ALMA to host exhibit combining history of Armenian, Jewish holocaust

Full information.

SUNDAY, JAN. 20, 2-4 p.m.: Joint Holocaust - Armenian Genocide exhibit at the Armenian Library and Museum of America. Holocaust and Armenian Genocide survivor keynote speakers. Eight state representatives and four state senators to attend; Jordan Rich hosts; music, poetry and prayers.

Please note that a feature article on Meyer Hack and this event will appear in the Jan. 3 Allston-Brighton Tab.

Boston.com listing:
http://calendar.boston.com/watertown-ma/events/show/81062827-joint-holocaust-armenian-genocide-exhibit-event

For Immediate Release

Contacts

Armenian Genocide Exhibit and event questions:
Christie Hardiman, Public Relations Coordinator
Armenian Library and Museum of America
E-mail: Christie@almainc.org
Phone: (617) 926-2562, ext. 4
Fax: (617) 926-0175
Website: www.almainc.org

Holocaust exhibit questions:
Susie Davidson, Journalist and Author
Phone: (617) 566-7557
E-mail: Susie_d@yahoo.com

Watertown, MA--December 20, 2007— The Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) will be hosting a joint Holocaust - Armenian Genocide exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008 from 2-4 p.m. The goal of the event is to further enhance the bond between two peoples who have each suffered horrific crimes against humanity, as they continue to recognize common ground and share a hope for a better future.
The Holocaust exhibit will include photos, video, and valuables formerly belonging to inmates at Auschwitz that have been recently unveiled by 92-year-old Holocaust survivor and Brighton resident Meyer Hack. As a laundry worker, Hack retrieved these pieces from inmates' clothing when the latter was removed from them. Miraculously, he hid them from the Nazis throughout his years in the camps. These artifacts have not been publicly displayed yet, and after this event, they will be installed at the Holocaust museum Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in a special ceremony.
The Armenian Genocide exhibit “In Memoriam,” the only permanent exhibit on Armenian Genocide in the United States, is a memorial to the most tragic of all events in Armenia's 3,000 year-old history. The exhibit pays tribute to more than 1.5 million victims of the first Genocide of the 20th century. ALMA’s exhibit is intended to help the visitor "feel" the Genocide as well as "learn" about it by conveying the horror of those deaths along with statistics and other accounts in text and photographs. The Armenian Genocide exhibit will be accompanied by additional photographs from Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives. Among these will be photographs of concentration camps taken by an Armenian WWII photographer from Belmont.

Mr. Meyer Hack, Holocaust survivor and resident of Brighton, MA, and Mr. Kevork Norian, an Armenian Genocide survivor and resident of Arlington, MA, will be the keynote speakers of the event. Introductions will be done by WBZ radio talk host Jordan Rich. In addition to the exhibit and Mr. Hack’s and Mr. Norian’s personal stories, the event will include ethnic music by Armenian and Jewish performers Martin Haroutunian and Ara Sarkissian, Cantor Robbie Solomon of Safam, Glenn Dickson of Shirim and Naftule's Dream on clarinet and Grant Smith of the Klezmer Conservatory Orchestra on hand drum, as well as a poetry recital by an Armenian and a Jewish teenager. The event will begin with religious invocations by Armenian clergy and Rabbi Moshe Waldoks from Temple Beth Zion in Brookline.

Honored guests of the event thus far include: State Senator Edward M. Augustus Jr., State Rep. Ruth B. Balser, State Rep. William N. Brownsberger, State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, State Senator Anthony D. Galluccio, State Rep. Peter J. Koutoujian, State Rep. Alice H. Peisch, State Rep. Frank I. Smizik, State Rep. Timothy J. Toomey, Jr., State Senator Marian Walsh, State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, and WWII veteran and Dachau liberator Cranston "Chan" Rogers.

The event is sponsored by the following organizations:
The Armenian Library and Museum of America
The Armenian National Committee of America
The Armenian Assembly of America
Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives
The Holocaust Center, Boston North, Inc., Peabody
Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University, Worcester
Facing History and Ourselves, Brookline

Story behind the Holocaust exhibit:
Holocaust survivor and Brighton resident Meyer Hack lost his beloved family during WWII, but not his will to live. By exercising extreme ingenuity, he survived the horrors of the Auschwitz, Birkenau and Dachau concentration camps. His story is among the most harrowing and remarkable in Davidson’s book, "I Refused to Die: Stories of Boston-Area Holocaust Survivors and Soldiers who Liberated the Concentration Camps of World War II" (Ibbetson Street Press, 2005).
This summer, Hack, who worked in the laundry room at Auschwitz, uncovered a personal cache of valuables from his attic. They include gold watches, a diamond ring and other jewelry that he found inside the confiscated clothing of the inmates shipped to the camp. Hack managed to hide these items from the Nazis throughout his ordeals at the camps and a 1945 "Death March". In the final chapter of this fascinating story, Hack arrived at Dachau shortly before his liberation. Just as he was to be decontaminated and stripped, he spotted Avram Guttman, a man from his former town in Poland who had already gone through decontamination, quickly passed him the sock with the valuables, and was able to retrieve them later. There are no monograms or insignias or any other identifying information on any of the pieces. Photos are available.
Hack has decided to share his story and the items in an exhibit, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem is preparing a 2008 event and installation of these relics.

