world. Undaunted, you have preserved your patrimony, passing it from generation to generation. Armenian-Americans have made manifold contributions to the vibrancy of the United States, as well as critical investments in a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future for Armenia. The United States is proud of your heritage, and your contributions honor the memory of those who senselessly suffered and died nearly a century ago.

On this solemn day of remembrance, we stand alongside all Armenians in recalling the darkness of the Meds Yeghern and in committing to bringing a brighter future to the people of Armenia.

The following is a timeline I composed three years ago, reflectig my disappointment at President Obama for not honoring his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

SO I HEAR… AND THE WORLD WATCHES…

April 25, 2009 11:00 AM – I am checking my emails. The subject on one of the email reads: “Obama Betrays Armenians.” Since yesterday, I’ve received a half a dozen emails on the same subject. Armenians have rallied to continue their efforts to make U.S. congress officially recognize the long awaited acknowledgement of the “Genocide” So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – same day 9:00 AM – I pick up the weekend issue of our local newspaper, the Glendale News-Press, and the front-page article with big bold letters says: “Obama’s words rebuked,” I read the whole article. “Armenians are disappointed… Obama danced around the language.” The Armenian communities from “sea to shining sea” are outraged and a firestorm is soon to be ignited. Was the promise a feel-good campaign rhetoric? I am thinking…

BEFORE THAT Politifact.com, the Obameter website, questions Pres. Obama’s integrity, having concluded that he had broken his promise on the Armenian Genocide – one of the 511 campaign promises that the website keeps track of. People are watching…

BEFORE THAT Mom calls and says, “It is April 24^th, are you watching the TV? – President Obama is on.” just barely, I get to hear the last few sentences. He sympathizes with Armenian cause. “Nothing can bring back those who were lost in the “Meds Yeghern.” He uses the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghern” which translates into “The Great Calamity” avoiding using the term “genocide” to describe the atrocities of Ottoman Turks to eradicate Armenians from their homelands. His statement falls short from his pledge. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – April 6, 2009 – during a press conference in Ankara, a journalist asks Pres. Obama if he is going to stand firm on his campaign promise. Obama answers: “My views are on the record and I have not changed views.” The reporter presses him about not using the term “genocide.” And he maneuvers around the topic without using the word “genocide.” I am anxious to see, on April 24^th, how he is going to recognize the “Genocide” a promise he had made to the Armenian community during his presidential campaign. I am thinking…

BEFORE THAT – November 4, 2008 – I am watching on TV, the sea of crowd at Chicago’s Grant Park, welcoming the newly elected president Obama. I share tears of joy with Oprah, Jesse Jackson and the whole crowd. I am witnessing the unfolding of a new era in the American History – a ripple that will forge new relations and softens the socioeconomic conflicts at the International stage. And the world watches…

BEFORE THAT – January 19, 2008 – as a presidential candidate and as a senator, Obama, makes a promise to American-Armenian community and pledges that he would officially recognize the “Genocide.” Armenians are hopeful and passionately support Obama… So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – March 7, 2006 – the ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, is recalled by President Bush’s Administration, back to Washington. He had referred to Armenian massacre of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey as “Genocide.” Armenians protest. They are asking John Evans to come back. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – April 24, 1995 – I am driving my kids, ages 21, 16, 10, to Montebello, California, where Armenians have erected a memorial monument for the Genocide. I want, us, to be part of the 80^th anniversary commemoration service. So, I drive…

BEFORE THAT – April 24, 1965, Tehran. We are gathered, a crowd to the capacity, in the playground of St Mary’s, Armenian church and the connecting high school. I am 16, I hear the priest conducting a mass for the ravished souls of Armenians massacred 50 years ago in Turkey. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – August 22, 1939 – on the eve of his murderous attack against Poland, Hitler makes an address to his chief military commanders. He finishes his remarks by saying “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” 10 million people are wiped out by Nazis. And the world watches.

BEFORE THAT – March 15, 1921 – Soghomon Tehlirian, in broad daylight and in the presence of many witnesses assassinates Talat Pasha, the architect of the Armenian Genocide. It takes the jury slightly an hour to acquit Tehlirian. The trial, taking place in Germany, influences Rafael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer to coin the term “Genocide”

BEFORE THAT my ancestors living in Ottoman, Turkey, are slaughtered by Turkish Militia or are evacuated community by community and marched to their deaths in the deserts. And the world watches.

