System of a Down Takes Genocide Affirmation Center Stage

LOS ANGELES—System of a Down (SOAD) lead singer Serj Tankian challenged a capacity crowd at the band’s July 29 Hollywood Bowl show to imagine a world that had remained silent on the Holocaust, as it has on the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides.

With Daron Malakian’s soulful riffs of the Armenian ballad “Zepiuri Nman” (Like a Breeze) in the background, Tankian stated, “Imagine if this is the 1940’s, and World War II had just started, and America decided not to enter the war on the side of Britain. Imagine if Americans became allies with Nazi Germany and decided that we’re going to push away the Holocaust, never use the word Holocaust in government policy. Imagine what a life that would be.”