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Mariam Remembers: Too young to understand; too old to forget
Mariam Remembers: Too young to understand; too old to forget
It is 90 years later:
“I can vividly remember the Turk; his name was Chle.
“I can vividly remember the massacring.
“He came, went up on our roof. My uncle was sitting there with his child.
“My uncle’s name was Mkrtich. He said, ‘Mkrtich take the child inside, come let us talk a bit.’
“The child was of my age. He brought her inside, and he was just going outside when the Turk shot him to death. My uncle was naïve, and the Turk was prepared.”
Mariam Avoyan, who lives in the village of Nerqin Bazmaberd near Talin, remembers 1915, when she was six. It is when she learned the words “slaughtering and looting”.
She was in Sasoon, in what is now Turkey, until her family was chased out.
Murder leaves a lasting impression, so Mariam says: “I will never forget the massacre”.
Calm and quiet, the thin woman is moved when she talks; her blue eyes go wet.
“I can vividly remember the massacring. It began in the time I was already maturing,” Mariam says. “In those times Armenians and Turks used to live in peace.”
But not anymore. Not since six-year olds became witness to genocide.
“They gathered Armenians in one place – men, women, children and began. The Turkish soldiers surrounded the Armenians. They brought the gazaghi (kerosene in Sasoon dialect), poured all over the people and set them afire. As they set the fire they let loose those who would run, to shoot them.
“Where could they run? The smell of smoke and blood covered the earth, the sky went dark, and people could not see each other. The people including children, women, men, would make thousands. They set the fire…When they saw them fall, they went away,” says Mariam, with more suffering than hatred in her 96-year old face. She is mindful to also talk about the Turks who were kind to the Armenians.
But it is not they for whom the history of these days is written and disputed . . .
“The next morning they came for looting. They turned the corpses and took away the gold ware. My uncle’s wife, Margarit, held her child in her arms. She was not killed, but the child was dead.
“When the Turk turned her over to take away her jewelry he recognized her and said ‘Margarit, get up. I have eaten bread from your hand. Get up, let me take you home’.”
Mariam’s family – father, mother and seven children – escaped Sasoon toward their eventual refuge.
“The slaughtering then started. Whoever was killed was killed. Those who remained ran away to the mountains, gorges, and forests. We ran to Mush.”
And to Mush, Mariam remembers, came Armenia’s hero from Russia, General Andranik who fought the Turks and helped the Armenians on their way to safety.
But many did not survive the journey, including Mariam’s father, Grigor Avoyan, a man well known in Sassoon.
“On the road in snow, in gorges we suffered hunger and thirst. We were killed also on the road.. My parents came with us to Jghin (a village in “Western Armenia”). I remember Jghin; we were hungry when we got there. My father along with others went to gather herbs for us to eat. The Turks appeared and took my father, three other men and two women…”
Besides taking them away the Turkish soldiers made one of the Armenian men write a list of others’ names. After finishing the assignment they called him.
“We ran to Mush.”
“When he approached the Turk cut off both his ears, put them into his pocket and went away. The man remained in the field. We stayed there a day in the mountains, then we saw the man again. He said the Turks had taken my father Grigor and killed him. The Turk had told my father ‘I was looking for you with a candle, but found you without one’.”
The journey for Mariam’s family began with seven children. It ended with only two. The rest died of starvation and illnesses.
“My elder brother fell ill on the road. My father was at a loss. He said to the people ‘You go. My child is dying’. But my brother died on the road and my father put a stone over his body. My brother and I reached Gharakilisa (now Vanadzor),” Mariam recalls.
“My sister Soseh was older than me -- 12 years old. In those times the 10-12 year old girls were getting married. A Turk used to say to my father: ‘Grigor, give Soseh to my son and I will protect you till the end of your life’. My father said: ‘I will not disgrace Armenia and the Armenian name’. He didn’t give her, saying ‘I will not betray Armenians; Armenians should remain Armenian’.”
Reaching Armenia the remaining family moved from place to place until they settled in the Talin region, where the majority were also from Sasoon.
“We grew up suffering and weeping,” Mariam says. “I neither ate fully, nor slept, nor dressed, nor laughed.”
In 1926 Mariam got married and her own family includes six children and 56 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ninety of her 96 years have held memories of horror for which there can be no escape.
“If there was justice on earth, the Armenian genocide would be admitted,” Mariam says.
Link
It is 90 years later:
“I can vividly remember the Turk; his name was Chle.
“I can vividly remember the massacring.
“He came, went up on our roof. My uncle was sitting there with his child.
“My uncle’s name was Mkrtich. He said, ‘Mkrtich take the child inside, come let us talk a bit.’
“The child was of my age. He brought her inside, and he was just going outside when the Turk shot him to death. My uncle was naïve, and the Turk was prepared.”
Mariam Avoyan, who lives in the village of Nerqin Bazmaberd near Talin, remembers 1915, when she was six. It is when she learned the words “slaughtering and looting”.
She was in Sasoon, in what is now Turkey, until her family was chased out.
Murder leaves a lasting impression, so Mariam says: “I will never forget the massacre”.
Calm and quiet, the thin woman is moved when she talks; her blue eyes go wet.
“I can vividly remember the massacring. It began in the time I was already maturing,” Mariam says. “In those times Armenians and Turks used to live in peace.”
But not anymore. Not since six-year olds became witness to genocide.
“They gathered Armenians in one place – men, women, children and began. The Turkish soldiers surrounded the Armenians. They brought the gazaghi (kerosene in Sasoon dialect), poured all over the people and set them afire. As they set the fire they let loose those who would run, to shoot them.
“Where could they run? The smell of smoke and blood covered the earth, the sky went dark, and people could not see each other. The people including children, women, men, would make thousands. They set the fire…When they saw them fall, they went away,” says Mariam, with more suffering than hatred in her 96-year old face. She is mindful to also talk about the Turks who were kind to the Armenians.
But it is not they for whom the history of these days is written and disputed . . .
“The next morning they came for looting. They turned the corpses and took away the gold ware. My uncle’s wife, Margarit, held her child in her arms. She was not killed, but the child was dead.
“When the Turk turned her over to take away her jewelry he recognized her and said ‘Margarit, get up. I have eaten bread from your hand. Get up, let me take you home’.”
Mariam’s family – father, mother and seven children – escaped Sasoon toward their eventual refuge.
“The slaughtering then started. Whoever was killed was killed. Those who remained ran away to the mountains, gorges, and forests. We ran to Mush.”
And to Mush, Mariam remembers, came Armenia’s hero from Russia, General Andranik who fought the Turks and helped the Armenians on their way to safety.
But many did not survive the journey, including Mariam’s father, Grigor Avoyan, a man well known in Sassoon.
“On the road in snow, in gorges we suffered hunger and thirst. We were killed also on the road.. My parents came with us to Jghin (a village in “Western Armenia”). I remember Jghin; we were hungry when we got there. My father along with others went to gather herbs for us to eat. The Turks appeared and took my father, three other men and two women…”
Besides taking them away the Turkish soldiers made one of the Armenian men write a list of others’ names. After finishing the assignment they called him.
“We ran to Mush.”
“When he approached the Turk cut off both his ears, put them into his pocket and went away. The man remained in the field. We stayed there a day in the mountains, then we saw the man again. He said the Turks had taken my father Grigor and killed him. The Turk had told my father ‘I was looking for you with a candle, but found you without one’.”
The journey for Mariam’s family began with seven children. It ended with only two. The rest died of starvation and illnesses.
“My elder brother fell ill on the road. My father was at a loss. He said to the people ‘You go. My child is dying’. But my brother died on the road and my father put a stone over his body. My brother and I reached Gharakilisa (now Vanadzor),” Mariam recalls.
“My sister Soseh was older than me -- 12 years old. In those times the 10-12 year old girls were getting married. A Turk used to say to my father: ‘Grigor, give Soseh to my son and I will protect you till the end of your life’. My father said: ‘I will not disgrace Armenia and the Armenian name’. He didn’t give her, saying ‘I will not betray Armenians; Armenians should remain Armenian’.”
Reaching Armenia the remaining family moved from place to place until they settled in the Talin region, where the majority were also from Sasoon.
“We grew up suffering and weeping,” Mariam says. “I neither ate fully, nor slept, nor dressed, nor laughed.”
In 1926 Mariam got married and her own family includes six children and 56 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ninety of her 96 years have held memories of horror for which there can be no escape.
“If there was justice on earth, the Armenian genocide would be admitted,” Mariam says.
Link
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