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

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
 1   Designating May 19, 2026, as "Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance
 2      Day" in Pennsylvania.
 3         WHEREAS, This Commonwealth is proud to be the home of
 4   numerous ethnic communities, many of whom have prospered and
 5   enjoyed the freedom and democracy upon which our nation was
 6   founded; however, tragically throughout history, the people of
 7   many countries have not realized the same autonomy and equality;
 8   and
 9         WHEREAS, From 1914 until 1923, in a systematic attempt to
10   exterminate an entire population, the Ottoman Empire directed
11   the killing of 353,000 Pontian and Anatolian Greeks and more
12   than 1 million Armenians and Assyrians living in Pontos, and an
13   equal number who were forced to flee their homeland; and
14         WHEREAS, The Ottoman Empire engaged in exile, starvation,
15   slaughter and murder, using axes and fire to massacre the
16   Pontian Greek population and perpetrate the first mass genocide
17   of the 20th century; and
18         WHEREAS, The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out
 1   by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 and resulted in the
 2   deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million
 3   men, women and children were killed, and the remaining 500,000
 4   survived but were expelled from their homes; and
 5      WHEREAS, It is vital and proper to remember those who lost
 6   their lives in the Pontian Genocide, and it is paramount that
 7   people of all nations look at this horrific event in our world's
 8   not-so-distant history as a way to learn a valuable lesson, so
 9   that such atrocities are not tolerated and are never committed
10   again; and
11      WHEREAS, It is likewise important to pay tribute to the
12   survivors of this atrocious period, as well as their
13   descendants, who have made countless contributions to the
14   enrichment of our culture and our way of life here in this
15   Commonwealth and who stand as an inspiration to oppressed people
16   around the world; and
17      WHEREAS, The year 2026 will be memorialized throughout the
18   world as the symbolic 107th anniversary of the Genocide of the
19   Pontian Greeks; and
20      WHEREAS, We must never forget the brutality the Pontian
21   Greeks experienced at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and we
22   must learn the hard lessons from the past so that the history of
23   the Pontian Genocide, and all genocides, never happens again;
24   therefore be it
25      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 19,
26   2026, as "Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day" in
27   Pennsylvania.




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