REMEMBERING GERMAN VICTIMS
By Charles Hawley
Spiegel Online, Germany
Aug. 10, 2006
Some call it historical revisionism. Others say it’s an important
part of World War II. An exhibition in Berlin looks at the fate of
Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after the war — something that
makes many of Germany’s neighbors nervous.
REUTERS
Erika Steinbach, head of the Federation of German Expellees, looks
at the new exhibition in Berlin.
One wonders what all the fuss is about. The exhibition, after all, is
relatively modest — occupying three rooms in the Kronprinzenpalais
located on Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard. Inside, one sees
informational plaques dedicated to the forced re-settlement of the
Finnish Karelians, forced by the Soviets to head westward during
World War II. One sees luggage belonging to Italians forced out of
Yugoslavia in 1944. There’s even documentation regarding the expulsion
of the Armenians from Turkey in 1915.
But the exhibition — called “Forced Paths: Flight and Expulsion in
20th Century Europe” — also has a large section on the post-World War
II expulsion of some 12 to 14 million Germans from Poland and other
Eastern European countries. In other words, say critics, the exhibition
seeks to portray Germans as victims of World War II and to rewrite
history. Plus, they point out, there’s already an exhibition dedicated
to the German expellees across the street in the German History Museum.
An esoteric debate for historians? Hardly. It’s an issue that has
repeatedly strained Germany’s relations with Eastern European countries
and has particularly rankled next-door neighbor Poland.
Indeed, soon after his election last fall, conservative Polish
President Lech Kaczynski made it be known that the ongoing efforts
of the German group Federation of Expellees — led by the vocal
parliamentarian Erika Steinbach — to build a permanent center in
Berlin devoted to post-war German expellees was unwelcome.
And in late July, he commented on the current exhibition: “Polish
foreign policy, of course, is dedicated to pursuing Polish interests,”
Kaczynski said on Polish radio. “The exhibition about expulsions
which will open on (August 10) in a prestigious building in the
Federal Republic of Germany is very definitely not in the interest
of Poland. The relativization of the responsibility for World War II
is not in Poland’s interest.”
The ongoing debate is not primarily about the historical facts. When
the Soviets under Stalin agreed with the Western Allies to move the
Polish border west to the Oder and Neisse rivers, millions of Germans
who had long lived in areas now belonging to Poland were forced to
leave. As many as 2 million died on the trek westwards and those who
arrived in Germany had to live for years in temporary shelters and
even in former concentration camps due to post-war housing shortages.
Primarily, opponents of the Center Against Expulsion — which is
the preliminary name Steinbach and her group have given to their
pet project — worry about the context within which German expellees
are presented. A handful of protestors were on hand on Thursday to
make sure their side of the story got press as well. “An image of
history,” read the anti-exhibition flyers tossed into the scrum of
journalists crowded around Steinbach to hear her opening address,
“is being communicated which portrays Germans as the victims of
flight and expulsion without adequately presenting the fact that
flight, expulsion and resettlement at the end of World War II was the
consequence of the aggressive, expansionist and destructive policies
followed by the Nazis.”
It is a criticism that has dogged Steinbach’s group for years —
and one that she seems particularly sensitive to. In comments to a
group of foreign journalists on Wednesday, she took pains to emphasize
the European nature of the exhibition and never tired of mentioning
that historical expertise was provided by experts from a number of
European countries including Czech Republic and Hungary. A Polish
expert withdrew from the project due to pressure faced at home.
Modest exhibition, bolder aims
And the exhibition itself — which will run through October 29 —
is rather modest. The fate of the German expellees is presented
along with that of eight other groups that were victims of forced
resettlement in 20th century Europe. The result is a lot of text, a
few items on display — the centerpiece being the bell from the ship
Wilhelm Gustloff which sank in January 1945 killing 9,343 Germans
fleeing Poland — and not a lot of clarity. If anything, it seems as
though Steinbach’s group is trying to keep the issue alive without
stepping on any toes.
But the true motivation for the ~@500,000 exhibition is obvious enough
and Steinbach herself admits that it is a means to an end. “I believe
that our exhibition will be an important step in the direction of
opening a center in Berlin documenting the expulsion,” she said
on Wednesday. Germany’s current government under Chancellor Angela
Merkel supports the idea of setting a “visible symbol” dedicated to
the expulsions, but have yet to agree on what that should be.
DDP Critics argue that portraying Germans as victims of World War II
amounts to historical revisionism.
And Steinbach’s group has made it clear it won’t be deterred by
criticism from outside Germany. “It is important that Germans
understand the fears (of Poles) and respects those fears,” she said.
