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(somber flute music)
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- [Man Voiceover]
It's not safe here.
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They want to be rid of us.
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(horses galloping)
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(somber flute music)
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00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,960
(woman screaming)
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(woman singing)
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(woman screams)
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00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,080
(man shouts)
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(man shouts in foreign language)
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(heavy breathing)
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(woman singing)
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(woman cries)
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00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,080
(man speaking in
foreign language)
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00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,040
(woman singing)
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(coughing)
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(man screams)
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(man shouting in
foreign language)
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(laughing)
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(eerie classical music)
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00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,400
- His life itself is a metaphor
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00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,960
of the Armenian history.
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It's like a personification
of our history of centuries.
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Were we as a talented people,
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given the way we have
been geographically
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00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,000
vulnerable to all
invasions from the East
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coming to the west.
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You know, given our history,
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00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,560
it's a miracle of
miracles that we have
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00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,280
survived as a people.
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- [Man Voiceover] We
are still Armenians.
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00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,160
An ancient people of
culture and dreams.
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00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:51,600
- When I was a little
girl, in San Francisco
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00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,160
with my grandma
Mary, grandma and I,
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00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,320
I would always hear
grandma singing songs
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00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,720
and she would sing
these old Armenian songs
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00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,040
and I didn't
understand the language
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00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,560
and I didn't know who wrote it
39
00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,160
but those songs
unconsciously went in me
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00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,080
and they stayed there
and they ruminated
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00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,280
and it helped me become who
I am now as an Armenian.
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00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,840
Komitas, his music
taught me who I am.
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00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,600
- My mother learned all
this beautiful songs
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direct from Komitas Vardapet
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00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,160
and many years later in 50s,
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00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,160
in grammar school, our principal
taught us Komitas songs
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and through Komitas songs, we
appreciate Armenian heritage
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00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,880
culture and Armenian life.
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00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,560
- His contribution is so
broad and comprehensive.
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00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,640
You have the spiritual,
the religious.
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00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,800
You also have the secular.
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00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,000
You know, he's secular
music is just as fascinating
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00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:23,280
as his religious
music and for him
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00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,560
to bring these two
together in a way
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00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,560
encompasses and embraces
the wealth of our culture.
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00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,720
While it is
predominately religious
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00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,920
and yet at the same time there
is this secular side of it.
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00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:42,160
- had many loses as a child.
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00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,840
He lost his mother during
the first year of his life
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00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,000
and then during the
first decade of his life,
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00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,440
he had many losses.
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00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,240
He lost his father
and then he lost
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00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,920
his rapprochement for education.
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00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:57,440
His grief was so immense
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that he started to
use the dissociation,
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00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,400
meaning like he put
himself in his own
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00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,360
where one doesn't feel any pain.
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00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,880
He used to wander the
streets of Kutahya .
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00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,640
Despite all this, he still
had his passion for singing
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00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,520
and his beautiful voice and
not only the church appreciated
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00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,360
his singing but also his
friends on the street.
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They would ask him to
sing, he will sing,
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00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:32,000
they'll give him food.
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They shared his food with him.
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00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,800
So that helped him
to make friends.
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00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,520
So in Komitas' life,
it's very interesting
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00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,680
how always, trauma was
juxtaposed with his immense
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00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,080
musical talent
which empowered him.
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00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,600
The two together
always balanced out
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00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,280
and this is why in his childhood
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00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,440
as long as he was able
to use his creativity,
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00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,600
his music, his singing, that
connected him to people.
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00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,440
- And so Komitas in
effect in his very person
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personifies Armenian history.
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00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,000
Which in effect was a
series of genocides.
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What happened to us
as a people in 1915
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is the last straw that
broke the camels back
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00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,440
so to speak.
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(somber classical music)
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00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:50,440
- Consider a
million people dying
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00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,480
or six million people dying,
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we can't identify with that.
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00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,040
I mean it's a statistics.
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00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,400
But when you see how it
impacts on one person,
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00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,600
that you can identify with.
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00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:11,240
- His whole life had been
surrounded with Armenian
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00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,480
and Turkish music and he
grew such a great love
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00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,880
for the folk music of the
Armenians and the Turks
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00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,000
which I think
contributed to his genius
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00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,120
in his later life.
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00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,320
One day, he's just singing
a nice old Turkish song
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00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,600
and this priest is
passing by his house
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00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,360
and he hears this beautiful
strong lovely voice
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00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,600
and he tells his aunt and uncle
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00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,040
that he wants to
take him Etchmiadzin
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00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,840
and he wants him to sing
in front of the Catholicos
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00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,400
and they agree and they
taken him to Etchmiadzin
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00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,320
to the mother church
and he has him sing
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00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,000
for the Catholicos
and the Catholicos
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00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,080
is just amazed what a
wonderful, beautiful,
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00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,200
strong voice this young boy has
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00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,480
and he says to him, Listen,
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00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,480
you're going to be
in the church choir,
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00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:00,880
we're gonna train you.
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00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,160
So they decide to send
him to Tiflis, Georgia
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00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,440
to the famous Armenian
composer of sacred music,
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00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:10,760
Armenian circuit
music, Yekmalyan
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00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,240
and Yekmalyan realizes
the genius quality.
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00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,240
So the Catholicos decides
to send him to Berlin
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00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:21,280
to the university to
now start studying
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00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,600
classical music and
learning about Bach,
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00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:27,960
about Brahms, about Beethoven,
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00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,000
all the classical composers,
he starts learning about
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00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,640
and at the same time, he
starts formally learning
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00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:36,640
the folk idiom.
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00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,080
Arabic music, Turkish
music, Greek music,
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00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,480
Jewish music, he starts
learning in a very formal way.
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00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,680
So now, he comes
back to Istanbul
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00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:51,280
and he puts together
this 300 boy's chorus.
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00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,200
- Komitas' composition
of the divine literature
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00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,720
really stands out among others
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00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,120
in that he has really captured
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00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,240
the very mystical essence
of the diving literature.
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00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,360
One could interpret
the divine literature
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00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,200
a variety of ways
136
00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,320
but there is always this
mystical element in it.
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00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,480
In that it is a
journey to heaven
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00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,480
and as worshipers, we
follow the celibate priest
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00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,280
in this journey to heaven.
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00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,960
It's like heaven also comes
down to meet us halfway
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00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:42,880
in between and to capture
this spiritual encounter
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00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,640
between us worshipers,
humans, and the divine,
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00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,040
putting these two
elements together.
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00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,280
Komitas has done it
so remarkable well.
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00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,800
- I was astonished,
I was surprised
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00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,560
that when the
Turks were planning
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00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:08,880
to annihilate our nation,
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00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,600
not only Komitas, (mumbles)
or other intellectuals
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00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,920
but the whole nation,
Komitas part of it
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00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,240
was thinking of
opening a conservatory
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00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,920
for the Turks in Constantinople.
