U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (MA02) Delivers Remarks in Worcester to Commemorate 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

My dear friends -- I feel so very honored and very humble to be able to join all of you today to remember and commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It is particularly special that Archbishop Khajag Barsamian has come to participate in today's activities and remembrances here in Worcester, one of the oldest Armenian communities in the United States, and often referred to as the "first community." His presence lends us grace, and we are thankful he is here.

Worcester has been blessed with a vibrant Armenian community for much longer than a century. I have learned so much about that history from the Reverend Aved Terzian of the Armenian Church of Our Savior, from so many of you, and especially from my friend and mentor, George Aghjayan, who has written so beautifully about the histories of this community, both here in Worcester and about its roots in Armenia and Turkey. I cannot imagine Worcester without the Armenian-American community and its contributions.

On this special occasion, I would like read to you a letter I sent on Wednesday to President Obama. It grew out of a simple question I had asked George to look into for me -- How many survivors of the Armenian Genocide remain in Worcester? And that's how I learned the story of Rose Der Davidian, who is now 105 years old, and when she married, became Rose Der Sahagian, or as George writes, "Sweet Rose, the last survivor of the first community."

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