The Assyrian Democratic Organization
Los Angeles – AINA — Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) commemorated Martyrs Day on August 7th, the official Assyrian memorial holiday.
The holiday was observed in cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Toronto, Stockholm, London, Netherland, North Syria and North Iraq.
The Assyrian Martyrs day remembers the victims of genocides and pogroms, including the Turkish Genocide of Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians in World War One, in which 750,000 Assyrians (75%) were killed.
The date August 7th was chosen because in 1933 the newly formed Iraq, having gained its independence from the British just one year earlier, massacred the Assyrians of the village of Simmele and its surroundings in north Iraq, killing 3000 Assyrian men, women and children.
