WORCESTER, Mass. - April 24th remains a day important to members of Worcester's Armenian community 108 years later.

"It's a very difficult day, and there are a multitude of emotions," said Arpi Aprahamian, a member of the Armenian Church of the Martyrs in Worcester."

It's when the world remembers those who lost their lives in the Armenian genocide.

What You Need To Know

  • Monday commemorates 108 years since the start of the Armenian genocide

  • Roughly 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the genocide, which equates to roughly half of all Armenians living at the time

  • Armenians in Worcester describe it as a sad day, but also a chance to recognize those who survived

  • Arpi Aprahamian, a member at the Armenian Church of the Martyrs, says Worcester had the first Armenian community in the U.S.

"From a personal perspective, I knew three of my grandparents, and none of them would speak of the atrocities that they saw and were subjected to," said Stephen Papazian, who moderates the church's Board of Trustees.

The massacres between 1915 and 1916 took roughly 1.5 million Armenian lives, which at the time was about half of all the Armenians living.

Local Armenians say through the darkness, there is light by recognizing the people who survived.

"...witnessing the deaths of their siblings, parents, starvation that did survive, and ended up creating new communities everywhere in the world," Aprahamian said.

One of those communities was Worcester. Aprahamian says the city was actually the first Armenian community in the U.S.

"The first Armenian churches, both Protestant and apostolic, were established here in Worcester," Aprahamian said. "Initially, if you said Worcester to Armenians, they thought that was America."

Asya Darbinyan was born in Armenia, moved to Worcester and later got her Ph.D in genocide and Holocaust studies at Clark University. Now teaching at her alma mater, it's her mission to share these stories with the next generation.

"All these violent cases are happening to human beings that are just like us," Darbinyan said. "So, we need to feel that shared history to not let that happen again."

Darbinyan is also the descendant of survivors, namely, her great grandmother and her grandfather.

The message she shares with her students: There's no need for hatred and division.

"Not dividing two groups, us vs. others, is the first step towards preventing any crimes based on hatred, and god forbid genocide," Darbinyan said.