The newspaper, serving the Armenian American community, was established as a weekly in on May 1, 1899, making it one of the longest-running Armenian publications.[2] It moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1900, then to Watertown in 1986.[citation needed]
In June 1913, it started publishing once every two days, and in December 1915, it became a daily newspaper, with continuous publication as such until 1991, when it was reduced to weekly publication due to declining readership.[citation needed]
It has had the involvement of prominent Armenian national figures as editors such as Arshak Vramian (1900–1907), Siamanto (1909–1911), Simon Vratsian (1911–1914), and Rouben Darbinian (1922–1968).[citation needed]
Hairenik published early stories by William Saroyan, such as "The Broken Wheel" (1933), written under the pen name "Sirak Goryan".[citation needed]
Controversies
Leon Tourian was an Armenian Archbishop who was stabbed to the death by ARF members.[3][4][5][6] Before the assassination the Hairenik newspaper published threatening messages like:[7]
"Archbishop Tourian will be punished sooner or later. The day of reckoning will come." . . . "He is going to be
sorry for it, and very sorry." . . . "He will get his share, I am sure." . . . "Until Tourian is punished ruthlessly, the bones of our martyrs will not rest in their places."
It offered $100 reward to someone who will "teach Tourian a lesson". Later on Tourian asked for police protection.[8]
^Congressional Record, Page A2074-A2075 Volume 91, Part 11. "Dashnags' Nazi sympathies are clearly shown in this sample quotation from September 17, 1936, issue of their Armenian-language organ, Hairenik, edited daily by propaganda chief Reuben Darbinian: ...", "Listen to the drivel drilled into American-born Tzeghagrons (Hairenik Weekly, January 11, 1935) by Mandalian, Darbinian, Nejdeh & Co.: I am preaching to you the Tzeghagron creed, worship of the race..."
^Foreign Press Digest: Soviet Union, Page 13. "On 22 June 1941, when they, resolutely and irrevocably transfered to the side of the most evil enemy of all mankind -- Hitler Fascism....The Dashnak newspaper of that time did not lack articles which attempted to praise the misanthropic plans of the Hitlerites, to justify... Hitler Germany prefidiously attacked the Soviet Union. The joy of the Dashnak leaders was boundless. The 23 June 1941 issue of the newspaper Ayrenik published an article by Dashnak Ruben Darbinyan, who wrote, "Fortunately, the Soviet government is not so powerful so as to be able to defeat Germany and not so string so as to resist for a long time the Germany attacks""
^Bridwell, Lindsey (2015-03-19). "Twisted Logic". Baltimore Jewish Times. Archived from the original on 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
^Roy Carlson, John (1943). Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America. E.P. Dutton & Co. INC. pp. 81–82.
^Russell, James. "This Land Was Your Land, This Land Was My Land". Zeek: 3. Archived from the original on 2023-06-05. Through the 1930's their paper Hayrenik, still published in Boston, praised Adolf Hitler and his racial policies; and the party's "Race Worship Society" marched in Boston.