Category: 2019

HANNOVER, Germany—“We Will Live after Babylon: Armenian and Jewish Existential Experiences Between Expulsion, Exile, and Annihilation” is the theme of an international conference to be held in the Kulturzentrum Pavilion of Hannover, Germany, from February 24 to 27. This unique gathering is organized by the European Centre for Jewish Music (EZJM) and the German-Armenian Society/Deutsche-Armenische Gesellschaft (DAG).

Not only were Armenians and Jews compelled for centuries to live outside their homelands, but they shared another destiny in the twentieth century—the specter of collective destruction in the shadow of two successive world wars. The organizers are using this convergence as the starting point for a collaborative conference that will focus on the Jewish and Armenian historical experiences through scholarly presentations and cultural programs. Subjects and disciplines included in the conference are Diaspora, Minority Issues, Genocide, Trauma and Memory, Armenian-Jewish Relations, Musicology, History, Theology, Literature, Sociology, and Political Science.

The four-day conference will be opened by Sarah Ross and Raffi Kantian, representatives of the two organizations. The keynote speaker is noted historian Dan Diner, and participants from various disciplines will include, among others, Harutyun Marutyan of the Genocide Museum-Institute of Armenia, Richard Hovannisian, Emil Sanamyan, Michael Stone, Laurence Ritter, Ekaterina Norkina, Herve Georgelin, Lawrence Baron, Umit Kurt, Sylvia Alajaji, and Elke Hartmann. The concluding plenary discussion will focus on the differing politics of remembrance of the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide in Germany.

Rich accompanying programs of readings, a theatrical performance, concerts, workshops, and a panel discussion are intended to familiarize a broader public with the subject.

GLENDALE—The Armenian Relief Society of Western USA’s Regional Executive Board held a meeting on February 4 with the YWCA of Glendale, including Executive Director Tara Peterson, Board President Suzonne Slaughter and Board Members T.C. Kim, Talin Saad, Armine Petrosyan and Seda Khojayan.

The meeting was set following the selection of the Armenian Relief Society of Western USA as a recipient of the upcoming 2019 Heart and Excellence Award by the YWCA of Glendale during its Legacy Luncheon on Thursday, April 18, 2019 at the La Canada Flintridge Country Club.

ARS Regional Executive Chairperson Silva Poladian delivered welcoming remarks and expressed appreciation for the YWCA of Glendale’s decision to honor the work and contributions of the ARS of Western USA. Chairperson Poladian provided an overview of the organization’s work and activities through its 25 chapters in four western states, the four offices of the ARS Social Services Division, the ARS Child, Youth and Family Guidance Center, and more. She also highlighted the region’s upcoming 35th Anniversary Gala to be held on Saturday, March 9, 2019, during which General Manager Jasik Boniatian Jarahian will also be honored.

YWCA of Glendale representatives highly commended the mission and work of the organization, which was a leading reason to select the ARS of Western USA for the prestige of the 2019 Heart and Excellence Award. Executive Director Tara Peterson then reflected on the mission of the YWCA of Glendale and its work in the areas of domestic violence prevention, education, advocacy, and more.

During the meeting, the ARS Regional Executive Board and YWCA of Glendale representatives found it imperative to begin collaborations to organize seminars, as well as individual and group sessions, to help raise awareness and safeguard the victims of domestic violence. At the end of the meeting, the delegation expressed sincere thanks to the ARS and its members for advancing the social, educational, health, and general welfare of community members in need.

The Armenian Relief Society, founded in 1910 in New York City, has chapters in 27 countries around the world. The ARS of Western USA is one of 10 regional bodies that govern the international network of ARS chapters. There are 1,240 members of the Armenian Relief Society in the Western Region.

Our region’s pivotal programs are aimed at offering assistance to individuals and families in need through the areas of educational, social and family services, humanitarian aid, cultural advancement, and more. The ARS of Western USA operates a Social Services Division; a Child, Youth and Family Guidance Center; 16-one day schools and 3 full-time day care preschools. ARS also provides support to kindergartens and youth centers in Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakhk.

GLENDALE—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western US Central Committee has launched its Homeland Initiatives Committee to coordinate and develop programs beneficial to the people of Armenia and Artsakh. Over the past few years alone, various ARF Western USA committees and local Gomidehs have sponsored a plethora of projects in Armenia and Artsakh.

