Marjorie Housepian
Forty-eight years ago, in September 1966, this essay by novelist and historian Marjorie Housepian-Dobkin (1922-2013), Professor Emerita in English at Barnard College, appeared in the influential magazine "Commentary" (published until 2007 by the American Jewish Committee). At the time, articles of a scholarly nature on the genocide committed against the Armenian people (the Medz Yeghern) were scanty in English and essentially restricted to Armenian publications. Housepian's groundbreaking discussion was not only about the facts of the crime, but also about the aftermath, including Turkish denial and American ambivalent policies, and a critique of Western intellectual attitudes towards the Armenians. The essay remains a compelling read until today.
