If you click on this following link: The Promise To Act, you will be able to read much more about the Armenian genocide and this film that has been made about it.
Once again, I am telling you about a film that I have not seen, only one that I would like to see. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." That might not be the exact quote (I rarely get my quotes exactly) but the truth of that statement rings very true. If you would like to read more about the Armenian genocide, you may find much more detail just here. (This has quotes from Henry Morgenthau, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, to name just a few.)
The forget-me-not flower is the one that was chosen in 2015 to represent the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian genocide and there is powerful symbolism behind each part of the flower.
THE PRESENT: The light purple petals represents the unity of Armenian communities across the world—all of whom stand together.
THE FUTURE: The five petals represent the five continents where survivors of the Armenian Genocide found a new home. The dark purple color is meant to recall the priestly vestments of the Armenian Church—which has been, is, and will remain at the heart of the Armenian Christian identity.
ETERNITY: The twelve trapezoids represent the twelve pillars of the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan, Armenia. The yellow color represents light, creativity, and hope.
Hope, it is with hope that I write this post...that you will read more about the Armenian genocide and learn more of the history of what occurred. This article just here from the World Post tells more about the denial of the genocide.
Now, I read a great deal from Armenian recipe blogs, there is an excellent one just here. The food blogger has written lovingly of her grandmother's memories of the genocide, hoping to honor her family and the Armenian culture.
It is also my greatest hope that anyone who reads this with Armenian heritage will know my sincere wish for this event in history to be simply acknowledged.
Great post! It's terrible that the Armenian genocide is not more widely acknowledged. It happened.
ReplyDeleteYou quoted the quote correctly, Kay. And, yet, mankind still hasn't learned from mistakes made in the past. If they soon don't learn, we will all be history!
ReplyDeleteOn point, Assad and those of his ilk could do with a few history lessons!
There are so many atrocities that have been committed all over the world. And we do keep repeating over and over.
ReplyDeleteI will have to see this movie...In 1979 I read the book The Road From Home by David Kherdian and it stunned me. I hope you can find a copy if you have not read it yet. And I will have to look up that cooking blog, too. It is heartbreaking that human beings allow themselves to do such terrible things to one another, but I try to remember that there are also always people helping and trying to make things better.
ReplyDeleteSuch a tragedy should never be allowed to happen. So sad there that anything so evil happens. History is something we should learn from. Your last picture of the blooms is just beautiful...that is what we need to see more of.
ReplyDeleteAnd, if you can get a hold of the cookbook, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, read the intoduction to the Italian section. It was written by an African American woman who was in charge of this section because her mother learned to cook from her mother, an Armenian woman whose parents sent her to a convent in Italy to keep her safe from the time of the Armenian genocide. She learned to cook from Italian nuns. Later the nuns arranged a marriage with an Armenian man in the US for her. Her daughter married an African American. I find stories like this so fascinating for what they tell us of human life on earth.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing the movie to my attention. It's certainly much needed.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see this movie, too, Kay-although I am wondering if it will be almost more than we can bear to see it. It is just unbelievable to me the inhumane way people are treated by others...both large scale and small scale indignities.
ReplyDeleteI will go read a couple of those links you posted, too. xo Diana
It is strange how we can deny a known part of history and pretend it never happened. I had to do a lot of reading about the Armenian genocide and I was shocked; both at what happened and how few people knew about it. It's become a point of contention with the EU because Turkey is still refusing to acknowledge it. It's a real shame that the plight of these people isn't even recognised, let alone taught or learned from.
ReplyDeleteI do hope this movie turns up here, as I would like to see it. I only learned about the Armenian genocide in recent years by seeing documentaries about it on television. It is strange that it was never taught at all when I was growing up, although it certainly is not the only thing that was suppressed.
ReplyDeleteThat genocide is kept quiet to avoid upseting the Turks.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much forgotten history out there that's not widely known. After 100 plus years it either fades or gets changed to suit the times more. Learned recently of two separate wars during that time period I'd never heard of before yet had great lasting influence for society with major place names in cities.
ReplyDeleteI will keep my eyes open for it here, but it sounds like it will be hard to watch. I've never heard of this before.
ReplyDeleteOne way and another slaughter of whole populations is going on or being attempted right now. There is so much evil and so little most of us are doing (or possibly can do) apart from saying how terrible it is. On the not-very-frequent times that I watch films I admit that I want to be entertained and not reminded about all the evil I know about or the rest that I don't. And I'm an optimist who spends so much time playing The Glad Game. Heaven knows how a pessimist must feel.
ReplyDeleteLike Mark said in his comment, the Armenian genocide is cropping up every now and then within the EU. Germany has, as we all know, only too much experience with this kind of systematic atrocity, and our government has officially acknowledged the Armenian genocide as a historical fact. This has earned us the wrath of many Turkish politicians and people who much rather deny it ever happened. Right now, it is difficult to say where the relationship between our two countries is going. Turkish immigrants have long been (and still are) the largest group of foreigners in Germany, which makes it all the more important for us to live together peacefully. It does worry me, it really does.
ReplyDeleteCanada has officially acknowledged the Armenian genocide as well. TV commercials for this upcoming movie have just started popping up on our sets over the past few days.
ReplyDeleteI think Adullamite may be right. Though, let's be honest, most nations have skeletons in their closets. There was a German soldier who witnessed much of it, I think, and he took many harrowing photographs.
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