Like the
other student groups, this year the Armenian Students Organization of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem took part in the daily activities on the campus of the
University. For three days from June 8th till June 10th ASO intensively acted
in the campus. Alongside other organizations and parties ASO set up an official
desk in the central campus. Numerous pamphlets and booklets concerning Armenian
history in general and the Armenian Genocide in particular were distributed to
the students. Next year ASO will increase its activities by organizing lectures
concerning Armenian History including the Armenian Genocide and an Armenian culture
day will be held. 
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Monday, 28 June, the ASO sponsored a presentation by Dr. Adrian Parsegian,
on the subject of "Recorded Personal Interviews with Genocide Survivors".
Dr. Parsegian, a physicist from Washington D.C., began his presentation by describing his father, the late Dr. Vasken Parsegian, who in his late 50's realized that the Armenians who survived the genocide were gradually dying and their stories were untold. He began organizing interviews and recorded 200 hours of over 300 stories on tape. Dr. Parsegian has taken up his father's mantle, trying to find the right way to share this treasure with the world.
Nearly everyone present, Jews and Armenians, children and grandchildren of survivors, could sympathise with Dr. Parsegian over the anguish of those whose stories we heard. Gathered as around a storyteller,they listened intently as Dr. Parsegian shared his concern about how to disseminate this material. He worries about the problem of transcribing the material. How can one transcribe the emotion of the story by voice, the silences between words, the whispering of an unspoken word because mentioning that word brings back an indescribable horror? Then Dr. Parsegian replayed a story and this time one could hear the silence between words, the whispering of a forbidden word and the effort to express the horror replaying again in the mind of the survivor.
The
subject of what the Ottoman Turks did to the Armenians was discussed and Dr.
Parsegian mentioned that there were many Turks who risked their lives to save
Armenians, including a member of his mother's family. It is his custom, whenever
he meets a Turk, to say to him, "A Turkish man saved a member of my mother's
family. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will assume that you are that kind of
Turk and that we can be friends."
The presentation ended with suggestions and volunteers to help Dr. Parsegian ensure that this important historical evidence should be properly processed and made available to realize its best human value.
 ASO members with Pres. Magidor (center) and Prof. Michael Stone (right) |