NY Museum of Jewish Heritage to hold Genocide commemoration

PanARMENIAN.Net - Robert M. Morgenthau, Chairman Emeritus of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, will lead on Thursday, May 14, a commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the Museum.

The ceremony will include remarks from Mr. Morgenthau, Carnegie Corporation President Vartan Gregorian, and His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). The program will feature an excerpt from the award-winning PBS documentary Morgenthau and a musical performance by pianist Hayk Arsenyan, followed by a reception.

The program is made possible through the generous support of Museum Trustee Peter S. Kalikow.

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman officials ordered the deportation of Armenian intellectuals from Constantinople - a devastating blow that stripped the beleaguered community of the ability to defend itself. Word of the atrocity that befell the Armenians a century ago was spread, in no small part, by Henry Morgenthau Sr., the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and the grandfather of the Museum's Chairman Emeritus, Robert M. Morgenthau. Remembering the Armenian Genocide has always been important for the Museum. Hitler was infamously said to have asked, "Who, today, remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?"

By holding this ceremony, the Museum reaffirms its commitment to remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide.