AHI Legislative Director Alexander Christofor Testifies on Greek Genocide Education Bill for CT
No. 32
HARTFORD, CT - On Monday, March 10, 2024, AHI Legislative Director Alexander Christofor testified before the Connecticut General Assembly House of Representatives Education Committee to support a section of a bill that would include the Greek Genocide in the state’s Holocaust and Genocide Education and Awareness curriculum.
Section 1 of H.B.5416 was introduced by State Representative Eleni Kavros DeGraw and supported by State Representative Klarides-Ditria Nicole and State Representative Poulos Christopher.
Pontic Greeks lived in a region on the coast of the Black Sea in present-day Turkey, since around 700 B.C. They remained there despite the hardships faced during the Ottoman Empire’s colonization of their lands hundreds of years later. It was not until WW1, when the Ottoman Empire began its genocide on the Greek population, that Pontic Greeks were finally ripped from their homes, where they lived for over 2000 years.
Christofor’s family lived in Pontos during the Genocide and were removed from their land, suffering greatly. When a member of Christofor’s family died during the atrocity, their body was dumped off the side of a ship into the sea, never to be seen again.
Christofor quoted a proclamation issued by CT Governor Ned Lamont that recognized the Genocide, which stated that “the Ottoman and the Turks engaged in exile, starvation, slaughter, and murder, using axes and fire to massacre the Pontic Greek population and perpetrate the first mass genocide of the 20th century.” Christofor also highlighted resolutions passed by the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in 2021, and a resolution passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars in 2007, all of which explicitly recognized the Greek Genocide.
One of Christofor’s arguments for including the Greek Genocide in CT’s Holocaust and Genocide Education and Awareness curriculum was that it would provide additional context and background to the origin of the holocaust and the ideas that catalyzed it. According to scholarship published by Harvard University, Adolf Hitler considered himself a ‘student’ of the architect of the Greek Genocide, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. According to the source, an official Nazi newspaper described Turkey as “The Role Model" for Nazi Germany due to the genocidal practices they use, writing that "The German nation will one day have no other choice but to resort to Turkish methods as well."
Christofor ended his testimony by again quoting Governor Lamont’s proclamation, which stated how it was “important to pay tribute to the survivors of this atrocious period, as well as their descendants, who have made countless contributions to the enrichment of our culture and our way of life here in Connecticut, and who stand as an inspiration to oppressed people around the world.” Christofor said that one of the best ways the CT GA can pay this tribute is by ensuring that the Greek genocide will never be forgotten in the State of Connecticut, and that the people of the state will be educated on what occurred during this terrible atrocity.
The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit Greek American public policy center and think tank that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.
For additional information, please contact us at (202) 785-8430 or pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at http://www.ahiworld.org.
