(CBC) Thousands marched through downtown Montreal to honour victims and call for genocide prevention,

Caroline Nammour says the story from the Armenian genocide that has marked her more than any other is the one about her mom’s great uncle, who had to leave his mother behind in the desert.

“At some point he couldn’t carry her anymore so he told her that he was going to get some water and he put her under a tree and he left. And every few steps he would turn and wave. She would wave back, until he just couldn’t see her anymore,” Nammour said.

She was one of thousands who attended a march for humanity and genocide prevention on Sunday in Montreal.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed during and after the First World War, rounded up and executed by Ottoman authorities. Many died after being forced to march into the desert in present-day Syria.

At Sunday’s walk, the descendents of survivors shared their painful stories, with a message that people can’t sit idly by and allow something like that to happen again.