Editor’s Desk: Heritage, Memory, and Justice
(Download full PDF of magazine here)
In 1929, the Armenian author Hamasdegh made a pilgrimage to the Syrian desert of Der Zor, which he called “that immense graveyard of our martyrs.” Describing what he saw, he wrote, “It was in the immensity of that desert that I saw bleached bones and shattered skeletons, ribs ripped from spinal columns, knee caps, and skulls, all half buried in the sand. The Euphrates River had performed that interment under a cool, bone-colored moon. The flooding had formed layers, and in between the strata countless limbs and skulls, large and small skulls, stuck out.”
The cover of the Weekly’s April 2013 magazine
The bones—bleached, scattered—are still there, just below the surface of the sand. After almost a century, their story, too, remains scattered in memoirs, oral histories, and archives. As we approach the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the need to tell these stories, reflect on our relationship with them, and pursue justice for the victims and survivors acquires an even greater urgency. Commentators explore these issues in the section “Towards the Centennial.”
For the sixth consecutive year, the Armenian Weekly’s April Magazine tackles issues of heritage, memory, denial, and justice head on. In the section titled “Heritage,” our readers will see the places and faces that still carry the scars of the genocide a century later. And in “Discourse,” they will be able to look at denial in light of recent developments.
Today, April 24 also stands for the revival of a nation from the sands of the desert. Together, the articles and art presented in this magazine bear witness to that.