‘GENOCIDES REPEAT THEMSELVES’
By Mariann Martin, [email protected]
Jackson Sun
September 25, 2008
TN
Photojournalist seeks to raise awareness of nearly 1.5M Armenian deaths
Who now remembers the Armenian genocide?
Those were Adolph Hitler’s words in 1942, when his general protested
that the Nazis would never get away with exterminating the Polish Jews.
Ara Oshagan hopes that his work of documenting the lives and stories
of Armenian genocide survivors will help to prove Hitler wrong.
"Genocides repeat themselves," said Oshagan, 44, on Wednesday. "Knowing
about and remembering them are very important parts of ending
genocides, if there can be any hope of prevention."
Oshagan presented his virtual documentation called " i witness" on
Wednesday night at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in downtown Jackson. The
presentation is part of a series called "And Cain Rose Up … A Study
of Modern Genocides" presented by the Lambuth-B’nai Israel Center
for Jewish Studies.
Since 1995, Oshagan has been photographing survivors of the Armenian
genocide, in a project called "The Genocide Project" that includes
oral history given by the survivors.
The Armenian genocide began in 1915 when the Turkish army and
government forced around two million Armenians on death marches
through present day Syria. Almost 1.5 million Armenians died in the
next 18 months.
His interest in the project was sparked after an 80th commemoration
of the genocide in Los Angeles, Oshagan said.
"I met 80 survivors from the genocide, and I realized their stories
had to be told," said Oshagan, who is an avid photographer. "The story
is not as well known as the Holocaust so we started to organize an
oral history program to tell their stories."
Oshagan, who is a research scientist, was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
"There are Armenian diasporic communities all over the world because
the survivors were spread after the genocide," Oshagan said. "The
genocide is very much a part of our community and our psyche."
Oshagan said he grew up hearing stories about the genocide and it
had always moved him deeply. But the stories never included the
terrible details he heard when he began interviewing the survivors
of the genocide.
"They were just kids at the time," Oshagan said. "But it was horrible
and shocking; how they could have lived through those things is
unimaginable."
Oshagan said his work has many components: it is art and history,
but it also has a huge political component. He has displayed his work
in Washington and state capitols to help raise awareness.
"The Turkish government has not accepted responsibility and
acknowledged the genocide, so it remains an unfinished part of the
Armenian people," Oshagan said. "We are trying to confront denial
and reverse it."
Since 1922, the Turkish government has consistently denied the
genocide, saying the Armenians died as part of World War I, Oshagan
said.
David Dietrich, an associate professor of psychology at Lambuth
University, said he played soccer with Oshagan when they were high
school students in Memphis.
When Lambuth began planning their genocide series, Dietrich immediately
thought about his friend.
"I knew he would bring a sense of passion and knowledge to the
project," Dietrich said.
Attendants of the programs on Wednesday night said they came hoping
to learn something new.
"I love history and this caught my attention," said Carolyn Lawhorn,
52, of Jackson. "I am hoping to learn something new to influence my
own writing."
Jacob Vandiver, 21, a senior ethics major at Union University, said
he came because he tries to keep up with current ethical issues.
"I don’t know anything about the Armenian genocide so I am looking
forward to learning more," Vandiver said.
Visit jacksonsun.com and share your thoughts.
– Mariann Martin,