BEFORE THAT – on April 24, 1915, Talat Pasha orders the arrest and persecution of all the Armenian leaders, bankers, professors, doctors, lawyers and many business professionals, in Constantinople and masterminds the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians. And the world watches the first ethnic cleansing of the 20^th century.

Saturday, 21 April 2012

2012 Events commemorating the Armenian Genocide in Hollywood, Glendale and Burbank.

For most people April 24th is just another day, not very different from any other, but for various Armenian communities around the world, including the large community of Armenians living in the greater Los Angeles area, it is a day of remembrance of their 1.5 million countrymen who were victims of brutal mass murders during World War I.

What do you do when it’s pouring outside? The first Sunday of spring, March 25, was an unusual heavy rainy day. Since I was not inspired to do anything I stayed home and watched TV.

Surfing channels to find something interesting, I came across a fundraising program on one of the Glendale local Armenian channels. It was a telethon organized by Unified Young Armenians (UYA) to raise money for a march in Hollywood commemorating the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

It was heartwarming to see a group of young Armenians putting together a successful telethon. I was drawn into the program. The next day I called their office to meet the group and learn more about their activities.

Aroutin Hartounian, the president of the group, was 14 when his family immigrated from Iran to the U.S. in 1999. Now at age 27, he is an aspiring and ambitious young man studying at Southwestern Law School. Hartounian said that the telethon brought $42,000 in pledges, which will cover a fraction of the expenses of organizing the walk. The rest of the funds was raised during a Christmas dinner-dance and other donations throughout the year.

United Young Armenian (UYA) was formed in 2000 with a vision to promote world peace and understanding and to seek justice for human rights. The UYA envisions a world free of genocides, with no inhuman treatment of man towards man.

The group organized its first walk on April 24, 2001, in Hollywood. The purpose of the walk, then and now, is to demonstrate and make the world hear the cruelty of the Ottoman Turks towards Armenians and to demand recognition and an overdue reparation for the Armenian Genocide. Since then every year thousands of people have come to participate in the walk.

The walk begins at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Hobart and Hollywood Boulevards. The route goes east on Hollywood Boulevard and then south on Normandie Avenue to Sunset Blvd. and then back to the starting intersection. The distance covers 1.5 miles, chosen as a symbolic figure for the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks.

The UYA selected that particular route first because it falls in the heart of a neighborhood called Little Armenia, and second because it is close to major radio and TV stations.

Traffic will be closed along the route during the April 24 march. Prominent members of the community have been invited to participate and to speak at noon during the closing ceremony of the walk.

Free bus transportation departing at 8 a.m. will be provided from 11 different locations as follows:

St Mary’s Armenian Church – Glendale
Anush Banquet Hall – Colorado/Glendale
Anush Banquet Hall – Glenoaks/Glendale
Maple Park – Glendale
Whole Foods Market – Glendale
St. Gevork Church – Kenneth/Glendale
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church – Burbank
Arbat Golden Palace – Burbank
Shirak Deli – La Crescenta

Blackjack Market – North Hollywood
St. Gregory Church – Pasadena

The UYA will also organize an Armenian Genocide Candlelight Vigil and musical performance on Monday, April 23, at 7 p.m. The event will be held at the northwest corner of Verdugo and Mountain streets, across from Glendale College (this is a large parking lot just south of the Glendale Civic Auditorium).

* * * * *

Another youth group, one with deep roots and a long tradition in the Armenian community, is the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), which was founded under the auspices of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) in 1933 in Boston, Massachusetts.

For the last three decades, AYF has organized an annual April 24^th protest in front of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles. The demonstration will be held on Tuesday April 24, from 4 to 6 p.m.at 6300 Wilshire Blvd, LA. The organization is providing free buses, departing at 2 p.m. from the following locations:

               Pasadena Armenian Center, 
               St. Mary’s Church – Glendale,  
               Orange County Armenian Center,  
               Pilibos Armenian School – Hollywood.

