EP27: My Tribute to The Armenian Genocide Survivors: Learning About the Past to Shape The Future

The Armenian Genocide reaches this family through memory, silence, and the words one grandmother refused to leave behind.

On Scott Asmar, The Man & Everything in Between, host Scott Asmar sits down with his wife, Jane Asmar for a personal conversation that gives the Armenian Genocide a human face. Through Jane’s family story, this episode turns history into something close, lived, and impossible to dismiss. Her grandmother’s written account opens a window into loss, faith, survival, and the lasting impact of being forced to rebuild a life after everything familiar is gone.

This is the kind of episode that stays with you because it speaks to more than the past. It shows how family stories shape identity, how silence can carry pain across generations, and why remembrance still matters now. Jane reflects on what it meant to grow up around fragments of this history, then later understand what those fragments were really holding. That gives the conversation real weight and makes space for Armenian Genocide survivor stories that deserve to be heard with care.

The episode also speaks directly to intergenerational trauma Armenian Genocide families still carry. Small childhood memories, family habits, and emotional distance take on new meaning once Jane begins reading her grandmother’s memoir more closely. Scott and Jane also talk about April 24 Armenian Genocide remembrance and why keeping these stories visible matters for their children and for the wider public. Their renewed connection to this history was shaped in part by the Aurora’s Sunrise documentary, which helped bring the reality of survival into sharper focus.

At its core, this conversation is about Armenian family history genocide, resilience, and responsibility. It honors what was lost, names what was endured, and reminds listeners that memory is one way families protect truth from being erased.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Armenian Genocide Survivor Testimony From Zabel Basmajan

01:53 Jane Asmar on Armenian Family History and April 24 Remembrance

03:15 Why Armenian Genocide Remembrance Still Matters Across Generations

05:58 How Aurora’s Sunrise Reignited This Family’s Armenian Genocide Story

07:53 Aunt Nury’s Book and the Memoir That Preserved a Survivor’s Account

11:31 Zabel’s Childhood Memory of the Killing Fields and Lost Armenian Homeland

15:31 Intergenerational Trauma After the Armenian Genocide

17:48 Why Survivors Stayed Silent and Why Zabel Finally Wrote Her Story

20:41 From Turkey to Cuba to Fresno, Rebuilding Life After the Armenian Genocide

24:28 The Fresno State Armenian Genocide Monument and Family Legacy

Links

Watch Aurora's Sunrise on Amazon Prime

Connect with Scott Asmar:

Follow Scott on Instagram

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm