Armen Karo Student Assoctiation

Montreal - On Tuesday March 23 2010, the United Armenian Youth Committee of Quebec commemorated the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the John Molson School of Business building, Concordia University. The event was entitled “Genocide Awareness Day” and it was in memory of the victims of the Armenian, Rwandan, Darfuri, Cambodian Genocides and the Holocaust. The hall was filled with three hundred attendees making it one of the most successful Genocide-related events in Montreal.

The United Armenian Youth Committee of Quebec worked in collaboration with many local organizations and so, this event was sponsored by: STAND Canada, The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, Hillel Montreal, Montreal Institute of Genocide Studies at Concordia & Canadian Friends of Sudan.

The organizing committee thanked the sponsors for their great support in helping put together such an informative and inspirational event. Kevork Kazanjian, Armen Karo Student Association chairman spoke on behalf of the committee; he explained that the Canadian youth’s moral responsibility is to remember the victims of all the Genocides and to also fight to keep their memories alive and unforgotten. “We are together here tonight because we want to fight denial, and, at the same time, create awareness in our Canadian universities. We, as Genocide survivors have a responsibility to find ways to prevent this tragedy from re-occurring, namely by organizing lectures of such importance.”

The first panelist was Mr Eloge Butera, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda and a human rights activist. Eloge shared his tragic stories with the audience explaining how his family was murdered and the way he escaped from the Genocide and arrived to Montreal.

The second panelist was Mrs Liselotte Ivry, a Holocaust survivor. She was born in 1925 in Listany, Czechoslovakia. Liselotte and her mother worked as nurses. In September 1943 Liselotte’s mother and brother were both murdered. From July 1944 to February 1945, Liselotte worked in three different camps outside of Hamburg. She was only 19 years old when she lost her entire family. Relying solely on her memory, she remembered an uncle's address in Montreal and wrote to him, this is how she made it to Canada.

The third and final panelist was Dr. Rita Soulahian Kuyumjian, a second generation Armenian Genocide survivor. Dr Kuyumjian presented her latest book which is a translation of Aram Andonian’s book . Dr Kuyumjian told the crowd  the story about the evening of April 24th 1915 when Andonian saw the suffering of hundreds of Armenian writers, poets, artists and leaders.

 After the three touching stories the first lecturer took the floor. Yair Auron, a professor in the field of genocide and contemporary Judaism at the Open University of Israel and the Kibbutzim College of Education in Jerusalem, gave a lecture entitled: "Armenians, Jews and Israelis – Remembering and Denial".

Professor Auron focused on the importance of Israel and USA recognizing the the first Genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide. He stated that it is a moral responsibility for the Jews and Israelis to recognize it. Professor Yair criticized the Israeli government for condemning any acts of denial of the holocaust and fighting against it but at the same time denying the Armenian Genocide. According to him, the reason behind this is to maintain the focus on the Holocaust and to protect the military & economic ties with Turkey. As a humanitarian and a Jew, Professor Auron promised to never remain silent and to keep fighting for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The final lecturer of the evening was Professor Frank Chalk from Concordia University.  He is a History professor and the Director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University (MIGS). Frank Chalk’s lecture was entitled: "Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership to Prevent Future Genocides".

Professor Chalk presented a project that he accomplished in collaboration with General Roméo Dallaire. The project disserts ways to prevent Genocide from recurring in the future. In his opinion, countries such as Canada and the United States should have a proactive governmental program that takes action prior to the triggering of a Genocide. Professor Chalk confessed that those countries will only react when it is in their National interest. For this reason, he explained the parallel between terrorists and Genocide perpetrators. He explained: “Genocide is a consequence of the immergence of thousands of diseases; any one of them can reach our country and affect our national interest”. Professor Frank ended his lecture by urging all Youth organizations in North America to be involved in such projects and to sponsor his research in order for us to reach our aim: A world free of any future Genocides.