Public Petitions

International Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide

Public Petitions

Statement by 126 Holocaust Scholars, Holders of Academic Chairs, and Directors of Holocaust Research and Studies Centers

March 7, 2000

View image of the petition appeared in New York Times, June 9, 2000.

126 Holocaust Scholars Affirm the Incontestable Fact of the Armenian Genocide and Urge Western Democracies to Officially Recognize it.

At the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Scholar's Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches Convening at St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 3-7, 2000, one hundred twenty-six Holocaust Scholars, holders of Academic Chairs and Directors of Holocaust Research and Studies Centers, participants of the Conference, signed a statement affirming that the World War I Armenian Genocide is an incontestable historical fact and accordingly urge the governments of Western democracies to likewise recognize it as such. The petitioners, among whom is Nobel Laureate for Peace Elie Wiesel, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, also asked the Western Democracies to urge the Government and Parliament of Turkey to finally come to terms with a dark chapter of Ottoman-Turkish history and to recognize the Armenian Genocide. This would provide an invaluable impetus to the process of the democratization of Turkey.

Below is a partial list of the signatories:

Prof. Yehuda Bauer Distinguished Professor Hebrew University Director, The International Institute of Holocaust Research Yad Vashem, Jerusalem	Prof. Richard Libowitz Temple University
Prof. Israel Charny, Director Institute of the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem Professor at the Hebrew University, Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of Genocide	Dr. Marcia Littell Stockton College Exec. Director, Scholars' Conference On the Holocaust and the Churches
Prof. Ward Churchill Ethnic Studies The University of Colorado, Boulder	Franklin Littell Emeritus Professor Temple University
Prof. Stephen Feinstein, Director Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies University of Minnesota	Prof. Hubert G. Locke Washington University Co-founder of the Annual Scholar's Conference On the Holocaust and the Churches
Prof. Saul Friedman, Director Holocaust and Jewish Studies Youngston State University, Ohio	Dr. Elizabeth Maxwell Executive Director of the International Scholarly Conference on the Holocaust, London, England
Prof. Edward Gaffney Valparaiso University Law Schoo	Prof. Erik Markusen Southwest State University, MN
Prof. Zev Garber Los Angeles Valley College	Prof. Saul Mendlowitz Dag Hammerskjold Distinguished Professor of International Law Rutgers University
Prof. Dorota Glowacka University of King's Collage Halifax, Nova Scotia	Prof. Jack Needle, Director Center for Holocaust Studies Brookdale Community College Lincroft, NJ
Dr. Irving Greenberg, President Jewish Life Network	Dr. Philip Rosen, Director Holocaust Education Center of the Delaware Valley
Prof. Herbert Hirsch Virginia Commonwealth University	Prof. Alan S, Rosenbaum Dept. of Philosophy Cleveland State University
Prof. Irving L. Horowitz Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor Rutgers University, NJ	William L. Shulman, President Association of Holocaust Organizations City University of New York
Rabbi Dr. Steve Jacobs Temple Sinai Shalom Huntsville, Alabama Associate Editor of The Encyclopedia of Genocide	Prof. Samuel Totten The University of Arkansas Assoc. Editor of The Encyclopedia of Genocide
Prof. Steven Katz Distinguish Professor Director, Center for Judaic Studies Boston University	Prof. Elie Wiesel Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities Boston University Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council Nobel Laureate for Peace

I hereby declare that the originals of these one hundred and twenty-six signatories are on file in my office. All affiliations supplied are for identification purposes only.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director,
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
University of Minnesota

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