The Holocaust

The Holocaust in Germany, with the imprisonment and subsequently of Jews, gypsies and other non-Nazis is remembered as Geno-9 cide. Yet, other evidences of genocide have also been recorded in history. Mexicans, Indians, Alaskan tribes; American Indians, Australian Aboriginals and many other worldwide people plus the well-known Genocide of the Armenians from 1890 to 1915 by the Turkish Ottomans.

A conservative number of Armenians in the USA is numbered at 1,500,000. Los Angeles County has the highest number with about 200,000 Armenians. Glendale, a suburb of LA is widely thought to be the center of Armenian American life.

The USA is second only to Russia as a community of Armenians. Thousands of Armenians settled in the US following the Hamidian massacres in the mid 1890’s and the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). There are estimated to be about 10 million scattered around the world.

The contributions to our society by Armenians is incredible. I will mention only a few. Martin the Armenian was the first Armenian that came to America and he brought the “silkworm” that makes silk cloth.

Harry Tatosian invented the ice-cream cone. Yervant Manosgian invented the safety razor and blade in 1935. Wherever they have lived, they have contributed in Art, Literature, Movie industry, Music, Science, Military, Technology, Business and Politics. Arlene Francis, William Saroyan, Mike Connors, Cher, Kirk Kerkorian and George Deukmejian to name a few. By the way, Deukmejian was Governor of California. Armenia today is about as large as the State of Maryland. It has a population of 3,500,000-53 percent female and 47 percent male. Life expectancy for females is 77.3 years and for men 69.6 years. The Republic of Armenia borders with Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. It is at the crossroads between Europe and Asia.

Armenia is very mountainous with fast flowing rivers with many forests. The Republic occupies 29.74 thousand square meters. The average altitude is 1800 meters above sea level. It has six very large rivers and four large lakes.

Most Judeo-Christians will recognize the name of Mt. Ararat. The Bible states that it was on this mountain that Noah’s Ark was beached. It is in Armenia. Three notable rivers start in the Ararat range; Euphrates, Tigris and Araxes.

Most of the population are nominally Christians. The modern Armenian Church resembles the Greek Orthodox Church.

Of particular interest to me is that 99.76 % of the adult population are able to read and write. A study shows that only 5,908 adults are illiterate. Amazing.

Armenia is one of the oldest countries in recorded history. It goes back to between 4000 BCE and 3500 BCE. Two pertinent thoughts; BCE stand for, “Before the Christian Era.” And the years before A.D. descend rather than ascend.

Jumping ahead to the Jesus era which was very interesting and provocative. It is important. In the year 301 A.D. the Armenian King Trdat III declared Christianity the state religion. This made Armenia the first Christian state in the world. Gregory the Illuminator was named the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Constantine, Emperor of the Roman Empire declared Christianity the official religion in the year 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicaea. It makes the Armenia Church was recognized 24 years older than the Roman Church.

The oldest known ancestors of the Armenians consist of two major tribes; the Hayasa-Azzi tribe that united with the Nairi around 3500 BCE and the Armens tribes so named by the Greeks.

“The mixture of Armens with the indigenous Hayasa eventually produced the Armenian people as it is known today.” The Armenians today call themselves “Hay” and their country “Hayastan.” Their language is “basically the language of the Armensmo.”

Religion of that period was primarily a mixture of Greco-Roman polytheism and Zoroastrianism Incidentally the latter belief was then and is still very similar to Christianity.

The Sassanids, around 251 A.D., became very anti-Armenian and tried to eliminate the. In 301 A.D. is when King Trdat III made Armenia the first Christian country in the world.

There was a great battle between the Persians and Armenians in 481 A.D. which the Armenians won. This lasted until 654 A.D. when Islam tried to conquer Armenia, and then won but in 886 A.D. the Armenians regained their independence.

Suffice to say, until the late 1800 the fate of Armenia was unstable. The cause depended on which surrounding country was dominate: Turkey, Russia or Persia.

The Ottoman Empire referred to the Armenians as “The Armenian Question.” A state policy in Turkey was to completely annihilate Armenian. A large-scale systematic series of massacres began in 1896. The height of the Armenian Solution was started

On April 24, 1915 by executing hundreds of Armenian intellectuals without a trial. More than 80% of the Armenian population perished in the genocide. “By the year 1923 Armenia was completely de-Armenized and successfully incorporated into the newly formed Turkish Republic.”

Today, Armenia had its full independence on September 21, 1991 and became a member of the United Nations on March 2, 1992. On January 25, 2001, it became a member of the Council of Europe.

Amen. Selah. So be it.