A Moment of Remembrance in Honor of my Ancestors

The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan - photo by Rita Willaert

A little more of a political post today, but something dear to my family.  Today is the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, recognized by Armenians everywhere on April 24th of each year.  This year marks the 98th anniversary of what is widely recognized as the first day of the genocide in 1915.  My great grandparents fled their home in Sivas Turkey in 1897 (just around the time of the Hamidian Massacres that killed up to 300,000 ethnic Armenians living in Turkey) and 1906.  Not all of the family made it out - although there is very little information about those that got left behind - beyond the story that they left and never heard from their family back home again.


The Kaprelians around the time they left Turkey to escape the violence there.




They travelled on the La Gascogne (pictured above) in August 1906 and you can see here the ship manifest from their processing at Ellis Island.


The SS Obdam.


The ship manifest from the SS Obdam that the Dildarians travelled on in 1897.

There are still people today who deny the fact that a genocide took place.  Who protest the "labeling" of it as genocide.  But the fact is that it happened, and that there are so many families world-wide whose ancestors experienced it.   They estimate that close to seven million people make up the Armenian Disapora world-wide (the United States has the third highest ethnic Armenian population in the world - following only Armenia and Russia).

Take a moment today to remember the suffering that the Armenians experienced at the hands of the Turkish at the time, and also to remember the Armenians in your lives today - those that bring joy and happiness...as well as good food ;)  Armenian culture should be known and celebrated!