Lest We Forget: Commemorating 103 years
April 24th marks the 103rd anniversary of the Genocide against the Armenians, Assyrians, and Anatolian Greeks.
Although the Genocide was marked by years of murder, abuse, forced deportations, and imprisonment at the turn of the 20th century, scholars mark the April 24th is the day of remembrance by the Armenians.The day we pause and reflect on the atrocities committed and remember and honor the lives lost and saved during those years.
On April 24th, 1915, Ottoman soldiers arrested approximately 250 Armenian cultural and spiritual leaders that lived in the city of Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. Within a few weeks, the military had forcibly deported more than 2,300 Armenian men from the northwestern regions of Turkey. What followed was years of continued and unyielding systematic massacres that decimated the Armenian, Assyrian, and Anatolian Greek communities and left reverberating scars that are still felt to this day.
On April 24th, the Near East Relief Historical Society honors the memories of those that were lost and the amazing strength of those that survived. We strive to honor and continue the legacy of the work done by Near East Relief volunteers that dedicated so much of their lives to helping genocide- survivors rebuild their lives in new communities around the world.
Today we remember, share, and learn the stories of those who were persecuted so we might prevent such atrocities from happening again in the future. In honor of the 103rd anniversary of the Genocide, we ask that you share this important chapter of history with a least one person who might not know about it yet and help us to continue our work of honoring the strength, resilience, and courage of all those who were affected and continue to be affected by this dark moment in history.
The documentary film, They Shall Not Perish: The Story of Near East Relief produced by Shant Mardirossian and directed by George Billard impeccably illustrates this chapter in Armenian History and is now available on Netflix for all to experience.
