102nd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Peabody

By Ani Babaian

PEABODY, Mass. (A.W.)—On April 20, at 10 a.m., a flag-raising ceremony was held for the 102^nd commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in front of Peabody City Hall, led by State Rep. Tom Walsh of the 12^th Essex District.

Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. of Peabody was not able to attend and sent his apologies and regards. After the Armenian and American National Anthems, the ceremony continued inside.

State Rep. Tom Walsh presented his opening remarks stating that the Armenian Genocide ceremony has been held in Peabody for the past 26 years, and that by remembering and speaking about such events we can educate the future generations.

Rev. Father Stephan Baljian of North Andover’s St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church and Rev. Father Khachatur Kesablyan of Chelmsford’s St. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church held a requiem service to memorialize the victims of Armenian Genocide and the Late Mayor Peter Torigian, his sister Mary Torigian, and their family.

State Rep. Tom Walsh addressing thecrowd

Late Mayor Peter Torigian’s wife Jackie Torigian gave her greetings and stated, the Armenian Genocide was murder of 1.5 million innocent people and should not be forgotten. Then she encouraged all to watch the film The Promise.

Then Jackie Torigian introduced the event’s main speaker, educator and writer Ann Goolkasian O’Donnell.

Ann Goolkasian O’Donnell has given presentation about the Armenian Genocide to high school students and adults for more than 10 years. She is a descendant of survivors of the Hamidian Massacres of the late 19^th century. Her expository memoir entitled “Holding the Armenian Genocide up to light” appears in the spring issue of American Ancestors Magazine.

She started her presentation with “It feels so right to be here. We gather in the name of our ancestors, in the name of resilience, in the name of truth. We are gathered here today as a result of the work Peabody’s beloved Mayor of 25 years, Peter Torigian, himself a descendant of Genocide survivors… and of Mrs. Torigian who has taken up the torch, upon his passing, insuring we continue this tradition.”

Goolkasian O’Donnell always perceived a mystery surrounding her father’s family. Her grandfather Kachadoor, who was a 1902 refugee from Husenig, with his oil paintings and his moods, was the reason. She describes her grandparents’ house was with mysterious food, hallways filled with paintings, and “deep guttural sounds of spoken Armenian.”

At age six, when she asked why grandfather had no relatives, her Italian mother told her about the “massacres in the Old Country” for the first time.

Ann’s grandmother was also a survivor from an Aleppo orphanage, who came to the United States, pledged to marry her grandfather, whom she had never met, but established their own family and was his “backbone for 45 years.”

In 1996, after her aunt passed away, Ann was helping her father to empty the family home, paintings, handwritten Armenian pages, and photographs, which engaged her in “a quest for facts.”

Ann beautifully describs her conversation with her father during the house cleanup. Like many offspring of genocide survivors he was shielded by his elders from information about the horrific events “he had a subconscious knowledge of history handed down in whispers.”

Interested to learn more about her grandparents, she began with her grandmother’s story. Ann started to investigate the lives of orphans in the missionary care. “In Harvard’s Houghton Library I pored over the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and I came across a crumbling carton containing hundreds of tissue-thin data sheets. Each represented an orphan, and nearly everyone read: ‘Father killed. Mother raped.’ That day, the horrors of the Genocide became indelibly real to me.”

“My biggest surprise, was finding that my grandparents’ story were similar to the stories of thousands of Armenians, and, for that matter, Rwandans, Jews, Greeks, Cambodians, and other peoples… except, that Armenian stories are largely covert,” she said.

“My father was the first to marry and produce a grandchild. I am that grown child, involved in a life-long commitment to seeking facts and bringing the history of Armenian Genocide to light, though the Turkish governments, still strives to keep it in the dark. We are here today because of a promise we have made to ourselves and our ancestors, to never forget… our stories. We finally have a Hollywood film, The Promise. We continue to have our gatherings here, at the State House, and the Armenian Heritage Park, as a tribute to the resilience of the Armenian spirit.”

In conclusion, Ann mentioned the people who have inspired her, journalist and activist late Tom Vartabedian, and Dr. Ara Jeknavorian the head of the Armenian Genocide Education Committee of Merrimak Valley.

(L to R) Rev. Father Khachatur Kesablyan and Rev. Father Stephan Baljian

State Rep. Tom Walsh presented the proclamation from Mayor Bettencourt, which proclaimed April 25 to be the day to commemorate the 102^nd commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Peabody and gave it to the Late Mayor Peter Torigian’s wife Jackie Torigian.

Rep. Tom Walsh in his closing remarks said that Peabody will continue this tradition to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

This year there were no Peabody high school students present at the commemoration. The organizers explained that we are now in the middle of a school vacation, but hope that they would be present next year.

Peabody’s Former Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti and Fr. Anthony Pantilyan from Saint Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church of Peabody were also present.

After the ceremony, a light luncheon was served in the Wiggin Auditorium sponsored by the City Hall and the Mardiros Family.