Besides the protest in front of the Turkish consulate, AYF has organized other commemorative events to mark the 97th anniversary of the Genocide.

The Glendale “Roupen” Chapter, in the evening of Sunday April 15 hosted a rally “One Voice, One Cause,” at St. Mary’s church in Glendale signifying the rebirth of the Armenian nation. The few hundred crowd enjoyed food and music played by the Element Band, the Palm of Granite and others.

A Vigil will be organized by Burbank “Varak” Chapter and the ANC of Burbank on Tuesday April 24. A Proclamation from City Council will be read at 6 p.m. and the actual vigil will start at 7 p.m..

On Sunday, April 29, a bike ride will be organized by the Valley’s “Sardarabad” Chapter. The event is called “Cycle Against Denial”

It is so gratifying to see our youth devoting their talents and time to advance the Armenian cause. Kudos to our youth for providing all these commemorative events.

Friday, 13 April 2012

One Armenian’s Fateful Escape from the Titanic

Welcome! You are reading BEYOND THE BLUE DOMES. I am a "Baby-Boomer" born and raised in Iran and my topics range from my memories growing up in Iran to homeless community in Santa Monica and beyond. My theme is social realities and preserving the history. I'd like to connect with people around the world that share the same passion. I appreciate your comments

Armenian Titanic survivor Neshan Krekorian (seated left) with his wife, Persape (seated right), daughter Angie (center), son George (left), and daughter Alice (right).

BY DAISY SINDELAR
From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Adapted from Asbarez.com

The amazing tale of how one young Armenian managed to escape the Titanic and other dire circumstances through his travels from Turkey to the USA.

Neshan Krekorian was barely in his twenties when his father urged him to emigrate from western Armenia and start a new life far away across the Atlantic Ocean.

Thousands of Armenians were doing the same, in a bid to escape rising violence and persecution at the hands of Ottoman-era Turks.

So Krekorian fled, making his way across Europe and purchasing a third-class ticket for what would prove a fateful ocean journey.

“His father told him to leave the country and seek a new life in Canada and hopefully bring his brothers over,” says Krekorian’s grandson, Van Solomonian.

“He had two younger brothers who stayed behind. My grandfather gathered four other compatriots from Turkish Armenia in the area that he lived in, which was Keghi. And they got to France in Cherbourg, and by pure fate got on the ‘Titanic.’”

Krekorian was one of over 700 third-class passengers on board the maiden voyage of the celebrated ocean liner.

Immigrants from across the British Isles, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East paid the equivalent of $1,000 for a steerage-class ticket entitling them to modest sleeping quarters and meals in the third-class dining hall for the duration of what was meant to be a weeklong voyage.

‘A Shudder And A Dull Thud’
But things took a turn for the worse five nights into the journey. Close to midnight on April 14, the ship hit a massive iceberg in the North Atlantic and slowly began to sink. According to Solomonian, his grandfather and some of his fellow third-class passengers had just settled in for a game of cards when they heard “a shudder” and “a dull thud.”

“He knew something had happened, but he didn’t quite know what,” Solomonian says. “The problem with the third-class passengers was that they were actually locked down on their decks, because at the time regulations required that steerage passengers be isolated from first and second class.

“He and a few other men had to break a chain lock to get up to the upper decks. My grandfather ended up on boat 10. The boat was being lowered and he literally just jumped over the side and basically got away with it.”

Many steerage-class passengers were not nearly so lucky. More than two-thirds of the third-class ticket holders went down with the ship, many because they were unable to reach the upper decks.

Of the approximately 2,200 people on board, only 700 survived, most of them first- and second-class travelers.

Krekorian eventually made his way to Canada, ultimately settling in the town of St.

Catherines in Ontario.

He Never Forgot The Horror
A foundry worker in the local General Motors plant, he earned enough money to honor his father’s wish to bring his younger brothers to Canada, and helped found the town’s Armenian Church, the first of its kind in the country.

Solomonian says it’s possible his grandfather’s brothers only learned of his ordeal on the “Titanic” once they had arrived in Canada.

When Krekorian died, at the age of 89, one of his brothers lingered at his tombstone, whispering his gratitude for Neshan’s help in getting them out of Keghi.

