Human Rights Champions Cardashian and Lemkin Featured in New CAR Books 1

Early 20th century human rights champions Vahan Cardashian and Raphael Lemkin focused attention on the Armenian genocide as an international moral failure and a crime against humanity. The Center for Armenian Remembrance in Glendale published two books in 2008 highlighting the achievements of these men.

Vartkes Yeghiayan and Professor Michael J. Bazyler discussed the legacies of each of these men yesterday at a free Glendale Public Library lecture sponsored by the Center for Armenian Remembrance and Temple Sinai of Glendale.

Cardashian (1883-1934) was a Yale-educated lawyer who worked in New York and actually represented the Turkish government until 1915. He quit representing his client at that point, and devoted the rest of his life to advocating international support for Armenia’s autonomy. He continually questioned United States government policy, exposed the motives of oil interests in dictating post-WWI policies, and almost single-handedly mobilized concerned citizens and leaders to form what is now the Armenian National Committee.

Lemkin (1900-1951) was a Polish Jew almost unknown when he died, who created the term “genocide” and urged the United Nations to make it an international crime. He became an attorney in Poland, escaped to the U.S. and worked for the War Department during World War II, and went to the Nuremberg trials after WWII. Lemkin felt the grave injustice of the Armenian genocide while studying law as a young man; he later lost many members of his own family during the Holocaust. As Winston Churchill called it a crime that had no name, Lemkin strove to give it a name and make it the crime of crimes for which perpetrators could be held to account.

Vahan Cardashian: Advocate Extraordinaire for the Armenian Cause
Compiled by Vartkes Yeghiayan
2008, Center for Armenian Remembrance, Glendale, California
Softcover, 353 pages
$25.00

Raphael Lempkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide
Compiled by Vartkes Yeghiayan
Forward by Prof. Michael J. Bazyler
2008, Center for Armenian Remembrance, Glendale, California
Softcover, 145 pages
$20.00