Sara Anderson
Sara Anderson has always known about the Armenian genocide but never truly knew what her great-grandmother, Natalie, had been through. In 1993, the year this picture was taken, Natalie brought both Sara and Beth (twin sister) onto her lap to talk about the experience she went through.
In an emotional state, Sara retold Natalie's story of leaving her aunt behind. The pain and trauma Natalie experienced during the genocide could be reflected in Sara's retelling of the story, the generational trauma was also passed down.
In 2015, it was the 100th year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Sara's son was given an Armenian Genocide Commemorative Coin in the rememberance of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide will not be forgotten as it not only caused Armenian genocide survivors and victims pain but also generations afterwards.
"I think it's particularly hard because here in America the Armenian genocide wasn't recognized until I think last year, maybe two years ago; in the pandemic I've lost track of exactly when it was finally recognized. But it kept failing to be recognized as genocide."
The failure of recognizing the genocide until 2019 has allowed the generational trauma to continue. There is no sense of peace for descendants of Armenian Genocide victims and survivors. Even though the genocide had ended, Natalie still did not feel safe.
"On the holidays, my great-grandmother would always have our meal together, the whole family around the dining room table. There was big picture windows in our dining room. And we had neighbors who were Turkish, and they would walk past the house on the holidays. We eventually had to start closing the windows because as their grandmother would walk past, my great-grandmother would dive under the table. Her chair would fly back: she's a 90 year old woman! And she'd just hit the floor, she'd dive under the dining room table. She'd be shaking and she'd be grabbing anybody's legs that were in reach and tell them that they had to get under the table, that they were coming for us."
Natalie's family members would witness moments like these and would see the fear and trauma when seeing a Turkish neighbor. Although, they may not have reacted in similar ways, Natalie's family was exposed to the fear and have been carrying this. Sara believes that there will never be peace after the Armenian Genocide until all genocides end because each new genocide is a reminder of the pain their ancestors went through as well.