Solomonian, who grew up in St. Catherines and now lives in Toronto, remembers his grandfather as a quiet man who spoke little English and frequently clutched a string of traditional Armenian worry beads.

Krekorian rarely spoke of his experiences on the ill-fated “Titanic.” Solomonian recalls hearing only brief snippets of his grandfather’s memories of desperate passengers screaming for help and plunging to their death in the icy waters. But he is certain Krekorian never forgot the horror of that day:

“He never went on a boat again in his life,” he says. “He wouldn’t swim. In St. Catherines they had a nice beach on Lake Ontario, and when the family would go there for Sunday picnics, he would never, ever go in. I guess that speaks to the trauma that he experienced.

He never got over that fear.”

12 Armenians were drowned in Titanic. The following is a report from The Times – Monday 13, May 1912

The Times

Monday 13 May 1912

Mr G.Hagoian writes from 25, Chesilton Road, Fulham:- In the disaster to the Titanic Armenia has furnished more than her quota of unfortunate passengers. Six Armenians from Keghi, travelling to Marseilles, had proceeded to Cherbourg and taken passage in the Titanic. They were:-Haroutioun Der Zakarian (aged 35), Mamprè Der Zakarian (22), Neshan Krikorian (22), Sarkis Mardirosian (21), David Vartanian (20) and Arsen Siraganian (20). The first five were married men. Of these Neshan Krikorian and David Vartanian were among the saved, and are reported to be undergoing medical treatment at a hospital in New York.

Besides the four drowned in the above list the following also were drowned:- Sarkis Lahundian, Thomas Toumaian, with his little son, Simon Bedrosian, Khachig, Oksen Zakarian, Apcar Muradian, Bedros Yazbegian, 12 in all.

Among the second class passengers Mrs Anna Hamalian was saved. (

Related Biographies: (click)

Sarkis Mardirosian
David Vartanian
Ortin Zakarian
Mapriededer Zakarian

The following is copied and pasted from the Brantford Ontario newspaper – April 14, 2012

Neshan Krekorian spoke no English in 1912. But he understood fear. He understood terror. And the Armenian emigrant had a will to live.

In the desperate panic during the wee hours of April 15, 1912, Krekorian, 25, did not know what instructions frantic Titanic crewmen were shouting. He did not comprehend the words spoken by doomed men as they placed wives and children into the descending lifeboats.

He could not make out the gasping, futile cries for help from those flailing in the icy sea.

Perhaps it was just as well. For more than 65 years, Krekorian lived with memories no one would want yet everyone wanted to hear.

He was one of only about 700 survivors of the sinking of the Titanic. Some 1,500 people died. Krekorian also belonged to an even smaller fraternity – that of male survivors from third class.

When Krekorian boarded the Titanic to embark on a new life in the new world, he had already escaped an uncertain fate.

A Christian, he had fled the political strife and religious persecution of his homeland on the advice of his father, who instructed him to go to North America and start a new life.

In April 1912, he was headed to Brantford where, in the pre-First World War years, a small but vibrant Armenian community had coalesced.

Krekorian, and five other Armenian men from the same general area, found their way to France and booked third-class passage at Cherbourg for a voyage to New York aboard the much-heralded Titanic.

Krekorian had no idea of the hype that preceded the luxurious liner's maiden voyage. As a non-English-speaking steerage passenger, he was also unaware of the lavish amenities afforded to those on the upper decks.

That Krekorian survived was a miracle in more ways than one. He was one of only about 75 men, 76 women and 27 children from third-class to survive the sinking. The death toll of third-class passengers numbered more than 500.

“It was secluded down there,” says grandson Van Solomonian, of Toronto. “He talked about breaking a locked door. There was a chain on the door.”

During the voyage there was no mingling between steerage passengers and those in first or second class.

James Cameron's award winning 1997 film Titanic, featuring a romance between a first-class woman and third-class man, was “completely unrealistic,” Solomonian said. Steerage passengers had their own recreation lounge and dining area but they were well apart and separate from those in first and second-class.

Somehow, in the horrific chaos of the sinking, Krekorian made his way on deck and into lifeboat No. 10. “He saw an opportunity and he jumped in,” Solomonian said.

As years passed, Krekorian's tales of the experience became less specific and more visceral.

