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They Say It’s Your Birthday: Small crowds gather to remember Soviet Armenia
Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Soviet Armenia would have turned 86 today if Armenia hadn’t become independent 15 years ago.
For decades this day was marked with great solemnity and fanfare. Today the number of those observing the festival in the capital did not exceed a few hundred. They celebrated what used to be one of the biggest festivals of the Soviet era with red flags and wreaths.
“The ‘golden age’ of Armenia began on November 29, 1920,” says Ruben Tovmasyan, the first secretary of Armenia’s 18,000-member Communist Party. (See http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=1626)
Tovmasyan says it is thanks to the Bolsheviks that the Armenian people were saved from the claws of widespread famine in 1918-1920, which killed 150,000 people.
“People starved before the establishment of Soviet orders; they even dug mice holes to find some wheat grains to eat and survive,” he says.
The Armenian people, who lived in their ‘golden age’ for 70 years, not only managed to draw themselves up after the genocide, but also overcame widespread illiteracy and became a country with high scientific potential.
Communists built a new Armenia. “In many cases communists are considered to be an anti-national party, but no one builds the way we were building up the country,” Tovmasyan says. “Our enemies even said if you want to see a miracle, go to Soviet Armenia.”
Tovmasyan considers plentiful jobs to be the major achievements of the Soviet years, saying that everyone had work back then--“both the blind and the dumb.” “The fund for salaries in Soviet Armenia was three times as much as in today’s budget,” he adds.
Tovmasyan believes Armenia would be one of the most developed countries if the ‘golden age’ had continued. “Today’s democrats still need to do much to move a bit closer to Soviet Armenia,” the communist leader says.
Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Soviet Armenia would have turned 86 today if Armenia hadn’t become independent 15 years ago.
For decades this day was marked with great solemnity and fanfare. Today the number of those observing the festival in the capital did not exceed a few hundred. They celebrated what used to be one of the biggest festivals of the Soviet era with red flags and wreaths.
“The ‘golden age’ of Armenia began on November 29, 1920,” says Ruben Tovmasyan, the first secretary of Armenia’s 18,000-member Communist Party. (See http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=1626)
Tovmasyan says it is thanks to the Bolsheviks that the Armenian people were saved from the claws of widespread famine in 1918-1920, which killed 150,000 people.
“People starved before the establishment of Soviet orders; they even dug mice holes to find some wheat grains to eat and survive,” he says.
The Armenian people, who lived in their ‘golden age’ for 70 years, not only managed to draw themselves up after the genocide, but also overcame widespread illiteracy and became a country with high scientific potential.
Communists built a new Armenia. “In many cases communists are considered to be an anti-national party, but no one builds the way we were building up the country,” Tovmasyan says. “Our enemies even said if you want to see a miracle, go to Soviet Armenia.”
Tovmasyan considers plentiful jobs to be the major achievements of the Soviet years, saying that everyone had work back then--“both the blind and the dumb.” “The fund for salaries in Soviet Armenia was three times as much as in today’s budget,” he adds.
Tovmasyan believes Armenia would be one of the most developed countries if the ‘golden age’ had continued. “Today’s democrats still need to do much to move a bit closer to Soviet Armenia,” the communist leader says.
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