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Ceremony highlights Armenian memories
90th anniversary of genocide observed
April 18, 2005
BY LAURA POTTS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
For years, a lock of hair was Sandra Azoian Hutchinson's touchstone to the Armenian genocide.
The tresses were buried some years ago with Hutchinson's great aunt, who had taken the hair from her two young sons just before the boys were killed in front of her in what is now Turkey. The grieving mother later fled to Michigan, where she pled with generations of her family to make sure the lock was tucked into her casket, and begged them not to forget those years of suffering.
On Sunday, Hutchinson joined hundreds of Armenian Americans to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the genocide, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians.
Dignitaries, clergy and Armenian-American community leaders gathered at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn to share stories of loss and to generate remembrance and hope.
"It also can help inspire us to stop modern genocides, which still go on," said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who made a brief appearance before the commemoration ceremony. "It can encourage and energize us just to remember them."
Levin and others emphasized a need for the current Turkish government to recognize the atrocities, which began in 1915 and included forced marches, drownings, beatings and other horrors, they said.
The crowd -- which included a handful of survivors -- listened as politicians spoke about illuminating what they said is a largely forgotten tragedy, and religious leaders prayed and led the crowd in traditional songs. About 70 young people from the United Commemorative Committee, all dressed in black and wearing armbands representing Armenia's red, blue and orange flag, marched to the stage, where the names of Armenian cities that lost large numbers in the genocide were read.
"It was marvelous, especially the participation of the young people. That was so emotional and very touching," said Betty Apigian Kessel, 67, of Bloomfield Township. "But we are filled with hope. We are not just here to recognize death and destruction."
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