The story of Vahan struck a chord within me because of my personal history. Coming from Rwanda, where Genocide was carried out in just a hundred days and yet claimed the lives of a million people, the painful story of the young Armenian was all too familiar. Fortunately, I was safe during the genocide as I was residing in another country; however Vahan’s story greatly resembles those that are told during the month of April, the month of the Commemoration, where the dead are remembered and the survivors tell their stories. This is a painful process both for the survivor and the audience, as the most inhumane acts were carried out in plain daylight and no one screamed bloody murder. The most painful aspect however is one of denial.
Turkey’s current position on the Armenian genocide is an insult for all those who were driven out of their homes, shot, raped or left to starve. The fact that they claim it was a civil war, or a way to deal with treason does not explain the systematic mistreatment of civilians by organized governmental institutions. Armenians were discriminated against for years before the Genocide was carried out, therefore the Turkish population was used to seeing these human beings as subhuman, their fate was inconsequential. The same goes for the Rwandan Genocide. When people are lead to see another group of people as inferior, it is easier to kill, rape,and enslave that group. It is also a shame that the master minds of this Genocide were shot in cold blood, and did not have to face justice.
It is very upsetting to know that such atrocities happened and continue to happen in recent times. I just cannot seem to figure out why is there so much hatred and division amongst people. Does no one care? Does no one know that a person is not just a living vegetable but could be a granddaughter/grandson, a daughter/son, an aunt/uncle, a mother/father or a friend? It is inexplicable. I cannot seem to find reason. I wonder what the other side mentally goes through when they take part of the action. We’ve all read about the victim’s side. What about the criminal? Why do they do this? It is something that I fear to ever get too close to find out.
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