I know that we in the United States probably will never go through what the Armenians or the Jews went through but if you were a genocide survivor forced out of your home, would you want to go back home? Why or why not? This question came to me after Mo commented on why would the Armenians want to go back to their demolished towns?
What would I do? On one hand, there would be many harsh memories and would I want to endure that pain? It's been almost one year since my Mom died and I still refuse to drive by the apartments she use to live in because the memory is too painful. On the other hand, as a land owner, would I want to abandon my property? Something familiar and a part of my heart and soul? Isn't that why the folks who lost
property in New Orleans go back, even though there are no services and their home are condemned? I wonder if the decisions are based on how well people are able to adapt. Those who can't, or won't go on want to live in what was comfortable. Those who can go with the flow or maybe have too painful memories are more than willing to move on. I'm not sure what I would do and again, I am grateful that I do live in the U.S. where Mother Nature probably would be the only force to destry my property.
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I agree with the idea that home exerts an incredibly strong pull on people--we've seen it time and again, not only with the Armenians but also the Jews in Poland(at the risk of their barely-recovered lives, regrettably)and the Palestinians, who all insist on the right of return as the price of any peace deal with Israel.
i'm not sure it's a great idea to be an Armenian in Turkey at this particular time, though. Go back to the main page, ciick on "The World" and look for February 21. Then listen to the report on Turkish ultranationalism. There are quite a few people who believe not just that Turkey is blameless vis-a-vis the Armenians, but that Armenians "persecute our people." That is really rich and signals a kind of attitude that would be dangerous.
It's scary and amazing what we can convince ourselves to believe. Remind me how the Armenians persecuted the Turks?
i do not know exactly what i would do. i would probably leave to NEVER return. i would probably hold a deep hatred for that group who made me homeless. i would probably also hold a deep unrepentent grudge to the individual people who put in that place. however though since i do not reconize people very well i do not think i would want too pick a guy 20-30-40-50 years after the incident and say that person is the one who beat me and or others things because i would not want to get the wrong guilty individual and continue the cycle. like some of the former nazi guards who periodically come up for war crimes well into therir 80's
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