Father Tatoes Abdalian Interviews His Father About The Armenian Genocide

World Affairs Council Of Austin- Armenian Genocide Curriculum- April 24, 2021

Turkish Author and College Professor At Clark University, Taner Akçam explained it this way, "We should study the Armenian Genocide because of three basic reasons. This is not only for the Armenian Genocide. This is generally for all genocide and all mass killings. One, to respect the victims, to accept their dignity, and to give an end to their traumas. Second, it is very important for reconciliation in a society, for democracy, for human rights. If a society cannot face its own history, it cannot establish a democratic future. And the third factor is related to the second one. If you want to say the sentence, "Never again," it can only be possible if society faces its history. If a society, if a state doesn't acknowledge its wrongdoing in the past, this means there is a potential there, always, that it can do it again."

This year, Father Tatoes Abdalian is working with the World Affairs Council of Austin, to bring an Armenian Genocide Curriculum Unit to teachers all across the world. He is working with Michael Cunningham, Director of the Global Scholar Diploma Program at the World Affairs Council of Austin. Cunningham explained, "Father Tatoes is truly a wonderful man with a powerful testimony on the importance of studying the Armenian Genocide. His father was a young boy during this time and in 1980, he sat down and recorded a great many of his reflections about what it was like living in the Ottoman Empire during this time. The two hours and forty-five-minute interview will help to give students a vivid mental picture of what was taking place 106 years ago. Our goal is to distribute this curriculum to teachers all around the world free of charge. We are changing how people view history by making history available to them in this nontraditional format. With the advent of blended learning and technology of today, we are able to bring the world to our classroom and our classroom to the world."

Ben Ramirez, Vice President of the World Affairs Council of Austin, "This program will make a great difference not only what we think about in school but how we think about the future as well. Father Tatoes has graciously shared this great insight so we can shed more light on some of the darkest periods of the 20th century- the time when the Armenians were facing the greatest of all challenges. This tragedy was compounded by political intrigue and double-dealing. Unlike other genocides, this genocide is not universally recognized and because of this, we are emboldened to teach our students of today that enough is enough. No more."