“He talked about how cold it was. The chunks of ice (in the water). And the noise. He heard screaming and yelling,” Solomonian said.

After being plucked from lifeboat No. 10 and taken aboard the rescue ship Carpathia, Krekorian joined the hundreds of bewildered, unbelieving strangers whose notoriety for simply being alive would grow with each passing generation.

On arrival in New York City, Krekorian spent four days in hospital being treated for pneumonia. He was finally sent on his way and arrived in Brantford on the evening of April 25, 1912.

An Expositor reporter learned of his arrival and hurried to an Armenian boarding house at 11 Main St. for an exclusive interview.

The reporter entered a large room set with tables. Four Armenian men sat at each table entertaining themselves with some type of “game peculiar to the country whence they came.”

The interview was a convoluted affair, conducted with the help of two interpreters, Mr. Mosoian and Mr. Ouzounean. The latter, Ouzounean, did not speak English either and interpreted Krekorian's words into French.

As soon as Krekorian began to relate his experience for the newspaperman, the other Armenians – about 20 or so -- crowded round to hear the harrowing tale.

Expositor: “Was there much confusion soon after the collision with the iceberg?”

Krekorian: “Yes, Everybody was running every way, downstairs, upstairs. It was about 11 o'clock and I was quite asleep. One of my companions woke me up and told me something happened. He then went up on deck to see what. They tell him to go right down and get his things on and get ready to get into lifeboats.

“At first we had no idea that anything bad happen and then little by little we begin to see ship was sinking. Then everybody get excited, running, shrieking, shouting. I see little boats and big boats being lowered and I begin to feel bad. I see two men try to get into boat. Officer shoot them. I felt stunned, and knew that something must be done. As boat, little boat go down I jump right into it. I then hide under the cover at front.

“I remember twice they look to see all who were in the boat and none see me. Then they come again, third time, and find me. I was too listless to care now, and just sit and look around. We stay in the boat perhaps three hours, perhaps more and then comes the big steamer. We then go to New York.

Expositor: “How many people were there in the little lifeboat?”

Krekorian: “About 50. All passengers and one sailor.”

Expositor: “You say one sailor. Was there a big rich man among the passengers who was also in command of the boat?”

Krekorian: “I couldn't say. I didn't see.”

Expositor: “Did you go to the hospital when you reached New York?”

Krekorian: “Yes. We were there four days. When I leave I get a suit of clothes. All shipwrecked people were given suit of clothes and I was given this overcoat too. And the company give me $10 and my fare to Brantford. I was also given an envelope. They said it was subscription. I look inside. It was $25 in paper.”

•••

The Expositor reporter latched on to a notion that Krekorian had disguised himself as a woman to get off the Titanic.

“Is it true that when found you were wearing women's clothes?” he asked.

“It is not,” Krekorian said. “What time had we to be thinking of women's clothes at such a time as that? I did not know how to think.”

Despite Krekorian's vehement denial, the Expositor propagated the claim and a headline in the next day's paper cried: Armenian Who Dressed in Women's Clothes to Get Off the Titanic Arrived Here Last Night – Interviewed by Expositor Man.

The article states that Krekorian was an Armenian man mentioned by survivor Maj. Arthur Peuchen, of Toronto, in his evidence to the U.S. senate inquiry into the sinking, as being the person who crouched in the bow of Peuchen's lifeboat with women's clothing over him and a broken arm.

However, a transcript of Peuchen's testimony, available online, says nothing about an Armenian. Peuchen told the inquiry that a “stowaway” aboard lifeboat No. 6 looked to be an Italian man with a broken arm or wrist. He was unable to row.

Krekorian was in lifeboat No. 10, launched at about 1:40 a.m. It is believed it carried about 30 people, less than half of its capacity of 65.

According to data compiled at www.encylopedia-titanica.org, lifeboat No. 10 held a varied group of women and children from first, second and third class, plus several crew members. Having crew members aboard was a necessity, as able-bodied men were needed to pull the oars.

Also aboard lifeboat No. 10 was two-month old Millvina Dean, her
two-year-old brother and their mother. Millvina, who died in 2009 at the age of 97, was the last living Titanic survivor.

