Does History Matter? Ask the Armenians

This article discusses the history of the Armenian genocide and the impact it brought on the Armenians. The author relates his experience attending a two-day memorial commemoration in the desert of Syria for the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide that he became fully aware of how profound the memory of that human disaster is for today's Armenians. He found that the most moving and thought-provoking talks were by Armenians who had lost family members in the genocide and who spoke about the profound hurt caused by the ongoing denial of the genocide, the importance of memory for a people who were once targeted for annihilation, and the stories of loss (family members, land, villages, towns, sacred areas--such as Mount Ararat, located only 40 kilometers from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, but impossible to reach due to the closed border with Turkey--churches and other cultural monuments). (Contains 4 notes.)