24 April - Remembrance Day of the Victims of the Genocide of the Armenian People in the Ottoman Empire
The date of April 24th, 1915 holds significant historical importance for the Armenian people. It marks the beginning of mass arrests targeting the Armenian intellectual and political elite in Constantinople (Istanbul), leading to the systematic extermination of numerous Armenian cultural figures. These arrests comprised individuals from diverse political backgrounds and professions, united solely by their Armenian nationality. Over the course of 1915-1916, 1.5 million Armenian civilians fell victim to genocide, a monstrous atrocity in the annals of human history, planned and executed by the Ottoman Empire.
The acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide is endorsed by numerous nations, with Slovakia among the European countries to formally recognize the mass extermination of Armenians in 2004. This recognition represented a moral stance, affirming support for truth and justice. In Slovakia, various events pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. One such event occurs annually in Košice, where Archpriest Vladimir Spišak, rector of the Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John the Merciful, and St Rosalie of Palermo, leads a ceremony laying wreaths at the Memorial Khachkar (Armenian "khach"-cross and "kar"-stone).
This monument, crafted in Armenia with the blessing of the Supreme Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin, honors the memory of those who perished in the Armenian genocide of 1915 under the Ottoman Empire. Hrachya Misakovich Poghosyan, a prominent public figure and philanthropist from St. Petersburg, played a pivotal role in its creation.
Author: Samuel Maly, University of Matej Bel student (Banská Bystrica)