•••

In his interview with the Expositor, Krekorian was generous with praise for his treatment in hospital in New York after the rescue. He said he was showered with kindnesses and “any amount of Armenian magazines and books were at his disposal.”

Krekorian remained in Brantford for several years before moving to St. Catharines in 1918.

He married Persa Vartanian on July 12, 1924 and the couple raised three children, George, Alice and Angeline.

He worked at a General Motors foundry and was proud that he, a poor, emigrant working man, was able to provide his family with the opportunity for a better life. His hard work put his son through medical school, a feat that would have been impossible had he not left his troubled homeland. He also saved enough money to bring his brothers Harry and Mac to Canada.

Time and life went on, but Krekorian, like most Titanic survivors, was never allowed much distance from the disaster that marked him for life.

In an interview conducted a decade ago, his daughter Alice Solomonian of St. Catharines remembered sitting through many conversations that held company enthralled at the family dinner table.

“All the company we had wanted to hear the story,” she said. “Everybody was so interested in it. I remember saying: 'There they go again'” whenever her father began to tell the story to listeners hungry for his words. Only when Alice was older did she appreciate the historical significance of her father's stories. She later wished she had paid more attention.

Grandson Van Solomonian has similar regrets. He was in his mid-20s when his grandfather died in 1978.

“I wish I was fluent in Armenian,” he said. “I would have loved to have spoken directly” to him in his native tongue.

Apart from the disaster itself, Krekorian spoke at times about the conditions on the Titanic before the tragedy. One of the quotes often attributed to him was that the third-class passengers were “cooped up like chickens,” Solomonian said.

“He'd say it was crowded and congested and there was only one bathroom for men and one for women. You can imagine how uncomfortable it was.”

Still, Krekorian had solid food and a clean bed. His experience as a third-class passenger needs to be viewed in the context of the time. Many of the steerage passengers were peasants, fleeing situations of deprivation and despair, Solomonian said.

And, compared to the horrific experiences of emigrants who crossed the ocean in steerage decades earlier on sailing ships often rife with disease, the experience of travelling third-class on a ship like the Titanic was nothing to sniff at.

In 1953, the movie Titanic starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck came to the big screen. Krekorian was not keen on seeing it but was convinced to go to the theatre by his son-in-law Paul Solomonian.

By that time, Krekorian, although not fluent in English, could understand the language and grudgingly agreed to go. Being an actual Titanic survivor, he was treated as a celebrity, his grandson said.

For everyone else in the theatre that night, the movie was a thrilling and tragic tale on the big screen. But for Krekorian, it was real – and it was terrible.

n a past interview, Alice Solomonian recalled her father's reaction while watching the film.

Everything seemed fine until the scene depicting the impact with the iceberg, she said. At that point her father sat up sharply in his seat, “so straight, so stiff” that he seemed transfixed, she said. “He didn't move. He just watched.”

Krekorian did not sleep that night, his daughter said.

As time went on, the legacy of the Titanic continued to grow. And as survivors passed on, those remaining began to attract increased attention.

“Through all his life he was known as a survivor. It always came up,” his grandson said.

Family, friends and strangers all wanted to hear Krekorian's story – to meet him and to have a personal connection to a momentous, albeit horrific, event in history.

“Implicitly he realized it was quite an experience he had but he found it all very unpleasant” to always have to remember, Solomonian said.

Neshan Krekorian died on May 21, 1978, in St. Catharines at the age of 92

Obamas Release their Tax Returns

Here is President and Michelle Obama's tax returns of 2011:

Checkout Interesting Messages:

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Armenian Genocide Remembrance...

April is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Month. Around and after the WWI, the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were systematically annihilated by the Turks. The word genocide was coined to describe the crimes of the Turks towards Armenians. Learn how Armenians were deported from their homes and villages in Turkey in the beginning of the 20th century.

Welcome! You are reading BEYOND THE BLUE DOMES. I am a "Baby-Boomer" born and raised in Iran and my topics range from my memories growing up in Iran to homeless community in Santa Monica and beyond. My theme is social realities and preserving the history. I'd like to connect with people around the world that share the same passion. I appreciate your comments; you may contact me by email: katya1948@yahoo.com or just leave a comment on my blog. (it's easy if you have a gmail account)

The first story is by karine Armen about her grandmother, a survivor of Armenian Genocide.

