Stamford Advocate, CT
April 26 2008
Student to speak on 20th century’s 1st genocide
By Patrick McNamee
Special Correspondent
Article Launched: 04/26/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT
History is full of events and tragedies that fade from the public’s
mind with passing time. Weston High School senior Anna Guller took
action to ensure 1.5 million lives are not forgotten.
Guller, 18, will read her essay about the Armenian genocide tomorrow
afternoon at its 93rd anniversary commemoration in Times Square in New
York.
It is three days after the annual remembrance day; April 24, 1915, is
considered the date the genocide began.
Guller learned about the 20th century’s first genocide while attending
last year’s event with her mother.
"It really affected me when an Armenian woman came up to me and asked
me if I was Armenian, and when I told her I wasn’t . . . she seemed
surprised," said Guller, who was chosen to read by the
Armenian-American association Knights and Daughters of Vartan. "Right
then, I saw it was because they’ve gone so long without people
remembering what happened."
The Young Turks, a political party within the Ottoman Empire, carried
out the genocide during World War I in hopes of creating an
exclusively Turkish population.
It is estimated that 1.5 million Armenians living under Turkish rule
died from 1915 to 1923. Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of
Armenians died, but says the figure is inflated and that the deaths
occurred in civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
During last year’s commemoration, Guller took photos and spoke with
survivors.
"They told me their stories and what they witnessed; they were
senseless, terrible acts and how they changed their lives. It was very
similar to the Holocaust," Guller said. "Their emotion just brought
the story to a whole new level." Guller was so moved by the
experience that she chose the topic for her college entrance essay,
and said she is thrilled to have the chance to present her essay this
weekend.
"I’m proud and honored that they were touched by what they read. It
was a new experience being able to get first-hand knowledge and
meeting them really changed me," said Guller, who will attend New York
University in the fall.
"I expect that it will be amazing. I want them to see that there are
those who are not Armenian that care about what happened."
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