“But that shouldn’t result in inaction. There is a need in Germany
to confront our entire history and a part of that is the story of
the expellees.”
Perhaps. But Eastern European fears are not so easily quelled. The
Polish papers on Thursday ramped up their anti-German rhetoric to mark
the exhibition’s opening. “The biggest difference (between Germany
and Poland) in their approach to history,” writes the weekly Wprost,
“is that in Poland and in other countries, one thinks primarily about
those things the Germans would rather forget.”
Or, as Piotr Buras, a Polish expert on German-Polish relations, told
SPIEGEL ONLINE last autumn: “The idea of a (Center Against Expulsion)
is very suspect for Poles. The Germans need to understand that
there is a large problem in German-Polish relations and she is called
Steinbach. If the Germans don’t see that, then it is a clear sign that
they aren’t all that interested in good relations with their neighbor.”

GERMAN EXPELLEES OPEN CONTROVERSIAL EXHIBITION
Expatica, Netherlands
Aug. 10, 2006
BERLIN – Germany’s movement of former refugees Thursday recalled its
suffering in the aftermath of World War II in a controversial Berlin
exhibition it hopes will become the core collection of a permanent
museum about ethnic purges.
There has been anger in Poland, the Czech Republic and other eastern
nations at the group’s plans for a memorial to 14 million dispossessed
ethnic Germans who fled from eastern Europe in the confusion after
the Second World War.
The 600-square-metre temporary exhibition in the Kronprinzenpalais
museum on Berlin’s central avenue, Unter den Linden, treats the German
experience as just one episode in a century of similar expulsions.
Other photos and souvenirs illustrate the 1915-1917 genocide of
the Armenians in Turkey. The flight of Jews from Nazi Germany and
the “ethnic cleansing” of the 1990s in former Yugoslavia are also
mentioned.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski criticized the exhibition as
“an ominous, offensive and sad event.” Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel
Kowal called it an attempt to manipulate history.
The venue is just across the street from the federal German History
Museum, where a temporary exhibition began in May, showing how the
refugees, an impoverished underclass in post-War Germany, struggled
back on their feet.
Erika Steinbach, leader of the German expellees federation BdV, said
Thursday just before the evening inauguration that she was still
planning a permanent Berlin memorial and documentation centre.
The BdV decided several years ago to shift its focus from the German
experience only to the wider pain of the whole 20th century.
Critics have accused the BdV of bias because it insists the expulsions,
which were allowed by the Allied powers, were unjust.
There are also fears that a memorial would undermine the message that
the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes were uniquely reprehensible.
The German government has been wary of the BdV plans, and instead backs
a European network to study expulsion history. The ranking speaker
at the inauguration was a non-cabinet official, Norbert Lammert,
the speaker of the Bundestag parliament.
Bernd Neumann, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s top culture aide, earlier
proposed that the less controversial federal exhibition on post-war
resettlement be made a permanent one.
The BdV exhibition, “Forced Routes, Expulsions in 20th Century Europe,”
runs until 29 October.

ARMENIA FORCES AZERBAIJANI CAPTIVES TO WORK IN VARIOUS HEAVY WORKS – AZERI PM
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
Radio Liberty,
Aug. 10, 2006
Two documents revealing the occupation policy of Armenia are being
prepared for submit to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE), the member of Azerbaijani delegation in PACE,
PM Ganira Pashayeva told Trend.
The deputy noted that Armenia forces the Azerbaijani captives to
work in Kalbajar gold fields and various heavy works. “It often
causes their tragic death. Besides, the Azerbaijani representatives
visiting Nagorno-Karabakh were not allowed to go to Kalbajar. I have
prepared a document in relation with this issue to submit to PACE,”
Pashayeva said.
Besides, she stressed that they have sever facts related to the
activity of foreign companies in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.
“According to the international principles, such facts are
unacceptable. Nagorno-Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan.
Therefore, each company that desires to function in that territory
should receive permit only from official Baku,” Pashayeva added.
Pashayeva added that she works on the next document to present to
the discussion of PACE.

MORE LEBANON EVACUEES FLOWN TO ARMENIA
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 10, 2006
Nearly 800 people, most of them Lebanese citizens of Armenian descent,
have been evacuated to Armenia since the start of Israel’s war with
Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, a senior official said on Thursday.
Vahan Ter-Ghevondian, the Armenian ambassador in Beirut, told RFE/RL
that 300 of them are citizens of Armenian, while the others are mainly
members of Lebanon’s 80,000-strong ethnic Armenian community.
