World Famous Comics: Publisher: Hye Books Murder at the Altar
Publisher: Hye Books Murder at the Altar
By: Terry Phillips Publisher: Hye Books Average Rating: Binding: Perfect Paperback Label: Hye Books Number of Pages: 260 Publication Date: January 31, 2008
Product Description: On Christmas Eve morning in 1933, the spiritual leader of Armenians in America, Archbishop Ghevont Tourian, is stabbed to death as he begins Sunday services in a New York City church. His infamous murder is witnessed by hundreds of parishioners -- among them, a newspaper reporter named Tom Peterson. The next day, this story is splashed on the front page of every major daily in Manhattan. And no wonder. Not since the assassination of Thomas a Becket has such a high religious figure been slain in a house of worship. This gruesome homicide shatters the Armenian community and confounds the cops. Was it a terrorist attack to silence a political adversary, a KGB plot to discredit anti-communists in America, or simply a tragic turn in an ancient, bitter dispute? MURDER AT THE ALTAR is a work of historical fiction, although it might more accurately be called dramatized history. The book interweaves past and present accounts of these complex events, alternating between Now and Then chapters which are written in first- and third-person voices respectively. Much of the text is based on interviews with survivors, court transcripts and newly declassified FBI files. There are also actual news clips as well as some previously unpublished photos available to further illustrate the story.
A Child's Memory of the Murder I am the third of four brothers, was born in New Jersey, 1933, the year of the Archbishop's murder. In my childhood years I remember this atrocity being mentioned, but remember no facts. An older brother born in 1931 has vivid memories of discussions of this event in following years as does Dr Housepian's son, who was baptized at the church and whose father was called to see if the Archbishop could be saved.
The book explains how the Murder was the initial dividing point of the Armenian Church. Presently the mother church's headquarters' are in Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The other division of the church is headquartered in Antilias, Lebanon. The churches are known as a Diocese Church or a Prelacy Church. Recent years have brought cooperation of the clergy of the churches while both keep their separate leadership and identities.
What was of great interest to me, born and raised in the United States, was the author's revelation that the actual murderer was an imported "hit" man from Chicago, a non-Armenian. The time was prohibition and murder amongst gangsters was common. However, the group that surrounded the Archbishop came from a larger group that had hired the "hit" man. Members of the group filtered into the Church, impeded the Archbishop's walk down the isle to the alter, and allowed the "hit" man to knife to death the Archbishop. Those who impeded the Archbishop were a selected cadre of then anti establishment Armenians.
This cadre had a strong irrational view as to the correct allegiance for all Armenians after the 1915 Genocide of over one and a half million Armenians by the then government officials of Turkey. One of these officials was tried and convicted in a world court. An individual murdered a second official as an act of retribution for his perpetration of the Genocide. A German Court absolved his act of the official's murder in Germany.
The Murder of the Archbishop in his Armenian Church is a sad memory and an irremovable stain on the entire Armenian community.
Murder at the Altar by Terry Philllips Murder at the Altar
This is a fascinating books on three counts:
1) It tells the little-known but important story of the murder of a church leader in New York in the thirties, a crime that strikes right at the heart of the coming Cold War, and a crime that is as current as tomorrow because it foreshadows today's international battles fueled by church versus state issues.
2) Murder at the Altar is an extraordinary adventure story.
3) The book reminds us how difficult it is for human beings to leave our barbaric past as we search for solutions to religious and political differences.
In the interest of transparency I am pleased to note that Phillips and I are colleagues; as journalists we've both reported from some of the saddest and sorriest datelines in the world. Those experiences fuel Phillips's storytelling in Murder at the Altar and help bring the crime and the trial to page-turning life. As he researched this fine historical novel, Phillips came upon unpublished and previously unknown photographs of the events and characters involved in the crime. These he's cleverly spotted throughout the text, adding a illustrative reality to the novel that neatly enhances its be-here-now tone.
For those concerned about Armenia, the Armenian diaspora, and the legacy of the Soviet era on Armenian affairs, this book is, of course, a must read. Nothing else is available that so completely explains the tragedies surrounding the murder of Archbishop Tourian, and how they continue to infect the survivors. But the book is no less valuable for those seeking an understanding of how good men can do bad things, or those just seeking a damn good story.
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