Two communities connect

DEENA LEVENSTEIN

On April 11, 1933, days after new anti-Semitic laws were passed in Germany, Armin T. Wegner, a born and bred German, sent a letter to Adolph Hitler. In part, it said:

"I have both the right and the duty to appeal to you, for my heart is seething with indignation, and I was not endowed with the gift of speech merely to make myself an accomplice by remaining silent. The Jews have survived captivity in Babylon, slavery in Egypt, the Inquisition in Spain, the oppression of the crusades and sixteen hundred pogroms in Russia. The resilience that has enabled this people to survive to the present day will also enable them to overcome this threat. But the opprobrium and ignominy, which now adhere to Germany as a result of this, will not be forgotten for a long time!... Though all prefer today to stand mute, I for one can no longer."

Wegner was honored Sunday, April 26, at a collaborative event with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) and the United Armenian Committee of British Columbia (UACBC).

A German officer, Wegner served in Turkey during the First World War, witnessing the brutality that left approximately 1.5 million Armenians dead. The then 29-year-old documented what he saw using photography and writing. Turkish officials requested of Germany that Wegner be re-stationed. He was able to smuggle some of the photographs out and used them to bring awareness to the world of what he had witnessed.

In Wegner's letter to Hitler almost 20 years after the Armenian genocide, it seems as though he immediately recognized the Nazis' new anti-Semitic laws – for example, the boycott of Jewish professionals – as the beginning of a new genocide. Wegner was quickly arrested and tortured. He survived seven concentration camps before escaping to Italy.

Arthur Tachdjian, an Armenian Vancouverite, seeing a parallel between the Armenian and the Jewish experiences, had the idea of running a joint program. He researched online to find an historical connection between the two genocides and learned about Wegner. He had heard growing up that there was a German soldier who had taken pictures in Turkey, but he never knew anything about him, not even his name.

VHEC learned that Wegner was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem and the two communities decided to collaborate, using Wegner as the link. On Sunday afternoon, about 350 Armenians and Jews filled the Wosk Auditorium at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. The Canadian and Armenian anthems were sung and Frieda Miller, executive director of VHEC, gave the opening remarks. She explained the current exhibit at the VHEC – The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust: One Man Takes a Stand. It is from the Armin T. Wegner Society USA and displays many of Wegner's photographs from Turkey taken from 1915-1916.

Alice Wong, member of Parliament for Richmond and parliamentary secretary for multicul- turalism, read a letter from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, addressed to the Armenian-Canadian community and dated April 24, the 94th commemoration of the Armenian genocide. He wrote that both houses of Parliament recognize "the first genocide of the 20th century."

Adrian Dix, MLA Vancouver-Kingsway, received loud applause as he stepped onto the stage because, three years ago, he introduced a motion in the B.C. Legislature recognizing the Armenian genocide, which passed unanimously. He said Weg-ner is an example of someone who "stood up in his life for justice more than any of us could imagine."

The afternoon's guest speaker was Mischa Wegner, Armin's son, who flew in from Rome for the event. Wegner said that he only really learned about his father's past through his father's writings, after he passed away. He said his father "died" more than once and that he could tell that his father was broken and felt like he had failed to help either community. Wegner expressed the importance of making the next generation aware of "how easy it is that things that happened may happen again."

Nina Krieger, education director at VHEC, introduced Dr. Adam Jones, associate professor of political science at University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Jones spoke about what it means to be a witness, especially in the relatively new era of visual documentation.

The final speaker, Jack Deragopian, represented the UACBC. He said, "Denial by Turkey is a deep wound that just won't heal for us," and he expressed how impressed he was with the Holocaust centre's professionalism and work ethic.

Canadian-born Armenian Taleen Tchakedjian, 22, attended the event. "Even though we are a small community," she said, "we have two churches and there is a divide, so there was a lot of unity today, not just between the Armenian and Jewish community, but within the Armenian community as well."

The VHEC exhibit will be on until May 22. For more information, visit vhec.org or contact 604-264-0499.

Deena Levenstein is a freelance writer from Toronto, Jerusalem and now Vancouver. You can visit her blog at deenascreations.com.

^TOP