High School Students from Palm Beach County Learn About Armenian History, Human Rights, and the Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – Last month, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) hosted a group of high school students and educators from Palm Beach County, Florida for a presentation and discussion on Armenian history, human rights, and the Armenian Genocide. Nineteen students and eight teachers travelled to the nation’s capital to meet with various human rights groups and anti-genocide organizations to deepen their understanding of genocide and crimes against humanity. The group was sponsored by inSIGHT Through Education, Inc., a Florida non-profit that uses the lessons of the Holocaust and genocide to fight prejudice and bigotry and to encourage tolerance, acceptance and respect. In addition to the Assembly, the student group also visited Congress and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Dr. Rouben Adalian, Director of the Armenian National Institute (ANI), provided a briefing to the group and presented the exhibit “Witness to the Armenian Genocide: Photographs by the Perpetrators’ German and Austro-Hungarian Allies.” The exhibit includes ten posters with a detailed timeline, a color-coded map geographically matching the photographs with their location, and seven pages displaying 34 captioned historic photographs depicting the deportations, massacres, and concentration camps.

“The Palm Beach County students were already aware of the importance of addressing current human rights issues,” stated Dr. Adalian. “That made our discussion on the Armenian Genocide that much more informed, as they detected the patterns of discrimination and intolerance that can lead to gross violations forewarning of a genocidal outcome,” Dr. Adalian said.

The students were accompanied by educators Maureen Carter, Maureen Holtzer, Frances Kennedy, Tawny Anderson, Bryan Sandala, Tonisha Cook, Holocaust survivor Frieda Jaffe, and President of inSIGHT Roz Lewy.

Taniel Koushakjian, Assembly Communications Director, also addressed the group and discussed the role of the Assembly in educating the public as well as elected officials about human rights and the Armenian Genocide. “It is important that Holocaust and Genocide education begin at the high-school level and it is encouraging to see my home state and county lead in that effort,” said Koushakjian, a life-long Floridian and graduate of the Palm Beach County public school system.

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