On May 7, I attended a very impressive benefit gala at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the USC Shoah Foundation, which archives the testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Jewish Holocaust, the Armenian, Cambodian, and Rwandan Genocides, and the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.
Internationally acclaimed Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, after filming “Schindler’s List,” established the Shoah Foundation to collect and preserve the personal accounts of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. In 2006, the Shoah Foundation became part of the University of Southern California and currently holds 52,000 video testimonies in 34 languages, representing 58 countries. It is the largest archive of its kind in the world.
The gala was attended by President Obama, who received the “Ambassador for Humanity” award. Also in attendance were Samuel Jackson, Octavia Spencer, Barbra Streisand, Liam Neeson, and Bruce Springsteen, who performed two of his poignant songs, “Promised Land,” and “Dancing in the Dark.”
In 2010, the Armenian Film Foundation and J. Michael Hagopian signed a historic agreement with the Shoah Foundation to digitize, preserve, and disseminate filmed interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Armenian Genocide. Last month, 400 digitized copies of the Armenian testimonies were delivered to USC Shoah Foundation’s Institute for Visual History and Education. By the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015, the Armenian testimonies, after they are translated, subtitled, and indexed, will be made available along with eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust and other genocides to 50 institutions (including the U.S. Holocaust Museum) in 30 countries.
Nearly 100 Armenian-Americans attended the May 7 gala, raising over $100,000 for the Armenian collection at Shoah. During the evening’s program, several speakers made references to the Armenian Genocide. Spielberg was the first to announce that the Armenian Genocide testimonies were to be included in the Shoah archives. A video shown to the attendees featured several photographs of J. Michael Hagopian, genocide survivor Paul Andonian, and Armenian deportees on a death march. Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith also spoke about the Armenian Genocide, acknowledging the presence of Yevnige Salibian, a 104-year-old genocide survivor from Aintab. Banquet host comedian Conan O’Brien, after acknowledging Salibian’s presence from the podium, walked over to her table when the gala ended and had a picture taken with her.
As an honored guest, Salibian was seated next to TV celebrity Kim Kardashian. The following day, Kardashian posted on social media her photograph with Salibian, adding the following message: “Honored to be at the USC Shoah Foundation event to support Armenian Genocide testimonies. I’m sitting next to the most inspiring 100-year-old Armenian Genocide survivor.” Within a few days, her posting received close to 400,000 “Likes” and almost 5,000 comments on Instagram, and 110,000 “Likes” on her Facebook page.
Despite repeated references to the Armenian Genocide from the podium, Obama did not make any direct references to Armenians or the Armenian Genocide in his 18-minute speech, nor was he expected to do so! However, the president made indirect references to genocides other than the Holocaust, without specifying them. Here are some excerpts:
“I want to say a special word to the survivors who are with us this evening, not just of the Holocaust, but as Steven [Spielberg] noted, survivors of other unimaginable crimes.”
“If the memories of the Shoah survivors teach us anything, it is that silence is evil’s greatest co-conspirator. And it’s up to us—each of us, every one of us—to forcefully condemn any denial of the Holocaust.”
“You [Spielberg]…documented the experience not only of the Holocaust, but of atrocities before and since. … To you and everybody at the Shoah Foundation, and for all that you’ve done, for setting a light, an eternal flame of testimony, that can’t be extinguished and cannot be denied, we express our deepest gratitude.”
Armenians do not need to press Obama to explicitly refer to the Armenian Genocide. Another U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, already acknowledged it in his Presidential Proclamation of April 22, 1981. It is unnecessary to insist that every U.S. president make the same acknowledgment year after year. Obama may consider using the term Armenian Genocide not for the sake of Armenians, but to uphold his own integrity by keeping the solemn pledge he made as a presidential candidate. Only then could he fully qualify as an “Ambassador for Humanity.”
Harut Sassounian
Harut, I was looking at the recent ADL survey of global antisemitism; and I was interested in seeing whether there was holocaust denial in the various countries. Whereas the USA was accurate as to the history of the holocaust, as well as the NUMBER killed (I think a lot of money goes into holocaust education here in the USA); Russia was good in not denying it; Poland (who lost 90% of the Jews understood the number of Jews killed) was good with 80% acknowledging it happened plus agreed with the number killed; and Armenia, Iran, Turkey mostly agreed that the holocaust happened (but half of those, who said it happened, thought the numbers were exaggerated). What influences people’s knowledge of the various genocides? Is it government or private organizations? Better if both government and citizens educated their citizens as to what happened. I read another holocaust museum will be opened in Chicago soon, because a Jewish millionaire has dedicated money to it. What would influence Turkey to acknowledge what happened to the Armenians (ethnic cleansing and genocide) and the number killed?
Names of the Holocaust vary based on context, notes Wikipedia and that that “Shoah, meaning “calamisty” in Hebrew became the standard term for the 20th century Holocaust”, notes Wikipedia further.
Good for the Jews for upholding their own word for genocide. Surely they are unlike us, the later day Armenians who seem to go on a rampage whenever the term Medz Yeghern Is used be it by Presidents Obama or Sarkissian.
The editors of Armenian Weekly have also assumed the role of the proverbial ostrich and have shied away in editorializing as to where this very paper stands when it comes to our very own term for Genocide, Medz Yeghern .
You will have to ask Obama why he is using that term. I read an article where someone said people in Turkey understand that term better in their own language than the English word. However, I do find it frustrating reading the posts that attack Obama personally, instead of concentrating on the important issues. He must think some people have prejudice against him and/or favor the other political party?
Anonymous writes:
You will have to ask Obama why he is using that term. I read an article…
I seem to remember his using the word ‘genocide’ when a senator and running for the presidency that quickly became tempered. It’s simple politics…
Poor Obama I could not Imagin he was to that point coward avoiding the Armenian Genocide term even in his country he is not acting as the president of the strongest country of the free world but rather like a slave afraid to express what he knows it is true just because he is not allowed to by his watching and hearing Masters. Poor Obama we thought you were a free man, sorry we did not know otherwise we would not have pretended and insisted to hear the truth from your lips. A TRUTH YOU ARE UNABLE TO UTTER. Call it pick nick, or Medz yeghern the facts will not change it remains what it has been a Genocide, what changes only is that we know now who you are.
Obama is indeed a liar.