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00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:24,800
- [Man Voiceover]
Sensitive heart
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and the thinking mind
of the Turkish nation,
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00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:31,640
I wish this for
you Turkish people.
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00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,760
- The Turkish language was
imposed on him as a child.
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00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,320
Was imposed on
(mumbles) Armenians
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00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,840
but despite of that fact, he
did not feel any animosity
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00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,120
neither towards the
Turks or the critics.
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00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,200
Actually, his mother
created songs and in Turkish
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00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:56,760
and when later on Komitas
returned to Kutahya
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00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,360
he collected still
people of Kutahya
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00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:00,800
were singing his mother's song
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00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,160
and he collected them
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00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,440
and he used to sing them.
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00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,400
So for him, music that
was the global language.
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00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,240
It was not Turkish,
it was not Kurdish,
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00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,080
it was not Armenian,
music was global for him.
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00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,400
- [Man voiceover] I tried
to get closer to see
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00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,400
what the place they
wouldn't let me.
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00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,000
What has he done
to deserve this?
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00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,840
- They're geographically
all from this area.
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00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,000
They live together, they
talk with each other,
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00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,960
they laugh together, the
children play together
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00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,360
and then all of
a sudden one day,
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00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,520
but it's not like that.
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00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,200
It seems that way but
there's growing unrest
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00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,800
all the time, growing unrest.
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00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,520
(tense guitar music)
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00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:55,640
- In the case of the Armenians,
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00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,640
certainly Hamidian
Massacres of the 1890s
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00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,000
and the massacres
of 1908 and 1909
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00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,360
were signs that things
were deteriorating
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00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:06,840
and the fact that Turkey was,
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00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,640
the Ottoman Empire was losing
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00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,320
all of its European possessions.
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00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,520
- Conditions radically
changed with World War I.
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00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,880
As Turkey enters the
war in November of 1914,
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00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,040
as a ally of Germany and
the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
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00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,440
it is catapulted into
a new sociological,
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00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,840
cultural, political moment
191
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,120
and part of that moment,
of course, means that
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00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,240
there is now national
militarization.
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00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,880
During times of war
and as historians
194
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:48,120
have come to quote this,
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00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,080
total war, societies
become militarized
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00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,760
and obsessed with
national security
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00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,480
and it becomes much
easier to carry out acts
198
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,360
of violence inside the
country during war time
199
00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,880
than it ever would
be during peace time.
200
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,000
So the war provided
the young Turk regime,
201
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,080
the CUP, especially
with Talaat Pasha
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00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,600
as the Administer
of the Interior,
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00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,320
with an opportunity
to solve it's
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00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,960
perceived domestic
security crisis
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00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,360
with it's largest Christian
minority, the Armenians.
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00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,800
- It just didn't happen one day.
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00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,120
It was happening and
happening and happening
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00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,320
and then all of a
sudden, it was huge.
209
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,240
- Whole sale massacre
and deportation,
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00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,360
forced marches, rape,
torture, and destruction
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00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,600
of whole cultural entities.
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00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,000
Cities, towns, villages,
libraries, churches,
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00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,160
could be carried out without
anybody on the outside
214
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,840
having too much visible
notion of what was going on
215
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,520
because the war create chaos,
distraction for everybody
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00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,640
and so the war is
important in context
217
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,680
for this event.
218
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,080
It's arguable that the
Young Turk government
219
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,840
could not have carried
out genocide as it did
220
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,200
without the screen of
World War I as its cover
221
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,960
and its total militarizing
social enterprise.
222
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,280
- [Man voiceover]
Dearest Margret,
223
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,280
I wish to be with
you in Paris instead
224
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,080
of this oppressive environment
225
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,600
of what now is Constantinople.
226
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,680
- Margret Popian came from
a highly educated family,
227
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,760
she came from Georgia
and then her family
228
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:46,000
moved to Paris.
229
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,800
Margret befriended Komitas,
230
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,080
Komitas befriended Margret.
231
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,640
Their relationship
was very multilayered,
232
00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,080
sophisticated, subtle,
and it's difficult
233
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,280
to put it in any certain mold.
234
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,960
Just to give you
the understanding
235
00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,200
of what their relationship was,
236
00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:12,760
when Komitas came from Egypt,
237
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,600
all he had conquered Egypt,
238
00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,600
he had given two
concert in Cairo
239
00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:18,960
and in Alexandria
240
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,280
and the people there,
they felt that Komitas
241
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,640
brought with him piece of
Armenia to this foreign lands
242
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,120
and he came and they
showered him with gifts
243
00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,560
so his self esteem
was very strong
244
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,600
and he felt so
good about himself
245
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,080
and this was in 19
somewhat, of 1911,
246
00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,240
he came to Paris.
247
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:40,960
He knocks on the
door of Margret.
248
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,040
Margret says,
"Well here you are.
249
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,920
I'm going on vacation
of Isle of White,
250
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,400
why don't you come with me?
251
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:49,800
You look exhausted."
252
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,240
And here they go together
to Isle of White.
253
00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,120
They stay in this little inn.
254
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:58,240
He plays the music,
they go on the beach,
255
00:17:58,240 --> 00:17:59,840
to for taking long walks
256
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,480
and here was this celibate
priest with this celibate woman
257
00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,640
not married musician.
258
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,840
Sophisticated culturally,
embedded in the musical world
259
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,840
of France, of Paris at the time.
260
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,000
They went on vacation together
261
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,600
and they had the courage to
be together at that time.
262
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,760
Their friendship told them
that we need each other.
263
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,200
- [Man Voiceover]
I'm in God's hands
264
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,520
but surely I will be rested.
265
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,040
- The priest of Atraban,
Grigoris Balakian,
266
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,840
who was arrested on the night
267
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,840
of April 24th in
Constantinople and survived.
268
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:52,800
The next four years in the
killing fields of Turkey
269
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,240
to write an
extraordinary memoir,
270
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:57,480
called Armenian Golgotha.
271
00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,120
In Armenian Golgotha,
the explicit impression
272
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,760
that is conveyed is one
of shock and bewilderment.
273
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,640
One of confusion and disbelief.
274
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:24,080
Balakian is a high
ranking (mumbles)
275
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,400
inside the patriarch
cave in Constantinople
276
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,560
and is a kind of
emissary ambassador
277
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,960
from the patriarch cave
to Europe and to Russia.
278
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,720
He's a very worldly guy.
279
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:40,040
In disbelief to this
storm, this bloody storm
280
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,560
as he calls it, that
has been brewing,
281
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,040
the impression is this
can't be happening.
282
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,080
We have had close
relations with the Ottoman
283
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,240
ruling leadership.
284
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,680
We know Talaat in particular.
285
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:04,040
We are in communication with
the Sublime Porte regularly.
286
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,200
How could this plan be
evolving in front of our eyes?
287
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,760
- [Man Voiceover] A
policeman who felt
288
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,240
that his job was to arrest me.
289
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,440
- How one day they
just came along
290
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,120
and pulled all the academics.
291
00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:28,640
It sounds like they just
one day they did this.
292
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,760
You don't just one day
decide that you're gonna
293
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,160
get rid of somebody.
294
00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,760
It's an actual plan,
it's a political plan,
295
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,240
it's a governmental
bureaucratic kind of plan,
296
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,640
and then they call
on the preparator.
297
00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,200
The one who's at the
trough doing the work
298
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,760
and say gather those people up.
299
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:57,920
- [Man Voiceover] It
was just a precaution,
300
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:02,400
I imagine, perhaps because
of the bombardment.
301
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,000
- There were rumors that the
police was gathering names
302
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,280
in cafes where Armenian
intellectuals gathered
303
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:09,720
and they were started to
304
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:11,680
take up the papers, news papers
305
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,920
and look at the signatures
and found out the names
306
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,000
of the people who
wrote the editorials.
307
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:19,800
- [Man voiceover] And
no it did not stop them
308
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,240
in 1895 or even just
six years ago in Aldana.
309
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,400
But those were the
days of the sultan.
310
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,080
We now have a constitution
that guarantees us.
311
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:37,840
- Greeks, the
Armenians, the Arabs,
312
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:42,000
and others supported the
Great Revolution of 1908.
313
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,400
The somewhat velvet revolution,
314
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,200
called the Young Turk revolution
315
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,440
which deposed the
sultan Abdul Hamid II
316
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,520
from political power.
317
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,960
So July, 1908,
the Ottoman Empire
318
00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:02,040
is no longer a theocracy.
319
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,720
It was perceived as a very
hopeful exciting moment.
320
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,520
A moment that might
finally implement
321
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,680
the long hoped for reforms
322
00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:20,640
for minority groups
inside of Turkey,
323
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,600
constitutional reforms
that had been promised
324
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,160
since the mid 19th century,
325
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,400
a time that was
perceived as bringing
326
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,560
a new multicultural
potential equality
327
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:34,920
through the Ottoman empire
328
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,320
and long sought after change.
329
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,840
- [Man Voiceover] My
friends, you must not worry,
330
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,920
the constitution is for us.
331
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,360
You must, I must believe this.
332
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,480
- But the revolution
was short lived.
333
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,800
Within half a year, the sultans
334
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:58,440
counter revolutionary forces
335
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,560
are trying to bring down
336
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,640
the new secular
Young Turk government
337
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:10,680
and I would note that that
government of 1908, 1909,
338
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,280
is still a moderate
hopeful, more inclusive
339
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,840
and liberal group
340
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,160
but with a succession
of violent events,
341
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,760
the counter revolution
that I just mentioned
342
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,520
in 1909, and then the outbreak
343
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,600
of the two Balkan
Wars, 1912 and 1913,
344
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,520
the moderate new Young
Turks were gotten rid of
345
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,280
by violent revolution
by this new group,
346
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,400
Enver, Talaat, and Djemal.
347
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,400
Who would seize power in 1913
348
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,960
and institute and implement
349
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,960
more extreme nationalism
350
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,480
and one that was
predicated on a pan Turkish
351
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,400
ideology that
advocated that Turkey
352
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,040
could only be
restored to its health
353
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,680
and well being by purging Turkey
354
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,160
of its minority elements.
355
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,680
Its minority population,
356
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,080
especially the
Christian minorities.
357
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,280
So pan Turkism now evolves
as a more virulent ideology
358
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,360
of the new Ittihad party,
359
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,320
the new Committee of
Union and Progress party
360
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,440
and we are in a very
different place by 1914
361
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:38,880
as the war comes.
362
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,720
We have a group running
Turkey with a staunch
363
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,560
and extreme nationalist
ideology to make Turkey
364
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,920
Islamically homogenous.
365
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,360
- They didn't have orders
to kill them immediately
366
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:02,000
but they were pre planning,
they were weakening them.
367
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,640
This were all very
highly educated,
368
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,960
intellectually
sophisticated people
369
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,680
who had ideas about
liberty, about democracy,
370
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,760
so they knew that all
what is happening to them
371
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,440
was illegal and it
was not to be done.
372
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,520
So therefore, to be
able to break them,
373
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,680
they used all this secrecy
374
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,280
and predictability,
this matter of cruelty,
375
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,360
psychological cruelty.
376
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,080
- [Man Voiceover] Come on
my friend, this terrible
377
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:39,760
joke is nearly over.
378
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,520
- It was done in a
such a secretive way.
379
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:45,720
In the middle of the night,
they came to their homes
380
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,560
and they say, please come to
the central police station.
381
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,960
The commissioner has a
few questions to ask you.
382
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,480
Sometimes people left with,
you know, their pajamas on
383
00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,040
and they went because they
were just very consciously,
384
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,320
the were going to be
asked a few questions.
385
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,920
Something very funny which
confuses them even further
386
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,400
that among the group,
there was some other people
387
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,440
who didn't belong
to this intellectual
388
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,280
of Armenians of Constantinople.
389
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,400
For example, there was
the Butcher of the street.
390
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,280
Armenian Butcher of the street
391
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,000
but his name happened
to be the same name
392
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:22,480
as another Armenian intellectual
393
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,240
so the police didn't
differentiate who was,
394
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,040
so this butcher was there
with his bloody apron on.
395
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,120
The people didn't understand
what he was doing there
396
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:33,800
which was further confusing them
397
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,960
and they thought,
this must be a joke.
398
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,560
- The CUPs plan to solve it's
perceived Armenian problem
399
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,400
through genocide,
through mass killing,
400
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,280
forced marches,
and the destruction
401
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,800
of Armenian cultural artifacts
402
00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,320
and architecture and towns
and villages and cities.
403
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,480
Evolves, it begins within
the context of World War I
404
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,880
began as Enver proclaimed
the Armenian soldiers
405
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,920
at the Russian Turkish border
406
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,760
to be unreliable,
to be sagacious,
407
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,680
even though Enver
made a disastrous
408
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,120
military blunder in the
Battle of Sarikamish
409
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:35,000
in late December of 1914
and early January of 1915,
410
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,040
he really scapegoated
the Armenian soldiers.
411
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,320
So by the winter of 1915,
the Turkish government
412
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,840
has decided to strip all
the Armenian soldiers
413
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,360
of their weapons and put
them into labor battalions
414
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:51,160
and now, they
become sitting ducks
415
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,040
to be mass killed.
416
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,880
So they will be
killed systematically
417
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,240
throughout the winter and
into the summer of 1915
418
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,800
and by this method,
the Turkish government
419
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,800
has already succeeded
in eradicating
420
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,200
the most potent part of
the Armenian population,
421
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,160
its able bodied
man from the ages
422
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,360
of about 15 to 45.
423
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:21,360
The next population
that would be targeted
424
00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:24,000
would be the intellectuals
and the cultural leaders
425
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,200
and of course this brings us
into the story of Komitas.
426
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,840
In Constantinople, now
Istanbul, on April 24 of 1915,
427
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,280
about 250 to 300
Armenian cultural leaders
428
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,000
were arrested and
by cultural leaders,
429
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,880
I mean poets, playwrights,
novelists, journalists,
430
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:53,040
teachers, academics, clergy,
wealthy philanthropists
431
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,400
of culture, publishers,
magazine editors, and so on.
432
00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,520
All rounded up, arrested
from their houses,
433
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,440
taken from their houses
in the middle of night
434
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,920
and deported by bus,
ferry, and then train
435
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:18,240
to two prisons about 200
miles East of Istanbul.
436
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,400
Most of them were killed and
tortured in these prisons.
437
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,320
A few survived and
this act would be
438
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,280
reenacted in the summer
of 1915 several times
439
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,240
throughout Turkey in
order to eliminate
440
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,240
the cultural elite
and the intellectuals
441
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,080
and the logic here
is very obvious.
442
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,920
You want to cut the
head off of the culture
443
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,200
to pull its tongue out,
to silence its voice
444
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,040
because once you get
rid of the able bodied
445
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,320
man who could resist massacre,
446
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,440
you want to get rid of
those who can speak,
447
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:06,000
protest, write, and communicate
with the outside world,
448
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,200
so no you've gotten
rid of that group.
449
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:12,040
- They didn't know
what was going on
450
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,440
cause no one would reveal
that information to them.
451
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,280
No one would give
them that information.
452
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:19,840
Whats happening?
453
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,480
They could ask that question
as many times as they wanted
454
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,200
but the answer would
never come back to them.
455
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,200
They just kept doing
what they had to do.
456
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:31,840
That is, I'm gonna
get up in the morning
457
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,080
and I'm gonna take the food
458
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,160
and when they ask me to
leave I'm gonna leave
459
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,000
because when they would ask
them when are they coming home,
460
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:46,600
they did not get an answer
461
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,040
and then one day they
go and they're all gone.
462
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,480
- By the late spring of 1915,
463
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,080
the bulk of the Armenian
population that's left in Turkey
464
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,720
includes women,
children, the elderly.
465
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,000
There are still some
man and some boys
466
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,280
but mostly women,
children, the elderly
467
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,360
and they will now
be arrested on mass
468
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,960
and marched south and east
469
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,040
to the Syrian desert
470
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:20,080
and if they hadn't
been killed by the time
471
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:21,240
they got to the Syrian desert,
472
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,640
they were to die in encampments
473
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,160
and camps in this
ungodly hot arid region,
474
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,720
circled around the famous
epicenter of Dier ez-Zor
475
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,920
which is really the
kind of Auschwitz
476
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,400
of the Armenian genocide
477
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,160
where 400 to 450,000
people perished.
478
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,400
Now add that about
1.2 to 1.5 million,
479
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,600
that's an enormous
epicenter of death.
480
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,560
- Komitas identified
himself with Armenian people
481
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,440
and here they were being
killed on a massive scale.
482
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,240
It was crazy what was
going on, it was insane
483
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:07,040
what was going on and
how Komitas was going
484
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,000
to be able to accept
what had happened,
485
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,400
what was happening around him.
486
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,560
So here it was, magnified
100 times his childhood.
487
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,720
- If somebody's saying,
quick quick quick hurry,
488
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:29,400
we're leaving.
489
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,640
We're all packed up,
we're waiting for you
490
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,480
and there's Turkish
soldiers there
491
00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,480
saying get ready, why
are you taking so much?
492
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:42,920
You don't have to take so much.
493
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:44,600
You're probably gonna come back.
494
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:45,720
We don't know.
495
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:46,720
Don't lock the door.
496
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,080
You don't have to lock the door.
497
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:49,880
There's nothing to protect here.
498
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,520
You don't have to
worry about it.
499
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:52,560
Get in the line.
500
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,600
Let's go and there's stories
501
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,440
where they just
get into that mode
502
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:04,120
and they just follow the
orders and they do it
503
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,280
because they really don't
have the full picture.
504
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:12,280
They don't see, oh we're
gonna go to New York and back.
505
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,600
They don't even have
destination in mind.
506
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:16,800
We're just moving.
507
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,400
We're deporting you,
508
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:19,600
we're getting you out of here
509
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,160
and when this is all
over, you can come back
510
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,480
and they don't understand why
511
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,720
they just know
they're doing that.
512
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,480
We can go to Guatemala,
where one day
513
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,600
the government sends
the perpetrators out.
514
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:40,120
We need to get rid of all
the men in the villages
515
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,640
and so they separate
them, take them
516
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,320
in hearing distance of
the women and children
517
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:48,800
and shoot them all
518
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,440
and leave the
women and children.
519
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,600
Just to get rid of that
indigenous culture in Guatemala.
520
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,040
They were the people
that were there first.
521
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:06,400
It's just like us.
522
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,560
We were the people
that were there first.
523
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,800
Let's get them out of here.
524
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,600
- a lot of the killing
was done by hand,
525
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,880
it was done with
farm implements,
526
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,720
cannery and butcher tools,
527
00:34:21,720 --> 00:34:24,400
it was war time and
the Turkish government
528
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,480
was trying to save its resources
529
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,440
for the killing it
had to do on the front
530
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,240
and so the killing was gruesome.
531
00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:33,800
It's closer to the
kind of killing
532
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,320
that was done during
the Rwandan genocide.
533
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,200
- It was just a matter of
getting rid of these people
534
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:43,680
and, I think that,
535
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,800
I think that the
people at the bottom
536
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,600
that were doing the
work, the killing,
537
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,760
just get so desensitized that
it's just nothing to them
538
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,680
and in the case of
the Guatemalans,
539
00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,800
the anthropologist
who's doing the work
540
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,000
in Guatemala to open the
graves and look at these bones,
541
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,160
he notices that it's
not a matter of them
542
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,560
just shooting them, but they
would come and shoot them
543
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,680
and then hit them
and then carve them
544
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,640
and continue to kill them
and kill them and kill them
545
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,960
when they're already
dead in what he states,
546
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:33,520
is an overkill.
547
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:35,560
It's an overkill
548
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,640
and in Rwanda, the story
was that one of the
549
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,880
perpetrators said
the body was soft
550
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,800
and it was easy and it's like
551
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,600
we already hunted
them and run them down
552
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,800
and so then we just kill them
553
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,440
and then we just slice them up
554
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,360
because they're
soft and it's easy.
555
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:01,960
- During the Armenian genocide
556
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,880
we have a lot of butchering done
557
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,040
and again, women and children,
558
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,400
it was a high degree
of sexual violence,
559
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,280
of rape and of the
abduction and theft
560
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,000
of women into harems
and into slave auctions.
561
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,960
- And the small
children that were
562
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,040
two and three and
five and seven and 10
563
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,440
were experiencing things that
564
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,120
were, that are
totally unexplainable
565
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:42,960
if you're a child.