Some of the completed and ongoing projects include the Shirvanian Youth Center in Gyumri and 10 annual college scholarships by the We Are Gyumri Committee, solar water heating in Mardakert by OC ARF Armen Karo, firetruck in Stepanakert by Montebello ARF Dro, dental clinic in Hadrut by San Fernando Valley ARF Rosdom, Sanitation truck in Karvajar by La Crescenta Zavarian, green houses in the border villages of Artsakh by Glendale ARF Aharonian along with 30 community organizations, and the recently completed renovation of the Nanulik Kindergarten in Gyumri sponsored together with the Knights of Vartan Orange County chapter, just to name a few.

In addition to projects already completed or in progress, the Homeland Initiatives Committee will coordinate these continued efforts and create additional opportunities to collaborate with other non-profit organizations, assistance programs, development grants, and others, such as the World Bank, to strengthen Armenia‘s infrastructure and provide tangible relief and actual development for the region.

The Homeland Initiatives Program will offer a wide array of infrastructural projects to select from and will equip those spearheading such projects with the necessary resources to support the socio-economic development of the Armenian homeland.

“The ARF Western US has organized the Homeland Initiatives Program to coordinate assistance from Armenian-American communities in our region to constructively participate in the nation building process, making a positive impact on the lives of Armenians in Armenia and Artsakh,” said ARF Central Committee Organization Representative, Garo R. Madenlian.

The mission of ARF Western US’s Homeland Initiatives Program is to coordinate and provide technical and financial resources to support the local communities and citizens of Armenia and Artsakh, and strengthen the bridge between our populations in the diaspora with those in the homeland. The campaign will integrate the capabilities of diaspora Armenians to improve the quality of life for Armenians in Armenia and Artsakh. The Homeland Initiatives Campaign is the vehicle which seeks to advance and enrich the communities in our homeland.

“This program will be a coordinated effort for the citizens of Armenia to reap benefits available to them by both worldwide and local community organizations,” said Patil Derderian, Chairwoman of the ARF Homeland Initiatives Committee. “It is essential for citizens of a country to gain the fundamental and essential resilient infrastructure base necessary for them to thrive, and this is something we can help achieve.”

All members of the community and organizations are encouraged to engage and invest in Homeland Initiatives that will positively impact the lives of many of our brothers and sisters in the homeland. To this end, we welcome suggestions and proposals and are prepared to look for specific projects in areas our community wishes to positively impact. For more information please contact [email protected]

Congresswoman Jackie Speier and San Francisco Mayor London Breed also present
SAN FRANCISCO—The Krouzian-Zekarian Vasbouragan School welcomed Golden State Warriors basketball team head coach, Steve Kerr, as its honored guest at the school’s 38th annual gala, which took place on February 9 at the at the Khatchaturian Armenian Community Center’s Saroyan Hall.

Kerr’s grandparents, the late Dr. Stanley E. Kerr and Elsa Reckman Kerr were instrumental in the work of the Near East Relief foundation, the unprecedented American campaign of international humanitarian assistance which saved and sustained hundreds of thousands of Armenian Genocide survivors from 1915-1930.

Accepting an award of recognition for the contributions of the Kerr family to the Armenian people, Steve Kerr thanked the community, saying, “This is truly humbling to stand here.” Attending the event with his mother, Ann, wife, Margot, and two of his three children, Nick and Maddie, Kerr said of the presence of his children, “It was great for them to learn more about the story and be part of it and see the respect from the Armenian community and really understand the impact that their grandparents made. It made me very proud to see them understand it and feel it. It was a great night.”

“The sacrifice that Stanley and Elsa Kerr made during the Armenian Genocide is greatly appreciated by the Armenian community,” said KZV’s principal, Grace Andonian. “One hundred years after the Armenian Genocide, KZV is an example of the vibrant Armenian community that thrives around the world.”

The evening’s master of ceremonies, Sevag Sarkissian, discussed the importance of the legacy of the Kerrs’ selfless aid to Armenians. “They delivered a second chance, in the hope that Armenian family names would ring for generations to come until this very day. We owe it to our ancestors, to our heroes and warriors, like Stanley and Elsa Kerr, to our KZV founders and generous benefactors, and to each other, that we make the most of our second chance. We survived, we’re still here, and KZV is our way of saying thank you to all those who came before. It’s our way of keeping the promise that we will not forget where we came from, who we are and why we are here.”

