3124 - Mankind and Time XIII

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Evi Charitidou

Is it possible to fight for the recognition of a genocide case without dealing with its survivors? Even though this is possible for a historian, it is not tolerable for somebody on the human plane. For, the Righteous are designed to help the innocents, and survivors are the part of innocents that is alive. Since all our actions are founded on the idea that history should not be erased, how could we not be sensible to creating it? How to work for the recognition of the genocide against the Armenians and still remain indifferent to Artsakh’s fate? Since genocide survivors continue to fight, to defend themselves and even to win victories against invaders of barbarity, how is it possible not to want to help them? Mankind and time fight against society’s domination. Would we wish to stay in the sidelines? We want to live in certain places in the world, because we deem them magnificent. However, the most magnificent places in the world are the ones where we would like to die. Sometimes, we hesitate to admit this to ourselves; nevertheless, we know that this choice is more important than the previous one. For, we may live in many places, but we may die only in a single one. Innocents lack this choice by nature. Whereas, survivors – to put it like this – have nothing but this choice. And to comprehend this, it is enough to set in our minds Armenians’ choice to remain in Chouchi city, while they were under siege by the Azeris. Even if the sky would fall onto their heads, they remained attached to their ancestors’ land. Thus, in this move, how is it possible not to see the mark of human dignity and time’s resistance? We will always find people in society to contest the survivors’ character. Yet, this is of no importance. The essential, though, is in actions and not in words. We love to listen to the music, but rarely do we pay attention to it. Yet, suffering is a kind of music that we listen to, as long as we pay attention to it. Here, the issue is not about listening to patriotic songs, according to the relevant expression, to satisfy ourselves. We have to comprehend what urges a survivor or a descendant of genocide survivor to persist to live despite everything and despite everyone. It is only in this way that we will comprehend the necessity which a Righteous man experiences in order to protect them. The answer is in sharing. In fact, this is the only means to share humanity and time. For, the struggle against barbarity makes Mankind grow older, as does the struggle against the present to the memory of the future. In other words, it is the essence that struggles against the power, intelligence against the system, strategy against the force. Mankind and Time evolve through our choices, because choosing means to be deprived of something. Choosing to resist, is choosing to sacrifice oneself sometimes; and, thus, choosing not to live. And, it is exactly this choice that characterizes our lives. Struggling for recognition would lack in meaning, if this would not have been completed by the necessity to work for Mankind and Time.