“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” This quote was spoken on August 22, 1939 by Adolf Hitler over 20 years after the Armenian Genocide took place. Adolf Hitler then went on to plan and lead one of the biggest and most widespread human massacres of all time, The Holocaust. Adolf Hitler believed that no one would notice the Holocaust because no one had taken much interest in the Armenian Genocide. The historical fiction book Forgotten Fire, by Adam Bagdasarian, tells the story of a boy named Vahan Kenderian who lived through the Armenian Genocide. Vahan’s family lived in Turkey in a town called Bitlis. Vahan was the youngest child of one of the wealthiest and most respected Armenians. He lived with his father, …show more content…
Vahan’s father’s death was so significant because his father was one of Vahan’s first family members lost in the war against the Armenians. Vahan’s father was also one of the most influential people in his life. Vahan looked up to his father very much and imagined himself growing up to be just like him. After Vahan and Sisak leave their mother to escape the gendarmes they have to endure a long and rigorous journey where Vahan shares his thoughts about his father. “I pretended that I was my father, that I had my father’s face and my father’s will and my father’s mind and muscles. I walked as my father would have, with the same expression my father would have worn. I could not keep walking, but my father could. I wanted to stop but my father didn’t. And now I was looking through his eyes at the road ahead” (56). When Vahan is suffering and feels that he cannot go on much longer he uses the memory of his father to keep going. Vahan’s father held very high standards for all of his children. Being a very wealthy, well-respected, and influential family, Vahan’s father expected for his children to be well educated and disciplined, something that Vahan’s father felt that Vahan lacked. Once Vahan had to live and survive on his own he realized why his father had wanted him to be disciplined and have strong character. This taught Vahan that discipline is needed to help you get through your hardest