WASHINGTON — On September 30, Armenian President Serge Sargisian took part in a reception held by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation at the United States’ Congress.
The reception was attended by several Members of Congress. Among others, Sen. Edward Markey and Representatives Ed Royce, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Jackie Speier, Robert Dold, Jim Costa, Dave Trott, David Valadao, Judy Chu, Grace Napolitano, Katherine Clark and David Cicillilne. Professor Taner Akcam (Clark University); John Evans, former US Ambassador to Armenia; Robert P. Morgenthau and Sarah Morgenthau, son and niece of Robert Morgenthau, respectively, also attended the ceremony.
Sargisian delivered an address at the end of which Eduardo Eurnekian handed over the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Medal dedicated to Henry Morgenthau, Sr., former US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The medal was received by his grandson, Robert Morgenthau. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, Morgenthau was the District Attorney for New York County, the borough of Manhattan. He is the second longest-serving district attorney in United States history.
The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is an educational, global-reach NGO chaired by Eurnekian and created by Baruch Tenembaum. Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, is one of its founding members.
“If there is agony and genocide in this world, there also exist Wallenbergs and Morgenthaus, who stand for all humanitarians of this world, whether Christian or Muslim, female or male, kin or alien, jeopardizing their existence, saving Armenians and Assyrians, Greeks and Jews, Darfurians and others from the claws of death. Henry Morgenthau, Raoul Wallenberg, and those who carry their torch today, can help life triumph over death,” Sargisian stated.
In his acceptance speech, Robert Morgenthau said: “The legacy of Raoul Wallenberg holds a very personal significance for my family. I can assure you that my grandfather would be especially pleased to know that one day his grandson would share the podium with the President of an independent and free Armenia.”
