Pasadena Armenian Genocide Commemoration


Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 09:27 PM PDT
On April 21, the Pasadena Armenian Coalition will host a community-wide event at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The event will pay tribute to the enduring strength and resiliency of the survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, while honoring the memory of the more than 1.5 Million victims who lost their lives 109 years ago. The event will feature survivor testimonies from the Visual History Archive, followed by the keynote speaker, Sedda Antekelian, USC Shoah Foundation Senior Learning and Development Specialist, as well as remarks from Congresswoman Judy Chu. Students from local Armenian schools will recite poems and songs to conclude the event.

Recovered Testimony Brings Light, More Questions, to an Armenian Family


Sedda Antekelian, a member of USC Shoah Foundation’s education team, never knew her own great grandmother had recorded testimony about surviving the Armenian Genocide. Hearing her great grandmother’s voice for the first time has brought Sedda closer to family, filled in gaps about her own history, and opened even more questions.
Sedda Antekelian
Sedda Antekelian is USC Shoah Foundation’s Education and Outreach Specialist, Armenian Genocide. She is a fourth-generation survivor of the genocide.

Hogan’s Heroes Actor Robert Clary, 96, Survived the Holocaust and Committed Himself to Remembrance


Robert Widerman Clary was among the first 100 Holocaust survivors interviewed for USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive, and he conducted 75 interviews of other survivors. In his testimony, he talks about his instinct and talent for entertaining—honed while he was a child in Paris—saved and shaped his life.
Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Julie Gruenbaum Fax is a content strategist and writer for the USC Shoah Foundation. She was a senior writer and editor at the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and has co-authored six personal history books. She is currently writing a book about her grandmother’s Holocaust experience.