566
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:47,400
If you're three years old and
you've lived 1,000 days or so,
567
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,600
what can you understand about
seeing a bloated dead body
568
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:54,200
along your path?
569
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:57,840
What can you
understand about that?
570
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,200
It's not a cow or
a dog or a pig,
571
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,880
it's a human, it's somebody
that you're walking next to.
572
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,200
It's the possibility
of being you
573
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,080
and you can't even
make sense of that
574
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:10,640
because you're so tiny
575
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:14,800
and your thought process is so
inexperienced with violence.
576
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,000
So then what happens is that
577
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:23,760
depression and,
578
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,040
and the successive
images of violence
579
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:39,280
are penetrated in the thought
process of these children
580
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:45,080
and they grow up, some of
them losing their parents,
581
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:49,440
some of them never seeing
their parents again,
582
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,240
some of them running
and hiding and watching
583
00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:53,240
other atrocities
584
00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:55,880
and with no one to
talk to about it
585
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,480
expect experiencing a fear
586
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:01,040
that they don't even understand.
587
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:02,640
Why am I so afraid?
588
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,640
Why am I so afraid?
589
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,240
I don't even understand this
590
00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:08,960
cause they don't
understand death.
591
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:10,280
They're all new.
592
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:14,760
- What happens to people
when we've had this
593
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,120
wound that no one
wants to acknowledge
594
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,640
and how do you deal with that?
595
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:24,200
- This process of
genocide and when
596
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,480
we're having it occur today
597
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,520
and we can't step in
and nip it in the bud
598
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:35,080
so that we don't have
it get to this point,
599
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:37,480
that's scary.
600
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:42,080
That's very scary, that
we are not wise enough
601
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,240
to say, all these steps
are happening again
602
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:47,680
and we're in the 21st century
603
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,520
and we're not gonna stop it
604
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,120
because we're not sure
if that's what it is
605
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:54,760
and then when it's over we say,
606
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,640
I think this might
of been genocide
607
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:03,080
and then we have this whole
society that's damaged again.
608
00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:26,800
- After World War I, I
mean the story did get out.
609
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,880
The story was big news,
it was big news certainly
610
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,360
that Armenians were
Christians and there were
611
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:36,000
so many missionaries who
reported on what was happening,
612
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,960
the relief efforts and
Morgenthau's statements,
613
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:45,240
his book came out
immediately after the war,
614
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:46,840
actually during the war.
615
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,600
There was a lot
of attention paid
616
00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,040
but then when Otto
Turk basically restored
617
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,720
Turkish sovereignty and decided
618
00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:56,440
that this shouldn't be part
619
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,440
of the national
narrative of Turkey,
620
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,160
the story was largely suppressed
621
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:06,320
and almost every country
that they had relations with,
622
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,600
Turkey, there were economic
interest from oil leases
623
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,240
that they got from
dismantling the Ottoman Empire
624
00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:18,080
if you were interested
in containing communism,
625
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,200
you had Turkey there.
626
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,040
If you were Russians and
you had a large Armenian
627
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,200
population, you didn't
want there to be too much
628
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,600
Armenian nationalism,
629
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,280
which might draw you into a war.
630
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,640
- Every village, town,
and Armenian quarter
631
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:37,640
of a city was emptied of
its Armenian population
632
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,800
and the death tolls range
from 1.2 to 1.5 million.
633
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:48,880
The fact remains that out
of about two to 2.5 million
634
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:51,880
Armenians in Turkey in 1914,
635
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,760
less than 100,000
remained after 1920
636
00:40:55,760 --> 00:41:00,040
to give you a sense of
the eradication process
637
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,720
of this particular genocide.
638
00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:05,240
At the cusp of the modern age.
639
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:13,160
- The 12 month genocide
640
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,000
when genocide reenacts
641
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,920
all (mumbles)
642
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,640
the many many
loses, the poverty,
643
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,440
loss of his friends,
644
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,360
loss of his community.
645
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,640
Mass murder of his
intellectual friends
646
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,000
with whom all he knew
in Constantinople.
647
00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:42,560
- [Man Voiceover] Our
journey's almost over.
648
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:44,520
A place called Cankiri.
649
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,000
- The Cankiri experience
was very pivotal
650
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,280
in what happened later
on in Komitas' life.
651
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:56,240
The majority of
Armenian intellectuals
652
00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:58,800
of Constantinople
were rounded up.
653
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:00,680
They were in the same party.
654
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:03,640
The didn't know what was
going to happen to them.
655
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:08,200
They were not told, why
were they were arrested
656
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:10,800
and were they were being taken.
657
00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,680
- The journey is marked by
658
00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:22,920
a horrendous night
at the central prison
659
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,360
in the center of
Constantinople Istanbul.
660
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,600
- During this (mumbles)
they had used many vehicles.
661
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:36,040
Initially they walked
and then they were put
662
00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:40,040
on a steam ship and then
they were put on trains
663
00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,520
and then pushed in carts.
664
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:46,000
Just imagine yourself,
665
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,880
you're being driven
destination you don't know.
666
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,120
You are being taken, you
don't know the reason
667
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,480
why you're taken away.
668
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,960
- The Armenians are surrounded
by militia and police
669
00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:07,880
in large numbers,
you know to the point
670
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:11,400
where they're shocked that
there so many people on them
671
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:15,000
and of course, they
don't really understand
672
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,920
why this is happening to them.
673
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:23,120
That's what's like dramatic
in the Balakian memoir.
674
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,960
Everybody's saying
whats going on?
675
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:29,760
What have we done?
676
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:31,600
Why is this happening?
677
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,680
- During that three days,
that lasted 72 hours,
678
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:40,040
from Constantinople to
Central Jail and then
679
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,840
on those different
transportation modalities
680
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:45,880
until Ayas and Cankiri.
681
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:47,240
Nobody protested.
682
00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:52,800
Really, there was this
still not understandable
683
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:54,400
to me, helplessness
684
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,960
but over the centuries,
being subjected
685
00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:02,440
to the will of a dictatorship,
686
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:10,440
you lose that common sense
that some of the others.
687
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,680
(drowned out by music)
688
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:15,880
Who wrote his memoirs about
road to Cankiri with Komitas,
689
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:19,080
let's say that we were aware
that something was cooking
690
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,080
and very interestingly,
Armando says,
691
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:25,160
like a sheep, taken
to the slaughter.
692
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:29,480
As if our coalition
was taken away from us
693
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,560
and he described that
helplessness and hopelessness
694
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,000
and then he says on the road,
695
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:38,040
we realize we better
start to understand
696
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,920
and watch what's going on
697
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:44,440
and because he put
on that aloofness,
698
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:46,280
he was able to survive.
699
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,800
- To see this in a
narrative account
700
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:55,720
of the journey to Cankiri
is a great indication
701
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,000
of the sense of shock and terror
702
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,320
that defined the states of minds
703
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,280
of many of the cultural leaders.
