Announcement

Collapse

Forum Rules (Everyone Must Read!!!)

1] What you CAN NOT post.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is:
- abusive
- vulgar
- hateful
- harassing
- personal attacks
- obscene

You also may not:
- post images that are too large (max is 500*500px)
- post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or cited properly.
- post in UPPER CASE, which is considered yelling
- post messages which insult the Armenians, Armenian culture, traditions, etc
- post racist or other intentionally insensitive material that insults or attacks another culture (including Turks)

The Ankap thread is excluded from the strict rules because that place is more relaxed and you can vent and engage in light insults and humor. Notice it's not a blank ticket, but just a place to vent. If you go into the Ankap thread, you enter at your own risk of being clowned on.
What you PROBABLY SHOULD NOT post...
Do not post information that you will regret putting out in public. This site comes up on Google, is cached, and all of that, so be aware of that as you post. Do not ask the staff to go through and delete things that you regret making available on the web for all to see because we will not do it. Think before you post!


2] Use descriptive subject lines & research your post. This means use the SEARCH.

This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Using the search function will identify existing threads on the topic so we do not have multiple threads on the same topic.

3] Keep the focus.

Each forum has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain forum will either be moved to the appropriate forum, closed, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate forum. Users that keep doing this will be warned, then banned.

4] Behave as you would in a public location.

This forum is no different than a public place. Behave yourself and act like a decent human being (i.e. be respectful). If you're unable to do so, you're not welcome here and will be made to leave.

5] Respect the authority of moderators/admins.

Public discussions of moderator/admin actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private.

6] Promotion of sites or products is not permitted.

Advertisements are not allowed in this venue. No blatant advertising or solicitations of or for business is prohibited.
This includes, but not limited to, personal resumes and links to products or
services with which the poster is affiliated, whether or not a fee is charged
for the product or service. Spamming, in which a user posts the same message repeatedly, is also prohibited.

7] We retain the right to remove any posts and/or Members for any reason, without prior notice.


- PLEASE READ -

Members are welcome to read posts and though we encourage your active participation in the forum, it is not required. If you do participate by posting, however, we expect that on the whole you contribute something to the forum. This means that the bulk of your posts should not be in "fun" threads (e.g. Ankap, Keep & Kill, This or That, etc.). Further, while occasionally it is appropriate to simply voice your agreement or approval, not all of your posts should be of this variety: "LOL Member213!" "I agree."
If it is evident that a member is simply posting for the sake of posting, they will be removed.


8] These Rules & Guidelines may be amended at any time. (last update September 17, 2009)

If you believe an individual is repeatedly breaking the rules, please report to admin/moderator.
See more
See less

Memoirs of a survivor

Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #41
    GADARINE DADOURIAN'S STORY OF THE DEATH MARCH FROM GURIN TO DEIR-ES-ZOR IN THE YEAR OF 1915, THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    ”THE OTHER "MERELOTS" *

    I was in the very last convoy** that was forced out of the city. All of us knew that we were going to our living deaths. We marched in the heat of what felt like several suns, sweating as if blood were oozing out of us. We arrived at a desolate place where the earth looked like sand***. Women, taken away by groups, vanished out of sight. I did not know what was going on there. I was among those left behind.

    They took me too with my Karekin and my Yerchanig-only these two were left of my five children. I saw a large, deep hole in the ground. They removed our clothes at the edge of the hole until we were naked as at birth. They killed and threw the bodies down. As I looked inside, my mind went awry; those giving up the ghost lay there, enfolding the dead. I was hit on the head with something of iron; then once again at the back of my neck. I was thrown into the hole, holding the hands of my children. I do not remember anything after that.

    When I more or less came to, I saw that red [blood] was running through and down my hair. I dragged myself to one side and crouched. It was a place like a dungeon. Of a sudden, there was a suffocating smoke. They were burning twigs and things at the opening of the hole; there no longer was any hope of living.

    Hours later, curious Arab women came to see what was happening. They pulled me out. Where was I to look for my Karekin and my Yerchanig, under what corpses, burned and charred?

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++
    * This is the title of an article written in 1920 by Theotig, a prominent Armenian writer. The above passage is an excerpt from that article. Theotig testifies that the human sacrifice described here, "to the god Moloch of the Turanian non-nation" was reported to him personally. ["Non-nation" (chazc) is meant to suggest that the Turanians were not a nation but a big pack of animals.] The excerpt, translated from the Armenian (Gürün dialect,) is Gadar Dadourian's account of her ordeal during the 1915 Genocide perpetrated by theTurks on the Armenians. The word Merelots in the title (which Theotig is using in quotation marks) is short for Hishadag Merelots (Remembrance of the Dead).It often refers to the Monday after the Sunday of major feasts when prayers are said for the souls of the departed.
    ** The word 'convoy' is used here to translate the Turkish word katar. A katar is a convoy, but it refers more specifically to a file or string of animals and animal-drawn vehicles.

    *** The Turkish word that Gadar is using here is kumbet. This is an unusual word. The translator's guess is that it means "sandfaced", from kum (sand) and bet (face).
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++

    Gadarine Dadourian was located by my father xxxxran in 1919 in Constantinople. She arrived at Ellis Island in April 1920. I was born in December 1920 and my brother Hovhaness was born in March 1923.

    ================================================== ======================================

    This article was translated from Armenian by Dr. HAGOP NERSOYAN as a special favor for Hagop and Helga Dadourian. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Hagop Nersoyan for the time and effort he contributed to make this translation available in English. This will enable the present and future generations to have a glimpse of some of the atrocities perpetrated by the Turks in the first GENOCIDE of the 20th Century.
    General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

    Comment


    • #42
      Armenian Genocide survivor marks 100th birthday



      Glendale, Calif.– Armenian
      Genocide survivor Ghazaros
      Kademian recently celebrated his
      100th birthday by sharing a generous
      donation with the Armenian
      National Committee of America
      – Western Region (ANCA-WR). The
      donation will provide the ANCAWR
      the resources to continue its
      Armenian Genocide educational
      awareness programs across the
      Western United States .
      In a May 18, 2005, statement submitted
      to the Congressional Record,
      Rep. Adam Schiff (D.-Calif.-29) had
      honored Ghazaros Kademian, a
      resident of Glendale. Kademian
      was only six years old when his
      family was forced into exile from
      their homeland in the village of
      Zeitoun. Kademian’s mother saved
      him and his siblings by fleeing the
      oncoming slaughter of the Ottoman
      Turks.
      “The ANCA-WR is honored that
      Ghazaros Kademian, a hero of the
      Armenian people, a survivor of the
      Armenian Genocide, has become
      one of our sponsors,” declared
      ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew
      Kzirian. “His generosity reflects
      his determination that our
      common story be told, with clarity
      to our fellow Americans.”
      Having survived the genocide,
      Kademian went on to marry an
      Armenian girl named Azadouhi
      and they had three children,
      Ohanes, Asdghig, and Anahid. He
      is also the proud to have seven
      grandchildren, all of whom know
      his remarkable story of faith, dedication,
      and survival. On April 29,
      the family of Ghazaros Kademian
      celebrated his 100th birthday by
      inviting his friends and family
      to mark the wonderful occasion.
      Among those present at the celebration
      held in Glendale were Rep.
      Schiff, Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian,
      and ANCA-WR-Chairperson Raffi Hamparian.





      Congressman Schiff's Blog









      Honoring the Achievements of Ghazaros Kademian
      Posted by: Adam Schiff (May 03, 2007, 10:37 AM)


      This weekend I also went to a very special birthday party. A gentleman named Ghazaros Kademian celebrated his one hundredth birthday – and what a remarkable birthday it was. A survivor of the Armenian Genocide, he lost his father at a very young age, when his father was murdered by Turkish Gendarmes. He and his family were forced to flee on foot, in a deportation that took them all the way to Kirkuk. He lost his mother when she died one cold morning on the steps of a church, was disconnected from his siblings, and orphaned. He survived, prospered, immigrated to the United States, raised his family, helped them raise their families, and has now lived to celebrate 100 years.



      His story, his courage and tenacity, his generosity towards others, is an incredible inspiration. When I think about the Genocide Resolution – and the importance of its passage in the Congress – I think about people like Ghazaros, who lost their whole family in the Armenian Genocide. And I think about the continuing injury to his family and to the memory of the loved ones he lost, caused by the continuing denial of that genocide.



      It’s often difficult to appreciate the loss of a million and a half people – to get your mind around the enormity of that crime. Sometimes it is far easier to look at it at the level of a single human being. And when I sit down with Ghazaros Kademian, it becomes very personal and much easier to appreciate the significance of what took place between 1915 and 1923.



      I hope we are successful in passing the Genocide Resolution this year – I believe we will be. It is still going to be a very difficult fight. But if not now, when? If after 92 years we don’t recognize the genocide, when will we? And how can we have the authority we need to condemn the genocide in Darfur, if we are unwilling to recognize other genocides that have gone on in the past?
      "All truth passes through three stages:
      First, it is ridiculed;
      Second, it is violently opposed; and
      Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

      Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

      Comment

      Working...
      X