Holocaust Memorial Day & April 24

After many months of patient dialogue between the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMD) and the Armenian Legal Initiative Group (ALIG), HMD decided to update their website with a new entry under Dates to Remember, the 24^th of April. The contents, text and images are their own though HMD took on board all the input given.

HMD have now published the Date to Remember for 24 April on their website. You can view the article by clicking

http://hmd.org.uk/genocides/dates-to-remember/deportation-of-armenian-intellectuals-from-istanbul

It is also accessible from their homepage (www.hmd.org.uk) in the top right corner.

After 24 April, the link from the homepage disappears and returns each year in the days before the date.

The article is always accessible from their Dates to Remember section.

It includes UK survivor stories that ALIG persuaded HMD to add for the January 2012 commemoration. More importantly, there is a link right at the end of this new entry to their Raphael Lemkin case study used in the UK educational system. We all hope that this will give an insight into the Armenian events to new generations as well as those who have a particular interest in this area.

The reason for the length of time is that the HMD Trust Deed objectives specify the Second World War Holocaust, and subsequent genocides. Delving back from this start point was a barrier in the past but with some flexibility, this small but significant step has been taken. ALIG continues to work with the HMD and It is to be hoped that the mutual spirit of understanding and respect will result in an increased profile for the first genocide of the 20th century.

We hope that not only will this comfort the souls of the victims and survivors but also facilitate some change the stubborn mindset in the United Kingdom towards the Armenian Genocide despite all the published independent evidence.

ALIG

- Working towards 2015 since 2009

I find that though the Armenian Genocide is accessible on the hmd site... No discussion, no real airing of this question... Or even a listing along side other genocides of the third world.

Its like, WE ARE the cousin or the black sheep of the family. No one wants to talk about our issue...As an Armenian, I feel alienated from these groups. It would be nice to have some form of recognition of our plight and the hurt we go through by the blacking of our 1915 Genocide of Armenians by Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire! It is Our Holocaust! The first in the history of the 20th Century... Seta