704
00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:06,480
Komitas is probably
the most dramatic
705
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:08,640
in that particular moment.
706
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,920
- [Man Voiceover] All of
my work, I left behind.
707
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,240
My papers are so fragile.
708
00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:22,240
They're sitting there in room.
709
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:26,480
- It was immense
pressure on the mind
710
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:31,600
of everyone, especially
on the mind of Komitas.
711
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:34,520
At that moment, he
started to like,
712
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:38,800
somebody else was
thinking what was going
713
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,160
to happen to my money,
Komitas started to think,
714
00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:44,320
what will happen to my
work that I left behind?
715
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,480
All the work of my life's effort
716
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:51,640
of trying to find the foundation
of Armenian (mumbles).
717
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:56,240
All his works of his
multiple orchestration
718
00:45:57,720 --> 00:45:59,680
and the Armenian songs.
719
00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:03,160
That loss was immense.
720
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:09,320
- [Man Voiceover] My
music, where is my music?
721
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:13,920
- That was enough to
break him and it broke him
722
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,960
and very simple
cruelty by (mumbles)
723
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:18,640
was the tip of the iceberg.
724
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:20,960
(drowned out by breathing)
725
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,080
After that, he was scared.
726
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:24,440
He was hiding.
727
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,000
He didn't know where
to put himself.
728
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,480
He wanted, I suppose he just
wanted to close his eyes
729
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:32,280
and vanish from
all that atrocity.
730
00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:37,440
- The scenes really depict
a kind of reign of terror
731
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:44,040
that's happening
for this arrested
732
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,800
subset of the
Armenian population.
733
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,160
- [Man Voiceover] Look
there, did you see him?
734
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:52,920
The (mumbles) is hiding.
735
00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:55,520
They are hiding in wait for us.
736
00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:00,240
- along the way, people
are already beginning
737
00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:03,760
to break down and one of
the most dramatic portraits
738
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:06,920
of a breakdown is
Balakian's depiction
739
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:11,360
of his carriage mate, Komitas,
740
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:14,040
who begins to lose his composure
741
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,560
and they're in the carriage now,
742
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,760
they're in a carriage
(drowned out by noise)
743
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,000
and the carriage is
a pretty rough ride
744
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,000
just on wooden planks,
bouncing pretty hardly
745
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,560
on this rough terrain
746
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:31,960
and Komitas asks
Balakian to pray for him
747
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:36,840
and he tells Balakian
that he sees fingers
748
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,280
coming out from behind trees
749
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,840
and there are no
figures coming out,
750
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:44,920
Komitas is already beginning to,
751
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,800
You know, become
extremely paranoid
752
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:50,720
and deranged, unhinged.
753
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,600
(eerie chanting)
754
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:28,360
- When he start to be delusion,
755
00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:30,000
he start to have illusions,
756
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:34,080
he started to make mistakes
between animals and people.
757
00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:37,040
He started to see a donkey
758
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:38,760
and he thought that
was a (mumbles).
759
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,080
So he started to have
secondary delusions
760
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:45,200
that were (mumbles).
761
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:48,960
- [Man Voiceover] I'm afraid.
762
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:53,560
- To a stake, (mumbles).
763
00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,720
They had lost that under
that tremendous pressure
764
00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:59,320
fear anxiety and the future and
765
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,360
to fear of losing
his life's work.
766
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:09,400
- [Man Voiceover] I
can't hear the music.
767
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:13,560
- One of the unique dimensions
of the Armenian genocide
768
00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,320
is the eradication
of the intellectual
769
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:27,000
and cultural leadership
of a whole ethnic group.
770
00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:33,640
There were a few
survivors but if we put
771
00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:36,320
this generation of intellectuals
772
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:41,000
into perspective,
we're looking at
773
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,720
the emergence of
Armenian modernism
774
00:49:49,080 --> 00:49:52,200
in the second decade
of the 20th century
775
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:55,360
and some of the most
important writers
776
00:49:57,160 --> 00:49:59,040
in modern Armenian literature,
777
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:02,440
Danial Varoujan, Adom Yarjanian
778
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:05,200
who went by the
pen name Siamanto
779
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:07,880
and others were important voices
780
00:50:09,360 --> 00:50:13,000
coming to their own,
they were all young
781
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,520
and they were all snuffed out.
782
00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:19,440
I would mention as
well, Krikor Zohrab,
783
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:22,840
fiction writer, they
were all snuffed out
784
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:27,040
and journalists,
musicians, composers,
785
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,160
Komitas is the best known.
786
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:36,760
He was snuffed out.
787
00:50:41,640 --> 00:50:46,440
- The social structure of the
community in Constantinople
788
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:48,120
was all broken down.
789
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,680
The Armenian patriarchy
was closed down.
790
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:55,720
The government had closed
down the Armenian patriarchy
791
00:50:55,720 --> 00:50:59,320
and so still some of
his friends, families,
792
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:03,080
came to help him,
gave him a hand.
793
00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:07,520
They took him to one of
the isles not very far
794
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:09,000
from Constantinople.
795
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:10,560
He recovered there.
796
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:14,760
He started to play some music
and he was feeling much better
797
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:18,520
and his fear of the
(mumbles) coming after him
798
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:20,840
was significantly diminished
799
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:25,240
but he stayed
there a few months,
800
00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:27,080
he had to come back
to Constantinople
801
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,440
and then he had
no funds anymore.
802
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:31,920
He ran out of funds.
803
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,880
He had no other choice but
to escape into madness.
804
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:41,320
On there is no feeling,
there is illusion of world
805
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:45,680
where you make up things
and you live with those
806
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:49,400
and reality's too harsh,
too painful to cope.
807
00:51:56,800 --> 00:51:59,200
He came so depressed
808
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:03,760
they had to hospitalize
him in Constantinople.
809
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:05,760
It was a military hospital.
810
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,920
Imagine Komitas was being
treated in a military hospital.
811
00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:16,680
Fear had set in his heart
and he was terrified
812
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,640
that we as going to
be taken to (mumbles)
813
00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:21,640
or to be taken away again.
814
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:24,000
He lived in a constant fear.
815
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:27,000
By 1918, after the armistice,
816
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:29,520
his friends, Komitas' friends,
817
00:52:29,520 --> 00:52:32,840
realized that he's
not gonna get better.
818
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:35,520
Turkish hospital.
819
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:38,960
Komitas' relationship with
everybody in Constantinople
820
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:42,440
was severed, he
didn't trust anybody,
821
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:45,840
he was taken by anxiety and fear
822
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:48,040
and they realized he
need somewhere else.
823
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:50,200
Maybe in Paris,
his beloved friend
824
00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:53,080
were helping to come
out of his isolation
825
00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:56,240
and interjection of
the outside world.
826
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:01,280
He had conquered
France and Paris before
827
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:04,600
and now he was coming
back as a broken man.
828
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:08,760
His pride hurt and how was
he going to face Margret?
829
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:12,200
He was now a sick man.