Armenian and Kosher refreshments will be served at the event, which is free and open to the public. It will be alcohol-free, all ages, and handicapped-accessible. There is on-street parking as well as a large parking lot behind the building. ALMA is very close to the Mass. Turnpike Exit 17 and is on the route of many MBTA buses (www.mbta.com). For more information please contact Susie Davidson (617) 566-7557 or Christie Hardiman at ALMA (617) 926-2562, ext. 4.

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About the Organizers and Sponsors

Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA)
Founded in 1971, ALMA’s mission is to present and preserve the culture, history, art and contributions of the Armenian people to Americans and Armenians alike. Since its inception, ALMA’s collection has grown to over 26,000 books and 20,000 artifacts, making it perhaps the largest and most diverse holding of Armenian cultural artifacts outside of Armenia. As a repository for heirlooms, the collection now represents a major resource not only for Armenian studies research, but as well as for preservation and illustration of the Armenian heritage. In 1988, ALMA acquired a 30,000 square foot facility in Watertown, MA – one of North America’s oldest and most active Armenian communities. The facility includes exhibition galleries, Library, administrative offices, function hall, climate-controlled vaults and conservation lab.
ALMA is the only independent Armenian Museum in the Diaspora funded solely through contributions of individual supporters. An active Board of Trustees and volunteer base augments the museum’s staff. Museum’s active schedule of changing exhibits includes the use of the library primarily by researchers and interested general public seeking research materials on Armenians. In addition, the museum sponsors lecture and presentation program on related topics.
Hours: Friday and Sunday 1-5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and Thursday evenings from 6-9 p.m.
Admission: Free admission for ALMA Members; $2 for students; $5 for non-members; Children 12 and under are free.
Driving Directions: Take route 95 to 128 to 90 (Mass Pike East) towards Watertown. Take exit 17-Watertown/Newton. Go North 1 mile towards Watertown Square. As you cross the small bridge, get into the 2 left lanes. Turn left onto Main Street. Turn right onto Church Street, and then turn right into the municipal parking lot.
MBTA Buses: 71, 70/70A, 57, 52, 59, 502, 504. Please visit www.mbta.com for schedules and maps.

Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives
Founded in 1975 by Ruth Thomasian, Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives is dedicated to saving the photographic heritage of the worldwide Armenian community. The Archives collects, documents, and preserves photographs of all subjects and time periods relating to Armenian people, their culture, and their country. Documenting the work of Armenian photographers is of special interest. With collections of more than 25,000 images, Project SAVE Archives promotes Armenian culture and history by making its photographs available for public use. Learn more about the archives at www.projectsave.org or call 617-923-4542. Armenian National Committee of America

Armenian National Committee of America
The Armenian National Committee is a grassroots Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANC actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues

Armenian Assembly of America
The Armenian Assembly, established in 1972, is a Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

The Holocaust Center, Boston North Inc., Peabody
The Holocaust Center, Boston North Inc. is part of the Peabody Institute Library's Center for the Study of Human Rights. The Center commemorates historical events through our programming and unique collection of books, videos, and archives.
The Center's goals are: to document and to preserve history; to reduce hatred, prejudice, ignorance and indifference through education; to prevent future tragedies through the study of the universal lessons of this period.

Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University, Worcester
The Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University is a thriving and an intellectually dynamic forum for education and scholarship about the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and other genocides around the world. This is the only program in the country that offers a Ph.D. in Holocaust History ad Genocide Studies.
The mission of the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies reaches beyond the boundaries of the University: to educate professionals of many fields about genocide and the Holocaust; to provide a lecture series free of charge and open to the public; to use scholarship to address current problems stemming from the murderous past; and to participate in the public discussion about a host of issues ranging from the importance of intervention in genocidal situations today to the significance of state-sponsored denial of the Armenian genocide and the well-funded denial of the Holocaust.
Dedicated to teaching, research, and public service, the Center trains the next cadre of Holocaust historians and genocide studies scholars of the future, teachers, Holocaust museum directors and curators, and experts in non-governmental organizations and government agencies. The establishment of this Ph.D. program has been acclaimed by experts in the field as the most decisive step to date in furthering Holocaust scholarship.
The Center provides a successful model for academic institutions and organizations both nationally and internationally. This program has an important intellectual presence on the Clark campus, and it sends a clear signal to colleges across the country about the significance of this subject for students.

Facing History and Ourselves, Brookline
Since 1976, Facing History has been engaging students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development and lessons of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the choices they confront in their own lives.