They Will Not Perish

Despite the good intentions of the Western Powers, the Armenians did perish, their extermination inspiring Hitler. The same happens to this day...

The United States contributed a significant amount of aid to the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide. Shown here is a poster for the American Committee for Relief in the Near East vowing that "they [the Armenians] "shall not perish."

 

Today, it is an offense in Turkey to say it happened...

 

=========================================================================

 

They shall not perish, we will see to that

For we are the Powers who are great

And the Ottoman Empire, for all it was, was weak

As is the current Turkish state

But perish they did, marched across desert

For been allied with Russis they were accused

To be, though most just wanted to live free

They were starved, shot and sexually abused

By a Muslim people who should behave better

According to their own law

But the genocide and crimes against humanity

Were recorded by the foreignors who saw

The bodies by the roadside, the mass graves

And reported home the horrific crime

That is a crime to mention in todays Turkey

And inspired Hitlers genocide in his time

To ask "Who Remembers the Armenians?"

When asked how to the Holocaust the West would react

Today in Germany its an offense to deny the wrongs of Hitler

In Turkey a crime to state the Armenian Genocides as fact...

Reviews

[writingRhonda]

The lack of punctuation in this poem illustrates the lack of intentionality of those who should have dealt with crimes against humanity. The three dots at the end imply that similar incidents will continue and not be prevented. When an idealist reads the words of a poetic realist, sadness results. And yet, there is still hope. What will I choose to do when injustice parades unashamed before my eyes?

[Gandré]

yes, that's why I have a problem with their becoming member of the EU. They still are breaking the rules and are not democratic, not in the common sense.

[Emily B]

But we remember . . . the crimes of the past are never forgotten.