830
00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:16,120
Margret became his care
taker, his next of kin.
831
00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:22,200
Throughout Komitas' archives,
files, medical files,
832
00:53:22,200 --> 00:53:26,040
brought in Ville-Evrard
and Villejuif,
833
00:53:26,040 --> 00:53:29,280
these are the two French
mental health institutions
834
00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:33,440
where Komitas has stayed from
1918 until 1935, he's there.
835
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:38,280
You see Margret's
signature on receipts.
836
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:43,760
Payment of bills, on the
inventory of his clothes
837
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,280
and everything what a
mother, sister, wife,
838
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:52,520
next of kin will do.
839
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:57,760
So Margret Balbian was
all of that in one person.
840
00:53:59,720 --> 00:54:02,360
The mother that he had
lost very early one,
841
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,160
the sister that he didn't have,
842
00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:07,200
the wife that he couldn't have
843
00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:08,440
because he was a celibate priest
844
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:12,400
and finally next of kin,
a daughter or somebody.
845
00:54:16,120 --> 00:54:18,720
- Komitas' life, even
through the very end,
846
00:54:18,720 --> 00:54:20,120
is tragic illness
847
00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,400
and it's effects
on his incapacity
848
00:54:28,520 --> 00:54:31,360
to produce what
he was so talented
849
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:38,400
and equipped to do at
the height of his career.
850
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:40,800
All that had kind of dwindled,
851
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:43,320
gone down the drain, so to speak
852
00:54:43,320 --> 00:54:47,440
and it continues to illustrate
our history to this day
853
00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:52,560
in that we Armenians,
everyone of us,
854
00:54:53,720 --> 00:54:57,120
we are survivors of
the Armenian genocide
855
00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:03,680
in that both survivors and
victims at the same time
856
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:11,680
because given our absorption
with the genocide,
857
00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:15,960
our consumption with it,
858
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:20,040
has denied us of learning
more about our real history,
859
00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:23,880
our true culture.
860
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:27,120
Armenian civilization
in it's richness.
861
00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:35,880
- We have so much but
we have lost so much
862
00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:38,960
and when I am
singing these songs
863
00:55:38,960 --> 00:55:41,040
it is a funeral dirge,
864
00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:43,840
that's what I'm
singing at that time
865
00:55:43,840 --> 00:55:47,960
because I feel, I feel
what those words are saying
866
00:55:49,560 --> 00:55:52,240
and they're telling me the loss.
867
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:55,760
- We're reminded that Lemkin,
868
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:58,920
the father of the
Genocide Convention,
869
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:03,760
pointed to the
destruction of culture
870
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:07,520
as an important part of
the genocidal process
871
00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:13,960
and we don't, we don't
only want to focus on
872
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:17,400
the killing of people,
I mean that's important,
873
00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:19,520
but also the loss of culture.
874
00:56:19,520 --> 00:56:23,320
That is the loss of
libraries, churches,
875
00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:25,480
museums, artifacts, books,
876
00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:29,480
and the makers themselves.
877
00:56:29,480 --> 00:56:31,000
The cultural producers.
878
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:33,440
The playwrights, the
poets, the fiction writers,
879
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:34,800
the journalists.
880
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:37,720
So the assault on
the intellectuals
881
00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:44,040
in Constantinople and
elsewhere in Harpert in Vaughn,
882
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:50,200
in Di Ar Bek here, represents
this piece of genocidal
883
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:54,760
destruction, so it's
a very significant act
884
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:58,640
that so many and almost
all of these figures
885
00:56:58,640 --> 00:56:59,880
were wiped out.
886
00:57:01,720 --> 00:57:04,560
- He went from village
to village and collected
887
00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:07,680
over 3,000 Armenian folk songs
888
00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:11,240
that as a result of
the Armenian genocide
889
00:57:11,240 --> 00:57:13,320
would of been totally lost
890
00:57:13,320 --> 00:57:15,080
and we would of been devoid
891
00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:19,240
of these beautiful Armenian
village songs for eternity.
892
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:23,280
(somber flute music)
893
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,240
- Suffered itself as a culture
894
00:58:03,240 --> 00:58:06,440
for a long time
because of the absence
895
00:58:08,080 --> 00:58:11,680
of the Armenian and
also of the Greek
896
00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:13,880
and the Assyrian presence.
897
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:18,480
Because of the contributions
of these culture groups
898
00:58:18,480 --> 00:58:22,680
to commerce, agriculture,
and the other trades
899
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:26,120
and professions,
medicine, pharmacies,
900
00:58:26,120 --> 00:58:29,760
intellectual production,
all this was gone
901
00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:32,840
and the remaining
Armenian population
902
00:58:34,680 --> 00:58:38,040
which would continue to
dwindle, dwindle, dwindle
903
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:41,000
as would the remaining
Greek population.
904
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:43,960
That was most
dramatically dealt with
905
00:58:43,960 --> 00:58:47,480
with the Greek population
exchange of the mid 1920s
906
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:49,920
between Greece and Turkey
907
00:58:49,920 --> 00:58:52,760
but even so, in
the Armenian case,
908
00:58:55,280 --> 00:58:58,720
the Armenians became
a disappeared group.
909
00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:04,240
A silenced fragment of
a once thriving culture
910
00:59:07,600 --> 00:59:09,360
within Ottoman Turkey
911
00:59:11,040 --> 00:59:14,440
and the narrative about
what happened to them
912
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:16,960
was silenced by Turkish taboos
913
00:59:21,880 --> 00:59:23,240
and Turkish law.
914
00:59:24,960 --> 00:59:27,720
The story of the Armenian
genocide (mumbles),
915
00:59:27,720 --> 00:59:31,040
the identity of
Armenians was hush hush.
916
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:36,000
Armenians could not speak
their own language in public.
917
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:39,800
They were heavily Islamized
in a public sense.
918
00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:43,360
They were allowed to worship
919
00:59:43,360 --> 00:59:46,640
and they could speak what
they wanted to at home
920
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:50,680
but the Armenians became
a disappeared minority.
921
00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:55,080
(somber classical music)
922
01:00:02,680 --> 01:00:04,760
- Komitas had no parents
but Armenian people
923
01:00:04,760 --> 01:00:07,920
adopted him and he started
to identify with them
924
01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:11,960
and when after the
Armenian genocide 1915,
925
01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:15,280
when the people with
whom he identified
926
01:00:15,280 --> 01:00:17,880
and the people who adopted him,
927
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:23,200
Armenian people adopted
him as their beloved son
928
01:00:23,200 --> 01:00:26,920
when these people
started to be massacred
929
01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:28,880
and on a massive scale,
930
01:00:30,080 --> 01:00:32,720
that trauma was
too much for him.
931
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:40,400
- My mother was upset
what happened to Komitas,
932
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:43,600
very much disturbed
and I remember one
933
01:00:44,600 --> 01:00:46,800
of our famous writers says,
934
01:00:46,800 --> 01:00:50,840
I forgive Turks if only
they would save Komitas.
935
01:00:55,440 --> 01:00:59,320
- This huge baggage of
the Armenian genocide
936
01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:02,160
on his psyche was
a way to recover
937
01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,520
from this, it should
have been a miracle
938
01:01:06,520 --> 01:01:09,120
and there was no such a miracle
939
01:01:10,160 --> 01:01:12,360
and he died in 1935 after,
940
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:18,440
after a physical illness.
941
01:01:18,440 --> 01:01:21,520
He developed an
infection in his foot
942
01:01:22,840 --> 01:01:25,680
which became a blood infection
943
01:01:25,680 --> 01:01:27,560
and then he died from it.
944
01:01:27,560 --> 01:01:29,880
There was no antibiotics
to treat him at the time.
945
01:01:29,880 --> 01:01:31,880
So here, he melted away.
946
01:01:37,840 --> 01:01:40,440
- When he's taken to the asylum
947
01:01:42,480 --> 01:01:46,560
in Paris, he spent the rest
of his life as a insane man
948
01:01:48,560 --> 01:01:52,480
and he died, you know,
in this horrible manner.
949
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:58,080
(somber spiritual music)
950
01:02:12,720 --> 01:02:16,040
- In his childhood,
although he was deprived
951
01:02:16,040 --> 01:02:19,520
of many many things, but
still he had his creativity,
952
01:02:19,520 --> 01:02:21,200
he had his voice,
953
01:02:21,200 --> 01:02:25,000
it could sing, that was a
way of expressing his pain
954
01:02:25,000 --> 01:02:28,160
and through creativity,
through music.
955
01:02:33,840 --> 01:02:35,640
- [Man Voiceover] I will show
you how to read the notes.
956
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:37,680
You must trust the music.
957
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:41,280
You see, the lower
notes are necessary
958
01:02:41,280 --> 01:02:44,640
to provide a measure
for the high notes.
959
01:02:46,320 --> 01:02:48,800
Sometimes we must
trust the suffering
960
01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:51,320
that it will bring us through.
961
01:02:55,960 --> 01:03:00,600
- Oh he sees humanity, how
we outreach us to the others,
962
01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:02,800
not only to the Armenians.
963
01:03:04,440 --> 01:03:06,280
I believe that if Komitas
964
01:03:06,280 --> 01:03:09,880
after outliving the
genocide and the exile,
965
01:03:11,040 --> 01:03:14,240
he was in normal
health condition,
966
01:03:14,240 --> 01:03:18,320
he was going to be a
source of inspiration
967
01:03:18,320 --> 01:03:22,480
not only for the Armenians
but even for the Turks.
968
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:28,560
- The powerful story of rebirth
969
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:35,600
is the story of the Armenia
disappeared world wide.
970
01:03:35,600 --> 01:03:38,240
The rebirth of Armenian culture
971
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:41,880
in communities Europe,
in North America,
972
01:03:41,880 --> 01:03:43,840
in US and Canada
and South America,
973
01:03:43,840 --> 01:03:46,880
in Australia, in
the Middle East,
974
01:03:46,880 --> 01:03:50,160
especially in Syria and Lebanon
975
01:03:50,160 --> 01:03:51,320
and in Russia.
976
01:03:52,480 --> 01:03:56,560
In the soviet republic,
now the independent
977
01:03:56,560 --> 01:03:58,000
Republic of Armenia,
978
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,880
who would imagine there could
be a republic of Armenia
979
01:04:00,880 --> 01:04:01,960
95 years ago?
980
01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:05,960
So Armenians have
emerged from fire,
981
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:08,280
from the ashes.
982
01:04:10,080 --> 01:04:13,280
- We are more than victims
of the genocide, okay?
983
01:04:13,280 --> 01:04:15,080
We are survivors.
984
01:04:15,080 --> 01:04:18,080
(somber folk music)
985
01:04:42,440 --> 01:04:46,160
- Music, I think, is a great
way of connecting with people
986
01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:48,960
because it goes directly
through emotions.
987
01:04:48,960 --> 01:04:51,320
You know, what does
this mean, you know?
988
01:04:51,320 --> 01:04:53,320
It really is how
we feel about it
989
01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:57,520
and I think Komitas, he
can play that kind of role
990
01:04:59,920 --> 01:05:00,920
as a bridge.
991
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:06,760
- Because his songs
touches everything,
992
01:05:06,760 --> 01:05:09,840
the real life of
the Armenian people.
993
01:05:12,200 --> 01:05:16,600
- He must have been a
very sensitive deep person
994
01:05:16,600 --> 01:05:20,640
to penetrate the very
emotions of human feelings.
995
01:05:23,960 --> 01:05:26,640
This too comes out in his music.
996
01:05:29,160 --> 01:05:32,520
What makes us human
in the final analysis
997
01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:35,680
is that we have
mutual human feelings.
998
01:05:38,040 --> 01:05:41,440
Regardless of our
ethnicity, of our race,
999
01:05:43,480 --> 01:05:45,800
whatever, you know
the bottom line,
1000
01:05:45,800 --> 01:05:49,400
there are there's mutual
common human feelings,
1001
01:05:49,400 --> 01:05:52,600
that bind us together
as human family.
1002
01:05:54,720 --> 01:05:58,480
Komitas has penetrated
to the bottom of this.
1003
01:06:00,960 --> 01:06:03,800
- Komitas does not belong
only to the Armenians,
1004
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:07,800
does not belong only to
the years that he lived,
1005
01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:11,800
Komitas is not the tragedy
1006
01:06:12,760 --> 01:06:14,600
but Komitas is a gift.
1007
01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:18,760
Komitas is God's
presence among us
1008
01:06:20,320 --> 01:06:23,240
through his life
through a service,
1009
01:06:24,440 --> 01:06:28,080
through his work, and
through his immortality.
1010
01:06:31,480 --> 01:06:34,320
- You need not be an
Armenian to feel at home
1011
01:06:34,320 --> 01:06:35,880
with Komitas.
1012
01:06:35,880 --> 01:06:40,040
You sense his humanity, his
sensitivity in his music.
1013
01:06:56,080 --> 01:06:57,960
- [Man Voiceover] There
was a king of songs.
1014
01:06:57,960 --> 01:07:00,880
A minstrel poet
who played and sang
1015
01:07:02,240 --> 01:07:07,200
the nation songs of Armenia
for princes and kings.
1016
01:07:07,200 --> 01:07:10,400
The minstrel lost his position
1017
01:07:10,400 --> 01:07:14,000
when he fell out of
favor with the king.
1018
01:07:14,000 --> 01:07:18,160
It was only then when he was
truly free as a (mumbles).
1019
01:07:19,680 --> 01:07:22,920
(drowned out by music)
1020
01:07:31,240 --> 01:07:35,000
(somber singing in Armenian)
1021
01:09:32,400 --> 01:09:35,400
(upbeat folk music)
75357
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