Sako Arian
German historian Elke Hartmann’s
mother is Armenian. Elke has studied history and Middle Eastern/Islamic
Studies in Berlin specializing in modern Ottoman history. Her MA thesis
examined the German military mission to the Ottoman Empire during the
reign of Abdulhamid II, while her PhD. dissertation analyzes
conscription in the late Ottoman Empire in the context of modern state
and nation building. In 2010, with her husband, historian Vahé Tachjian, she established the Houshamadyan website.
From April to July, she will be a visiting professor at the Martin
Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany teaching the subject of
“Christian Minorities in the Ottoman Empire.”
Why did you choose Ottoman studies as your specialization?
When I started to study history I observed that Ottoman history
was not included in the general study European history. The history of
the Ottoman Empire should be a component of European history at the
academic level. Later, when I got involved in Middle Eastern studies, I
noticed that Armenians were absent from Ottoman Studies. I felt I needed
to focus on Ottoman studies in order to better understand European
history and the history of Armenians.
In 2010, you and your husband Vahé Tachjian established the Houshamadyan website. Can you tell us a bit about the site?
Yes, I established the site along with Vahe Tachjian. It was a
product of the abovementioned concerns; i.e. to fill in the gaps in
history I had observed. People can contribute to the website, which we
describe as a project to reconstruct Ottoman Armenian town and village
life, and fill in the gaps of history. If people have information,
photos, memoirs, etc. of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, they can send
such material to us for inclusion in the site. Houshamadyan is also an
interactive website and can serve as a bridge between various
generations of Armenians and between Armenians and other peoples.
We have seen attempts in Europe to foster
Armenian-Turkish dialogue. What do you have to say in this regard
especially since you participated in one such meeting?
In fact, we have much to learn from the German experience in this
regard. The Germans have faced up to their past. They know about the
crimes and mistakes they committed in the past. Regarding your question,
I should say that I participated in a program called “Speaking to One
Another” that attempted to foster dialogue between Armenians and Turks.
There were Armenians from Armenia, Istanbul, the Turkish provinces, and
even Turkified and Islamicized Armenians (perhaps also forcibly Islamicized –
S.A.) But what was surprising was the absence of any son or grandson of a
Turkish executioner.
If we are to start some kind of dialogue, with whom should we
dialogue with? If we are to talk about reconciliation, at the core of
any conversation must be the 1915-1916 genocide of Armenians. The
program I attended always sought to divert attention and talk away from
the past. Even reference to the genocide was given short shrift. But I
believe that it is exactly the genocide issue that must bring Armenians
and Turks around any forum tasked with dialogue.
If we take the genocide issue off the table, we have no need of
dialogue with the Turks. Yes, meetings are very important, and we
understand that it is very difficult for those living in Turkey to speak
about the Genocide. As with regard to Germany, it is important that
Germans do not adopt the opinions of those people living in Turkey.
Germans must speak openly about the issue and call the massacres of
Armenians by its real name.
Next year, we will commemorate the 100th anniversary of
the Genocide. Given this, can you speak about those archives containing
important materials and what else needs to be done with them?
There is a huge amount of work to do. There is much material of
historical significance. And there is much archival material in
Armenian. Memoirs written by individuals are plenty and a significant
portion of these archives are located in Armenia. With the research I
have done to date, I have revealed that there is little written about
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century. There is a
huge archival inheritance and our main concentration must be on
Armenians archives. In the end, we are the ones who speak and read
Armenian. It’s hard to imagine a non-Armenian scholar studying Armenian
to do such research. There are also the Ottoman archives, but I believe
the main archives are the Armenian language materials. We must study and
cherish these archives and protect this history.
Where do these Armenian archives exist today?
The most important collections are the church archives. They exist in
Armenia and Jerusalem. Let’s also not forget Aleppo, which is going
through some horrible times today.
Aleppo and the Armenian community are being destroyed right in front
of our eyes, and we haven’t been able to salvage enough of the archives
there. There’s a wealth of personal archives and photographs in Aleppo.
The town is famous for such rich individual collections. It makes me sad
to dwell on this.
And what about Armenia?
There is also a good amount of such archives in Armenia. There are
personal memoirs and collections that are housed in museums but aren’t
well researched. Yes, some work is being made in this direction but
tremendous work remains to be done.
You told me about your trip to Beirut to collect items
for Houshamadyan that Genocide survivors had taken with them when
fleeing the Ottoman Empire. One man approached you and said that just
the other day he had thrown away a large number of such items in the
garbage. You chided him by saying that those gems should not have been
discarded but rather handed over to someone like Houshamadyan. What’s the
morale of this story?
Yes, such an incident happened. At the core of our problem is the
following. Genocide survivors brought with them items that meant a lot
to them on a personal level. They lovingly preserved those artifacts.
One or two generations will hold on to them, but following generations
will collect all of it and discard it as meaningless refuse. When old
items lose the history associated with them, they turn mute and
meaningless. This is why some people discard such items as junk. The
memories linked to those pieces have faded.
So how do such items, so cherished by the original owners, lose their worth over time?
When an item loses the power of narration, of story-telling, it loses
its value. When memories fade, the item no longer speaks to us. This is
why, sadly, so many items of the past are discarded haphazardly. One of
the aims of Houshamadyan is to protect and preserve these items that
serve as the basis for our collective memories. We want to digitize them
and, if possible, to record and digitize the personal stories they
represent.
Western Armenia, the culture and society, bore the brunt
of the Genocide. Today, its surviving fragments are scattered around the
world. After all these years, it is evident that the diaspora hasn’t
crafted a serious plan of action to foster the aim of Genocide
recognition and more importantly, to draft a vision of what needs to be
done afterwards. As a historian what do you have to say in this context,
especially since your views can serve as a factual basis for future
action?
I would like to see us not only remember our death but also our life.
We must learn to become the masters of our history. If we have lost
much to date – our lands, monuments, churches and riches – we still have
our memories in the face of all that loss.
What has survived and reached us from the lands of western Armenia
are our memories. It is something we need to cherish and protect. I have
nothing against expressing lament. It is natural to lament the losses
incurred. But we must look optimistically towards the future. Along with
the lament, we must remember the living. We must seek to revitalize our
past.
"Hetq," February 10, 2014 (http://hetq.am/arm/interviews/32468/germanahay-patmabany-kahazange-halepi-mej-pahuats-cexaspanutean-hayeren-arkhi%D6%82nery-kochnchacuin-mer-achqerun-arjev.html)
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