Pennsylvania HR 511: A Resolution designating May 19, 2026, as "Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day" in Pennsylvania.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 3342
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 511
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY MALAGARI, MERSKI, GUENST, NEILSON, SANCHEZ AND
HOHENSTEIN, MAY 1, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MAY 4, 2026
A RESOLUTION
Designating May 19, 2026, as "Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance
Day" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth is proud to be the home of
numerous ethnic communities, many of whom have prospered and
enjoyed the freedom and democracy upon which our nation was
founded; however, tragically throughout history, the people of
many countries have not realized the same autonomy and equality;
and
WHEREAS, From 1914 until 1923, in a systematic attempt to
exterminate an entire population, the Ottoman Empire directed
the killing of 353,000 Pontian and Anatolian Greeks and more
than 1 million Armenians and Assyrians living in Pontos, and an
equal number who were forced to flee their homeland; and
WHEREAS, The Ottoman Empire engaged in exile, starvation,
slaughter and murder, using axes and fire to massacre the
Pontian Greek population and perpetrate the first mass genocide
of the 20th century; and
WHEREAS, The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out
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by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 and resulted in the
deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million
men, women and children were killed, and the remaining 500,000
survived but were expelled from their homes; and
WHEREAS, It is vital and proper to remember those who lost
their lives in the Pontian Genocide, and it is paramount that
people of all nations look at this horrific event in our world's
not-so-distant history as a way to learn a valuable lesson, so
that such atrocities are not tolerated and are never committed
again; and
WHEREAS, It is likewise 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 this
Commonwealth and who stand as an inspiration to oppressed people
around the world; and
WHEREAS, The year 2026 will be memorialized throughout the
world as the symbolic 107th anniversary of the Genocide of the
Pontian Greeks; and
WHEREAS, We must never forget the brutality the Pontian
Greeks experienced at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and we
must learn the hard lessons from the past so that the history of
the Pontian Genocide, and all genocides, never happens again;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 19,
2026, as "Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day" in
Pennsylvania.
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