Victoria, a young beautiful Armenian woman, woke up screaming and crying. Her nightmares were not surprising to her husband and five kids. They lived in a modest home in Tehran.

Victoria and Alex got married very young. They were both survivors of a vicious genocide. Their marriage was for survival purposes. She was only 14 when she got married.

The young couple were from an Armenian town in Turkey called Garin. In the spring of 1915 the Turkish soldiers started calling the Armenian men to join the army during the First World War. The Armenian men were leaving their homes believing they were going to serve in the Turkish army. Little did they know that was their march to be massacred.

A sudden silence fell over Garin. It seemed that the birds had stopped singing. For a few minutes there was no wind, no air, and no sounds. Then, a loud knock on the door shook the world. Hambo opened the door and two Turkish soldiers entered screaming, “Ermeni, yavour” dirty Armenian.

Victoria’s mother rushed to the door and saw the soldiers with their daggers on Hambo’s throat. She screamed and begged the men to leave the house. But the Turkish men started laughing and yelling, “You want to save your son? You have to dance for us.” Victoria was hiding under the bed. She was shaking. She was very young but wise enough to control herself not to make a noise. Listening to her mother’s and brother’s cries her heart was pounding fast.

Hambo got very angry seeing how these men were insulting his mother. He tried to protect her and pushed the men away, running towards his mother. The soldier got angry and slashed cut Hambo’s throat. “Oh, no, God, please save my son.” “Your son?” yelled the other soldier “I’ll give you another son.” He pushed the woman on the ground and killed her. The men, exhausted and satisfied, left the house without entering the bedroom.

My grandmother, Victoria, was only 7 years old. She was home playing with her fabric doll that her mother had made. Her 6 month old sister, Berjik, was quietly sleeping in the bedroom. Her 12 year old brother, Hambo, was playing with some pebbles.

Victoria came out of the bedroom and saw her loved ones’ bodies soaked in blood. She wanted to scream but she could not. Perhaps she was afraid the soldiers might return.

She grabbed her baby sister and left the house. There was commotion all over the town. Women and children were running, screaming and crying. She walked and walked and got very tired, hungry and thirsty. She could not continue carrying the baby who was also hungry. Victoria left the baby under a tree.

She put some rocks around her to protect her from animals and went to look for food. After a few more hours of wandering and walking, she fell asleep out of exhaustion. The next day she could not find her way back to her baby sister. Where was she, under which tree, in which direction?

Victoria met some other women and started walking with them. They went through the deserts of Iraq. After weeks of walking they arrived to Iran.

She connected with other genocide survivors from her town. That’s where she got married at a young age. Her first son was named Hambo and her daughter was named Berjik to honor her lost sister. Berjik was my mother. My grandmother had her own family but she could not stop thinking about her baby sister. She always wondered what happened to her. Did someone rescue her? Was she eaten by animals or killed? The guilt and nightmares continued to the next generation. Her mental and emotional condition affected her kids and grandchildren.

By: Karine Armen

June 13, 2009

Published in Inner Heaven

2010

The next story is by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, who has written

"The Knock at the Door,"

a historical memoir about her mother a Genocide survivor. The book has won the following awards:

The USA BOOK NEWS AWARD BEST BOOK 2007 and NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL AWARD of BEST HISTORICAL MEMOIR 2008

Writing is a solo journey but as a writer I know I am never completely alone. Recently on a book tour, I read a passage from my book about a Turkish neighbor vowing to hone and sharpen his knives so that when the order comes for him to kill the Armenian family living next door to him, they will feel no pain. He promised this as an act of kindness to an old friend. Suddenly a woman in the audience stood up and said loudly, "That was my mother's neighbor."

I was amazed by her statement. In my book I relate this as a story told to my mother and her family by her brother who was a soldier in the Turkish army as he tried to persuade them to leave before the killing began because he knew the orders would be coming soon. "Thank you Margaret for writing this book," another in the audience remarked. "Your writing confirms the stories my grandmother told me growing up."

