Every year on April 24, hundreds of thousands of Armenians gather around the world to remember the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire carried out by the Turkish government.Tsitsernakaberd (Armenian: Ծիծեռնակաբերդ) is a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Armenian; it is located on a hill overlooking Yerevan, Armenia.
I have been to Tsitsernakaberd several times and also the informative and very moving Genocide Museum located on the memorial grounds. Here a few of the photographs I took during my visits:
Eternal flame-Tsitsernakaberd
Rebirth-Tsitsernakaberd
Blue sky-Tsitsernakaberd
Armenian flag over Tsitsernakaberd
We went there, too, and had an eye-opening, educational, and moving experience.
Thank you for posting this Beth. This is a very sad time of year for Armenians. A couple of years ago I wrote a piece on my blog about my family’s story, which is a familiar one among many diasporan Armenians.
http://adoptionadventure-sonia.blogspot.com/2008/04/significance-of-adopting-in-armenia.html
What Sonia meant to say to you was that the Armenian Genocide has no significance to you Beth.
Because you were able to adopt a child in Armenia doesn’t mean anything except that your money and perservance paid off.
Let’s see if you are truly able to teach your daughter the significance of her ancestor’s genocide and why there is so few Armenians left in the world.
You would have to be the descendant of an Armenian genocide survivor to understand this and the corruption of our current government. You have to be brought up in an Armenian family to understand our pain.
Otherwise, you should stop trying to be something you are not.
Thank you for reading my post, Lusine. I’m sorry you feel that way.
Without knowing my family’s history, or the history of my husband’s family, I feel it is presumptuous to assume I have no understanding of pain, loss, being a survivor of atrocities or government corruption–or that I would be unable to convey the significance of such a history to my daughter. I certainly hope she will come to understand, appreciate and embrace her heritage…which is why I also blog about Armenia and not just our adoption.
Lusine, I completely disagree with you. While I have come across some non Armenians who have adopted in Armenia that fail to embrace the culture and history, Beth is an exception. I admire her for this reason. She has an appreciation and insight into the pain because she makes a commitment to learning about it and immersing herself into it in any way she can. She has been to Armenia more times than I have for God’s sake! And Beth is right…what do you know about her history to make this presumption? Oh, and since when are you suddenly deciding to defend my positions “Lusine”? Remember than I am only “half” Armenian…and I believe you are too?