Virtually all of them have been airlifted to Yerevan on special
flights from Syria partly financed by the Armenian government. The
government pledged to help its citizens and co-ethnics flee Lebanon
shortly the start of the Israeli onslaught on July 12. It also said
all Lebanese citizens fleeing the deadly air strikes will be able to
take refuge in Armenia for at least three months.
Speaking by phone from Beirut, Ter-Ghevondian said that although some
100 more Lebanese residents are due to arrive in Armenia early next
week, the influx of evacuees has considerably decreased. He said
Israeli air attacks on the main Lebanese highway leading to Syria
is not the main reason for that. “But I can’t say this is so because
the situation here has improved,” added the diplomat.
Most Lebanese Armenians live in Christian neighborhoods of Beirut
that have not been targeted by the Israeli air force so far. Yeghia
Jerejian, an ethnic Armenian member of Lebanon’s parliament, told
RFE/RL from the Lebanese capital that none of them was among some
1,000 people killed in the bombardment.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan, there were an estimated
1,200 Armenian citizens living in Lebanon before the outbreak of
the war.

ARMENIANS URGED TO GUARD AGAINST UNPRECEDENTED HEAT
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 10, 2006
Medical authorities urged the population on Thursday to stay indoors
in the afternoon and take other precautions against a blistering
heatwave that has gripped Yerevan and other parts of Armenia this week.
According to meteorologists, air temperature hit almost 42 degrees
Celsius on Wednesday and was just as high the next day, making August
the hottest month registered in the country in a century.
“This is the highest temperature registered in Yerevan in the last
100 years,” said Albert Torosian, deputy director of the national
meteorological service. Torosian blamed the weather on air currents
flowing into Armenia from the south and said it will remain extremely
hot for at least two more days.
The Armenian Ministry of Health, meanwhile, advised citizens —
pregnant women, elderly people and children in particular — to avoid
walking in the streets from noon until 5 p.m. local time and to drink
at least three liters of water a day. Armenians were also urged to
cover their heads and wear cotton clothes when going out.
The summer heatwave is not confined to Armenia and the region. Many
parts of Europe and the United States have also been suffering from
an extremely hot weather and have reported scored of casualties. In
France alone, the heat has already claimed more than 100 lives.
The Armenian authorities have not reported any fatalities yet. Still,
health officials said the number of ambulance calls has soared
in recent years. Elmira Gevorgian, a senior doctor at the Health
Ministry’s ambulance service, told RFE/RL that her medics received some
50 heat-related calls and treated at least five people who fainted
on the streets of Yerevan on Wednesday. She said exposure to heat is
particularly dangerous for people suffering from cardiac diseases.

DASHNAKS OPPOSED TO ARMENIAN ANTHEM CHANGE
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Gayane Danielian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 10, 2006
A senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun) voiced on Thursday strong opposition to government
plans to change Armenia’s current national anthem which was first
adopted by the nationalist party when it ruled the country in
1918-1920.
The “Mer Hayrenik” (Our Fatherland) song had an official status until
the short-lived first independent Armenian republic was incorporated
into Soviet Russia. It was for decades banned by the Soviet authorities
before being reinstated by Armenia’s first post-Communist government
in 1990.
Many Armenian music composers and artists disapproved of the move,
saying that the song’s uncomplicated theme is too simple for an anthem
and calling for the adoption of a more solemn tune. The Armenian
government heeded their concerns early this year, setting up an hoc
commission tasked with suggesting alternative anthems.
The 22-strong commission, which consists of prominent intellectuals,
artists and government officials, short-listed on Wednesday five out
of 85 songs submitted by local composers. The short-list includes
Soviet Armenia’s former anthem with changed lyrics that no longer
glorify Soviet rule and the Communist Party.
The head of the commission, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosian, said
the contest will finish later this year. “It is very difficult to
make the right choice,” she said. “But we must pick the best one.”
The song that will be chosen by the commission is expected to be
submitted by the government to the National Assembly for approval.
Gegham Manukian, a parliament deputy from Dashnaktsutyun, said the
party, which is represented in the government, will likely draft a
separate bill that would uphold the status of “Mer Hayrenik.” “We
hope it will pass,” he told RFE/RL. “Since there are no or almost no
music composers in parliament, the vote will be more impartial.”
Manukian also dismissed the commission’s significance, saying that
the Armenian authorities have not yet made a final decision on the
anthem. “The ultimate decision will be a political one,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DALLAIRE INSTITUTE: TEACHING TEACHERS ABOUT GENOCIDE
By Bob Klanac
Western News, Canada
Aug. 10, 2006
They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Those words
are doubtless first and foremost in the minds of the organizers of
the annual General Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute, taking place
at Western, August 14 – 18.
