our aim • home page • events •	• contact us • • italiano • links
"Memory is the Future" A Project for an International Committee Rationale The remembrance of those non-Armenians who helped the Armenian people before, during, and after the 1915 Genocide ensures that the narrative written about mass murder and deportations will not be only that constructed by the aggressors or re-invented by current apologists. The voices of non-Armenians who witnessed the tragic events of 1915-1923 save from oblivion the memory of the first Genocide of twentieth century. Who are the Righteous? A 'Righteous' person is a humble person, one who thinks according to a universal morality based on the rights of all men. A 'Righteous' person is someone responsible for even single act of humanity with regards to a victim from ethnic, religious, political, or social group which is at risk for Genocidal persecution. A 'Righteous' person, often at his own personal risk and with full knowledge of the evil which may befall him, sides and assists the victim. A 'Righteous' person, when acting on behalf of the oppressed, knows no homeland, no religious affinity, and no political affinity. A 'Righteous' person acts not only to save human life, but also works to secure refuge for victims of persecution. He may intervene through governmental institutions, find safe havens, document for the public record atrocities, witness trials of crimes against humanity, and procure humanitarian aid. A 'Righteous' acts to repatriate victims to their homeland and to compensate them for their losses. A 'Righteous' person thinks on his own and combats conformist mentalities which dehumanize victims. A 'Righteous' person fights for memory and against collective amnesia. A 'Righteous' person, in his very affinity with victims, preserves human dignity. Weak and wicked people are often capable of Righteous acts. A 'Righteous' person, unlike the hero or the saint who work towards an ideal, finds in himself the motivation for action. A 'Righteous' person does not anticipate heroic acts; he may side with the aggressors until he finds within himself the courage to oppose evil. A 'Righteous' person stands outside the veil of ideology, which allows political and economic exigencies to justify crimes against humanity, and sides with the suffering. Scope of the Committee 1) Research to designate the Righteous of the Armenians 2) Transport and internment of ashes or hearth from the graves of the Righteous to the Wall of the Genocide Memorial at Dzidzernagapert. [Click for the films] 3) Planting a "Garden of the Righteous" in collaboration of the Armenian Tree Project, at Dzidzernagapert. 4) Awarding of an annual prize in memory of a 'Righteous' person and the funding of dissertation research on the Righteous in collaboration with the Fondazione Stefano Serapian. 5) Presenting to the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia a program for remembering the Righteous of the Armenians. Trustees Giuliano Vassalli, former Minister of Justice, past President of the Constitutional Court, Italy Gaghik Harutunian, President, Constitutional Court, Armenia Laurenti Barseghian, Genocide Museum Director, Yerevan, Armenia Fedej Sarkissian, President, Academy of Science, Yerevan, Armenia Hrant Avedissian, Director, History Institute, Academy of Science, Yerevan, Armenia Gaghik Baghdassarian, Ambassador Republic of Armenia in Italy Raymond Kevorkian, Director Nubarian Library, Paris, France Alexis Govciyan, President, Comitè 24 Avril, Paris, France Claude Mutafian, Historian, University of Paris, France Ara Sarafian, Historian, Gomidas Institute, USA Hilmar Kaiser, Historian, University of Bochum, Germany Agopik Manoukian, President, Unione Armeni d'Italia, Milan, Italy Richard Hovanissian, Historian, University of Los Angeles, USA Alice Kelikian, Historian, University Brandeis, Boston, USA commissioner for the preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, Washington DC, USA Carolyn Mugar, Armenian National Insitute, Washington DC, USA Gabriele Nissim, Historian, Milan, Italy Carlo Massa, Film maker, Milan, Italy Henry Morgenthau III, Writer and Journalist, Boston, USA Antonia Arslan, Professor, University of Padua, Italy Gabriella Uluhogian, Professor, University of Bologna, Italy Boghos Levon Zekiyan, Professor, "Ca' Foscari" University of Venice, Italy Yves Ternon, Doctor, Historian, Paris, France Misha Wegner, Architect, Roma, Italy Sibyl Wegner Stevens, Writer, United Kingdom Ardavast Serapian, President, Stefano Serapian Foundation, Milan, Italy Matthew Spender, Writer, Sculptor, Siena, Italy Umberto Galimberti, Philosopher, "Ca' Foscari" University of Venice, Italy Pietro Kuciukian, Unione Armeni d'Italia, Milan, Italy Board of Directors Laurenti Barseghian Gaghik Baghdassarian Raymond Kevorkian Carolyn Mugar Alice Kelikian Ardavast Serapian Pietro Kuciukian The International Committee for the Righteous of Armenians is based at the Museum of the Genocide at Dzidzernagapert outside of Yerevan in Armenia Join by writing at support.yerevan@gariwo.net.	• Metz Yeghèrn   [Click for —› the films] • Shoah • GULag • Desaparecidos • Ethnic Cleansing • Yerevan —› Support "Memory is the Future" • Sofia —› Support the Peshev Memorial • Sarajevo —› Support a "Garden of the Righteous" in Sarajevo
	± top    « back    • home