Rep. Jackie Speier, who is half Armenian and leads the Congressional Caucus on Armenian-American Issues, was also present with her husband, Barry, to congratulate KZV school and pay honor to the Kerr family.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed also attended the gala, and praised KZV’s administration and supporters for “the work that you continue to do to make sure that the next generation of young people get the best education, a diverse education, and multi-lingual education, one that is going to send them out into the world and try to mimic the spirit of what Stanley and Elsa Kerr did for so many people, so long ago.”

The Kerr Legacy
Filmmaker Ani Hovannisian-Kevorkian, who is currently doing research about the Kerrs for a documentary, showed a video giving an overview of the Kerrs public service, particularly to the Armenian people.

“This is a monumental story; A century of sacrifice without borders that starts in Marash, but goes far beyond. First, with Stanley and Elsa, a young man and woman who left safety at home to cross the globe into a den of danger in order to help genocide-ravaged people in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians. That’s where they met and spent their entire life in service of others.”

In 1919, Stanley Kerr, a junior officer with the United States Medical Corps, was transferred to Marash, Turkey, where he headed the American relief operations and assisted thousands of Armenians threatened with further genocide by the Turkish government after the French military retreated from its post-war occupation of the city. Kerr met his wife, Elsa, in Marash, where she had moved from the United States and was working as a schoolteacher. They later married in Beirut, Lebanon and together ran a Near East Relief orphanage for Armenian children.

Kerr later earned a Ph.D in biochemistry and became the chair of the biology department at the American University of Beirut. Else became the university’s dean of women. Stanley Kerr retired with the rank of Distinguished Professor and was awarded the Order of Merit from the Republic of Lebanon. He passed away in 1976 and left as part of his legacy, The Lions of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near East Relief, 1919-1922 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1973), a memoir documenting his eye-witness accounts of the Armenian Genocide.

The legacy of Dr. Stanley and Elsa Kerr was passed down to their children and grandchildren, who have continued to live by the humanitarian values of their parents and grandparents. Their oldest son was the late Malcolm H. Kerr, who became President of the American University of Beirut, but was tragically assassinated in 1984. Malcolm and his wife Ann Zwicker Kerr had four children, including Coach Steve Kerr and his older brother John Kerr, who serves on the board of the Near East Foundation. Malcolm’s daughter, Susan van de Ven, used letters from her grandparents as the basis of her thesis at Oberlin College, later presenting it at the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem on the occasion of the 1986 commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

San Jose State University President, Dr. Mary Papazian, spoke about the legacy of Stanley and Elsa Kerr on subsequent generations of Armenians and her personal life. She recalled a moment from her youth when the Kerrs visited Ferrahian Armenian High School on the occasion of the publication of Stanley Kerr’s book. She also mentioned that during her inauguration as President of San Jose State University, she brought an exhibit about the Near East Relief foundation to the campus.

Established in 1980, KZV is Northern California’s only Armenian day school, founded with a mission to prepare its students to become leaders rooted with a deep awareness of their role as Armenian-Americans.

The school’s founding donor was George (Krikor) Krouzian, an Armenian Genocide survivor from Van, Turkey, who escaped, immigrated to San Francisco, became a pharmacist and philanthropist, and was honored by the global leader of the Armenian church and by President Clinton.

Serving approximately 120 students from preschool through 8th grade, KZV provides a fully-accredited academic program. Two thirds of KZV students score in the top 25% on standardized tests, and 98% of students score above the 50th percentile.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) recently responded to the Turkish presidential spokesperson’s reaction to last week’s announcement by France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, who declared April 24 a national day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide.

Paylan specifically addressed the presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin who after condemning Macron’s decision called the Armenian Genocide “a lite and political deception.”

“If the Armenian Genocide is a political deception, why does Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan send a condolence letter to the Armenian people for five years in a row?” asked Paylan in a Facebook post.

In a second post Paylan said that 104 years have passed since the Genocide and the Armenian people are waiting for justice.

“Turkey has not faced and named the tragedy that the Armenian people were deported and massacred by the state decision,” Paylan wrote, emphasizing that the Turkish president and the parliament must face the facts and call the events of 1915 by its real name—genocide.