The Dallaire Institute hosts 40 teachers and focuses on teaching
them the lessons of the Holocaust, Armenian and Rwandan genocides,
as well as how to teach the stories in the classrooms.
“We want to teach them how to teach those lessons in such a way that
it isn’t a lesson about history but a lesson of history,” notes Rich
Hitchens an Associate Scholar of the Holocaust Literature Research
Institute in Western’s Faculty of Arts & Humanities. “We want them to
go back and use what happened to teach students moral lessons. It’s
character education.”
True to the issue of character, the institute was named after General
Romeo Dallaire for his heroism and idealism.
“We wanted to recognize what General Dallaire accomplished in Rwanda in
trying to prevent and stop the genocide there in 1994 which included
saving tens of thousands of people,” Hitchens explains. “His actions
are representative of the messages that we wanted to convey through
teacher to students: tolerance, human rights and helping others in
needed. His actions in Rwanda, and since, embody those messages. It
just made perfect sense that we would try and honour him in this way.”
Although one could be forgiven for considering that Holocaust education
is currently at an appropriately high level, Hitchens notes that it’s
an incorrect perception.
“Around the world, genocide education, especially the Holocaust, is
very much the vanguard of teaching about tolerance and human rights
but Canada is very far behind on that. The Dallaire Institute is the
only annual institute for teachers. And it’s quite unique in that
it’s focused on genocide in general, and not just the Holocaust.
“This has become very much the beacon of genocide education in Canada,”
says Hitchens.
The institute uses material about the Holocaust and the genocides in
Armenia and Rwanda. Because of the currency of the latter two examples,
living witnesses to these genocides are a featured component of the
Institute’s curriculum.
“On Wednesday night we have a survivor of the Rwandan genocide
coming. He is a graduate of the French PhD program at Western who now
teaches at Queens,” notes Hitchens. “This guy was saved by the guy who
ran Hotel Rwanda and he’s one of the people saved by General Dallaire.”
Hitchens adds that Dallaire will be teaching Monday night and is very
involved in the Institute, coming every year to teach.
“Frank Chalk from Concordia University in Montreal is widely considered
the pioneer of genocide studies in the world,” Hitchens says. “The
teachers will actually get to study with Frank Chalk.
That’s like a physicist studying with Newton.”
Although the institute’s 2004 inaugural year included local teachers
only, this year the invitation was extended to instructors in many
major cities throughout the country. Despite the national reach,
the Dallaire Institute still only accepts 40 teachers for the summer
session.
“We haven’t increased the numbers because we don’t want it to be so
large that teachers don’t get the interaction,” Hitchens explains.
“But teachers in coming years will return to do advanced seminars
on the Holocaust, Armenia and Rwanda. This introductory institute is
like first year at university.”
stern_news/story.html?listing_id=21709

PASHAYEVA: ARMENIAN ACTIONS CONTRARY TO PRINCIPLES OF COE, GENEVA CONVENTION, ETC
Author: J. Shakhverdiyev
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 10, 2006
The Armenian actions are contrary to principles of the Council of
Europe, the Geneva Convention, and other international principles.,
MP Ganira Pashayeva, the member of Azerbaijan delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe told Trend.
She pointed out that she prepares a document concerning the recent
firings of peaceful population of villages located close to the front
by Armenians, and the intense breaking of the cease-fire regime by
them to the Parliamentary Assembly. “The main goals of the recent
breakings of the cease-fire from by Armenians are local peaceful
population. The people of those villages which lies near the front
fear to come out to the fields under crops where they work because
of Armenian snipers”, she told.
She also pointed out that there are no suspicions that just Armenia
stands for the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists. “I raised this issue
at the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly. I marked that
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan congratulated the separatists on
the day of occupation of the Town of Shusha. The visit of the Armenian
Prime-Minister and Defense Minister to Nagorno-Karabakh complicates
the situation. Moreover, the Armenian Defense Minister participates
in the military trainings of the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists. During
my speech I proved that Armenia is the main party of the conflict”,
she stressed.
According to her, despite the 14/16 Resolution of the Parliamentary
Assembly of Council of Europe on Acknowledgement Armenia as an
aggressor urged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan, Yerevan has chosen the way of complicating
of the situation. “Now Armenian targets are peaceful population of
the areas lies close to the front. The people live in a fear in their
villages. Armenian military units regularly fire them”, she told.
