Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Mitchell Peters
Staff Writer
With the newest addition to his long list of published works, Peter Balakian visited California State University, Fresno, to discuss the major issues of the Armenian Genocide in his powerful new book, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response published by HarperCollins.
The lecture was held in the Wahlberg Recital Hall at Fresno State on the evening of November 2nd, as a part of the Armenian Studies Program Lecture series and was co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities Lecture Series, the Armenian Students Organization, and the Armenian National Committee of Central California.
The Burning Tigris gives a detailed history of the Armenian Genocide, the first modern genocide of the twentieth century, and discusses the vast outpouring of humanitarian feelings in America.
In his talk, Balakian addressed the standing-room-only audience on the main points of his book, reading chilling excerpts of the horrors that led up to and followed the genocide. He began by speaking of the importance of the Armenian Genocide and how its occurrence inspired Adolf Hitler to massacre millions of Jews.
“Who today, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians,” Balakian said, quoting Hitler.
Balakian described the massacre of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as the greatest crime of World War I, and a landmark event that permanently scarred the twentieth century. He also spoke of the many American heroes including Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, William Jennings Bryant, Henry Morgenthau, John D. Rockefeller, and Theodore Roosevelt who helped launch America’s first international human rights movement.
“I think there was a serious historical context for the presence of the Armenian people in the American mind,” Balakian said in an interview with Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program. “Protestant Americans believed Armenia was a very holy place and held it in very high esteem.”
During the genocide many American intellectuals intensely spoke out against the massacres of the 1890’s and coverage in the media was extraordinary, stated Balakian. “The New York Times in 1915 alone published 145 articles just on the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, so we get a sense of how deep this reaction was,” Balakian said.
He concluded his lecture by speaking about Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide. Although the Genocide occurred 88 years ago, Armenians are still fighting for its recognition by the Turkish government. “The Turkish government’s denial has provoked more outrage from more people that I would have ever imagined,” said Balakian. The Burning Tigris, on The New York Times Bestseller list for three weeks upon its release, is now in its eighth printing. The event ended with Balakian signing copies of his book.
Peter Balakian is the author of seven previous books, including Black Dog of Fate, which won the 1998 PEN/Martha Albrand Award and was a New York Times Notable Book. A prizewinning and widely published poet as well as a respected scholar, he holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University and is currently the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities at Colgate University. He lives in Hamilton, New York, with his wife and two children.