On 8 June, the presentation of the book “Letter of Greetings to those who read and hear” and the premiere of the film based on the book by Ter Derenik Abegha Sahakyan, Abbot of the Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin, abbot of Dadivank, took place at the Samvel Muradyan House of Culture in Meghradzor Village, Tsaghkadzor Enlarged Community of Kotayk Marz.

The book and the film are dedicated to the memory of Abgar Sahakyan (1912-1945) from Beladzor, holder of three orders, commander, captain who died in the Great Patriotic War.

Father Derenik began his speech with Garegin Nzhdeh’s words “It is better to die to live, than to live to die”.

“This is the basis of humanity’s ideology, in the sense that life is no longer merely living and dying, but life is living. Heartbroken, humanity started the fight at the door of Heaven. This is not a history of the past, this is a history of the future, and the nation that forgets the builders of its past, cannot build the future. Perhaps the most tragic thing in a person’s life is the loss of memory or not remembering memories. The heel of the nations is at this point: loss of memory, forgetfulness and you lose yourself-who you are. Bringing up the history of Abgar is once again an opportunity for every Armenian family to look at the past and not forget its past,” he said.

According to Father Derenik, the letters included in the book are the letters that Abgar Sahakyan wrote to his wife, Emma. There were also letters that were addressed to the parents, but at the request of the parents, those letters were buried with them.

“Abgar died at the age of 33. Nothing happens by chance, I found his story at the age of 33, the book was originally 333 pages, 33,000 words, the movie that was shot was 33 minutes in lerngth and one of my friends told me that it took 3 years to write the book,” Father Derenik said.

In the interview with Iravaban.net he mentioned that the day was highly awaited for him.

“This is the day of revelation, because we give millions of victims and most of the time their feat remains unknown, but they are a bright example of patriotism, dedication, struggle, and unbreakable will for us. Abgar Sahakyan’s speech today was the discovery of a new hero. We live in this life, on this land, and we do not know how many dedicated heroes are buried under this land,” he said.

Details in the video.

Hasmik Sargsyan