The MP told that despite the Armenia being a member of the Council
of Europe, it carries out actions contrary to the principles of
this organization. She also said that during the summer session of
the Parliamentary Assembly more than 40 members of the organization
signed the document on Armenian Policy on Illegal Settlement of
Armenians on the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan being prepared
earlier. “The document also points out that Armenia makes burnings
on the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, excepting Kalbajar
and Lachin where it settles Armenians. That speaks that Armenians
intend to hold a referendum in the future”, she stated, pointed out
that according to the official state program of Armenia till 2010 it
is stipulated to raise Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh up to
300,000 people. I marked in the document that 23,000 Armenians were
settled in Lachin. Among them the most are citizens of Armenia.The
Armenian Government pledges to provide them with all necessary
conditions and render a financial aid to them. There are foreign
citizens of the Armenian origin there”, she told.
G. Pashayeva also told that she has prepared a resolution on the
Armenian actions contrary to all international principles and submitted
it to the parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe.

AZERBAIJAN MEMBERSHIP TO WTO DOES NOT DEPEND ON NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 10, 2006
The World Trade Organization has no requirements that make Azerbaijani
membership to the WTO and its further member relations with Armenia
dependable on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a REGNUM
correspondent is told at the Armenian Ministry for Trade and Economic
Development.
The ministry also notes that Azerbaijan has not become a WTO member yet
and its joining the organization is not a matter of one day. “In the
next few months Azerbaijan will definitely be unable to become a WTO
member. To enter this organization, Baku should bring the country’s
economic legislation into accordance with WTO requirements,” the
Armenian ministry believes.
It is worth mentioning, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud
Mamedkuliyev announced that if the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
has not been settled before Azerbaijan is admitted to the World
Trade Organization, under WTO requirements Azerbaijan would have
a right not to establish economic ties with Armenia. Speaking on
other Azerbaijan duties to the WTO, Mahmoud Mamedkuliyev noted
that Baku should undertake them both before and after entering
the organization. According to him, Azerbaijan would intensify its
activity to enter the WTO. A number of meetings are planned to be
held in Geneva by the end of the year.
It is worth mentioning Armenia became WTO full member in February 2003.

ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS TAPE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY
Submitted by: MCB Quantico
Marines.mil
Aug. 10, 2006
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.(Aug. 10, 2006) — Two television
journalists from the Republic of Armenia visited Quantico July 26
to capture on tape the spirit of the United States Marine Corps and
what Americans stand for as a democratic society in hopes to further
educate their own country on the positive impression the United States
brings to the rest of the world.
In conjunction with the State Department, Avet Demuryan, vice president
of YPC Productions in the Republic of Armenia, and Hovhannes Hakobyan,
a cameraman from NTV, a Russian television station, made the long trip
half way around the world to meet with Larry Clamage, a television
co-op producer contracted with the State Department. Clamage’s job
is to plan the logistics of the journalists’ trip to the states. He
made contacts and set up interviews for every angle the journalists
wished to cover while filming in the states.
“These projects are very important,” Clamage said. “It’s in our
interests as Americans to let the world know what a democracy is
like, and that this way of life is worth pursuing for other foreign
countries. It’s one thing if an American journalist appeared on
foreign TV to tell the people how great democracy is, but having it
come from the mouth of one of their own respected journalists makes
all the difference.”
Clamage and the Armenian crew visited The Basic School to the
highlight the training of a Marine Corps officer. The place where newly
commissioned Marine Corps officers learn to lead Marines into combat
as platoon leaders is an important part of their story on the Corps.
Demuryan served in the soviet military around 25 years ago in his
military’s Special Forces as a military journalist. As a young man he
saw combat while in the Republic of Belarus. His experiences in the
military shaped his life as a journalist and gave him a deep respect
for military forces such as the Marine Corps.
Demuryan thinks the Armenian viewers want to see and hear the story
of the Marine Corps because of what the Corps stands for among the
military services in the United States and among the world.
“The Marines are of the highest level,” Demuryan said. “They are in
my opinion the best part of the American military. The Marines are
always the ones on the front lines. They are the best of the best
and that’s what the Armenian viewers want to see.”
The crew is traveling across the country to many different locations
to cover their story on the Marine Corps and some other U.S.
services. They have already been to National Defense University in
Washington, D.C., to visit Congress, the Pentagon and Quantico.
Within the next two weeks the crew will be traveling to Tampa, Fla.,
to the U.S. Central Command, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas City, Mo.,
and Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Their story of the Marine Corps and other U.S. military services
will be broadcasted throughout the former Soviet Union region and
the Armenian military in a 20 to 30 minute long news media show.
sf/0/44DAF24D3C4860E6852571C60047B67C?opendocument