Up until that moment I had never realized the closeness of the reader to the writer. I always felt isolated as I wrote in solitude but this book tour has brought me close to my reading public. When someone says, "Why that could have been my grandmother," it is then that I feel the joy of writing.The warmth and admiration of new Armenian friends warms my heart.

I sit in my hotel room alone staring at San Francisco Bay and the mountains beyond. I think of my mother Ester and the long road she traveled to me and my father; to my children, her grandchildren a whole life. I realize I share this journey with my readers. I am not alone. The reader is with me.

I remember I once read somewhere that fear and courage are like lightening and thunder they both start out at the same time, but fear travels faster and arrives sooner. If we just wait a moment, the requisite courage will be along shortly. I am tapping into my courage as I face adversities by Turkish denial. I am encouraged by the kind reviews of my work, the tearful woman in the audience who remembers her grandmother's story through mine. I am heartened by the words of my grandchildren, "Wow, Grammy, Great grandmom was so amazing." I smile and I believe my mother Ester is smiling too!

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

WORLD's earliest BBQ – One million years ago Humans cooked on fire one million years ago...

Here is the news I came across on Internet:

Scientists studying South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave have discovered the world's earliest use of fire, adding fuel to a national obsession with the "braai," the local equivalent of a barbecue.

JOHANNESBURG — Scientists have uncovered evidence in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave, at the edge of the Kalahari desert, that suggests humans were cooking over fire more than a million years ago.

The discovery of burned bone fragments and ashed plant remains is evidence of the earliest use of fire, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

And on a local news note, the discovery may also serve to bolster South Africa's national obsession with the "braai," the local term for barbecue.
The braai is considered a unifying force in this diverse country, with cooking on fire an activity common to South Africans of all races, languages and religions.

A Braai (cooking method in Africa)
(PABALLO THEKISO/AFP/Getty Images)

Learn more about when our ancestors tamed the fire:

By: Jennie Cohen

Fire control changed the course of human evolution, allowing our ancestors to stay warm, cook food, ward off predators and venture into harsh climates. It also had important social and behavioral implications, encouraging groups of people to gather together and stay up late. Despite the significance of kindling flames, when and where human ancestors learned how to do it remains a subject of debate and speculation. There is even little consensus about which hominins—modern humans, a direct predecessor or a long-extinct branch—first acquired the skill.

The oldest unequivocal evidence, found at Israel’s Qesem Cave, dates back 300,000 to 400,000 years, associating the earliest control of fire with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Now, however, an international team of archaeologists has unearthed what appear to be traces of campfires that flickered One million years ago. Consisting of charred animal bones and ashed plant remains, the evidence hails from South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave, a site of human and early hominin habitation for 2 million years.

The researchers found the evidence in a layer of rock containing hand axes, stone flakes and other tools attributed by previous excavations to a particular human ancestor: Homo erectus. Characterized by its upright stance and robust build, this early hominin species lived from 1.8 million to 200,000 years ago. “The evidence from Wonderwerk Cave suggests that Homo erectus had some familiarity with fire,” said Francesco Berna, an archaeology professor at Boston University and the lead author of a paper on the team’s findings.

Other groups of researchers armed with remains from Africa, Asia and Europe have also claimed that human fire control originated very early—up to 1.5 million years ago. These studies, however, rely on evidence from open-air sites where wildfires could have blazed, Berna said. And while scorched objects were found and analyzed, the deposits surrounding them were not, meaning the burning could have taken place elsewhere, he added.

Wonderwerk Cave, by contrast, is a protected environment less prone to spontaneous flames. What’s more, an analysis by Berna and his colleagues showed that sediment clinging to charred items there was also heated, suggesting fires were kindled onsite. For these reasons, the team described the singed traces unearthed at Wonderwerk as “the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.”

Scientists working outside the realm of archaeology—most notably primatologist Richard Wrangham—have persuasively argued that Homo erectus tamed fire, Berna noted. Wrangham has long been championing the theory that cooking allowed human ancestors to consume more calories and, as a result, to develop larger brains. He has largely based his hypothesis on physical changes in early hominins—for instance, a shift toward smaller teeth and stomachs—that took place around the time Homo erectus evolved.

Excavation site at South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave, where possible evidence of early fire control has been found. (Credit: M. Chazan)

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