Martyrs and survivors of the Armenian Genocide were honored under the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House last week during the 104th annual commemoration of the 1915 events, The Armenian Weekly reports.
“We are here to remember,” said State Senator William Brownsberger. For the past 34 years, in the days leading up to April 24, state and local elected officials invite Armenians and human rights advocates to the Massachusetts State House for this annual ceremony, designed to highlight the Armenian heritage and stress the importance of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The event was held only a few days after the Commonwealth’s commemoration of the Rwandan Genocide.
As State Representative David Muradian explained, many of his colleagues in that chamber have an “R” or a “D” after their names. “Truthfully,” he said, “they should have an ‘A’ for Armenian,” alluding that crimes against humanity, including the Armenian Genocide and the genocides that followed, should not be considered partisan issues.
On Friday morning, scouts from Homenetmen’s Boston chapter stood proudly in the Hall of Representatives, each holding American and Armenian flags on either side of the stately wood podium. Students from Watertown’s St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School led guests in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and the Armenian national anthem—a rather emotional example of the dual identity of the Armenian Diaspora.
Resting peacefully in a wheelchair a few feet from the children was 109 year-old Armenian Genocide survivor, “Starry” Asdghik Alemian of Weymouth, Mass. As a great-great grandmother, Alemian and her descendants were described by State Representative Jonathan Hecht as a “living testimony of the indomitable spirit of the Armenian people.” Hecht presented Alemian with the governor’s proclamation of the Armenian Genocide from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Four years ago on the centennial anniversary of the 1915 massacres, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and forced hundreds of thousands more to march, the Armenian Apostolic Church canonized the martyrs as saints during a ceremony in Armenia. In his opening prayer at the State House, Reverend Dr. Avedis Boynerian of Watertown’s Armenian Memorial Church urged peace and harmony and “to bring to mind the loving dead who defended the Christian faith and died courageously.”
While Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA) was not present in the chamber that morning, there were other state and local elected officials including Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, who reflected on his late predecessor Speaker George Keverian, who started this annual tradition. “As we look towards the future, I hope that events like this will encourage people across this nation and the world to fully and completely recognize these atrocities for what they were: a genocide,” said Speaker DeLeo referencing the Turkish government’s ongoing denial of the Ottoman Empire’s committed atrocities. “While we remember those who perished, we must, most importantly, vow to carry on their legacy to ensure the w...
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