HOUSHAMADYAN: LEBANESE-ARMENIAN IS ON A MISSION TO RECONSTRUCT THE LOST WORLD OF OTTOMAN ARMENIAN TOWN AND VILLAGE LIFE
Sona Avagyan
11:45, March 29, 2013
It was only by accident that Lebanese-Armenian Vahe Tachjian found
out that his grandfather’s house in Sis was still standing
Years ago an archaeologist friend of Vahe Tachjian, a Lebanese-Armenian
historian now residing in Germany, travelled to Sis on a work
project. Like many other foreign visitors, he stayed at Yaverin Konagı
(Yaver House), the town’s only boutique hotel and restaurant.
Later the man showed Vahe pictures of the hotel and said, “Look at
this beautiful hotel. In the past it was the home of some Armenian.”
At once, Vahe Tachjian recognized the hotel – it was the mansion of
his grandfather, Krikor Mjrkian. It had been converted into a hotel
after all these years. Vahe says that his family has always kept a
photo of the mansion in their archives. In addition, Krikor Mjrkian’s
mansion appears in many of the photos of old Sis.
People taking pictures of the Sis Catholicosate were bound to capture
the mansion as well since it was located in front of the religious
center.
Today, visitors staying at the hotel will see a photo of the old
mansion and read the name of the former owner of the building, Krikor
Mjrkian. But the accompanying short history is distorted. It reads
the Krikor Mjrkian bequeathed the mansion to his eldest son Khatchik
Mjrkian and that he later sold it to a Turk in 1923.
The reality is quite different. Krikor Mjrkian had good connections
with the members of the local Ittihadist party and was able to make it
through the Genocide alive, within the confines of his house. But in
1918, two Turkish members of that same party murdered Krikor Mjrkian
in front of his house.
“The French had arrived in Sis by 1919. Until 1920, there was still
an Armenian presence in Sis, but they all left that year, including
my family. What’s more interesting is that when I was working in
the French archives (all the archives of French Cilicia are to
be found in Nantes), I found the court file of Krikor Mjrkian’s
murderers. The French had captured the two killers and wanted to
try them in court. Later, due to political reasons, they deemed it
preferable to let them go,” relates Vahe Tachjian.
Khatchik, and the rest of Krikor Mjrkian’s children, were born in that
mansion. They all survived the Genocide and immigrated to Cyprus and
later to Beirut.
“In the 1960s, Krikor Mjrkian’s son Khatchik, my grandfather, got into
contact with his old Turkish neighbours who were living in Sis. He
visited Sis just so he could see the house. He took some photos and
returned. A few years later he passed away. I don’t know if his death
was caused by the emotions he experienced there. He saw his house
for the last time and died,” says Vahe Tachjian.
When the section on Sis is ready in the Houshamadyan website, it will
probably include the story of Krikor Mjrkian and his mansion
The Armenians of the Ottoman Empire Left Over 300 Memoirs
[Vahe_Tachjian.jpg] Vahe Tachjian
Vahe Tachjian is the director and chief editor of the Houshamadyan
project. The Houshamadyan non-profit organization was founded in 2010
in Berlin and was twenty members. As the website says, Houshamadyan
is a project designed to “Reconstruct Ottoman Armenian Town and
Village Life.” Its aim is to depict how Armenians lived before the
1915 Genocide. Images of that life are reconstructed through the
memoirs bequeathed by Armenians who lived in the Ottoman Empire and
had either survived the Genocide or had emigrated earlier.
The primary sources for Houshamadyan are the more than 300 memoirs in
which the survivors wrote, starting in the 1920s, about the towns and
villages in which they once lived. There are also articles written in
the Constantinople, Tiflis and Baku Armenian press and books printed
in Constantinople and Tiflis on the same subject matter.
Studying and collating this material, Houshamadyan is then able to
present an overall picture of life for Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
– whether social, history, music, trades, holidays, religious customs,
cuisine, literature, etc.
Houshamadyan strives to use only Armenian language sources. It believes
the accepted practice in Ottoman studies of using only Ottoman,
French and English sources to depict the history of Armenians as a
big mistake. In addition, the daily life of Armenians is only lightly
touched upon in Ottoman studies.
The families of Genocide survivors often donate old photos, documents,
as well as other items of tangible culture value to Houshamadyan to
be displayed in the website. Vahe Tachjian says that such items bear
the entire memory bank of a given family, but that a family might
not comprehend a given item’s importance.
“Last year we launched our first tour. We went to Beirut and, in
conjunction with Haigazian University, we organized a meeting at a
school in the Armenian populated neighbourhood of Bourj Hamoud. We
announced that the Houshamadyan group had come from Berlin and
requested that if anyone had old photos, documents, items or anything
else that their grandfathers, grandmother, or earlier relatives had
brought from the Ottoman Empire, to bring to us. We would photograph
it on the spot and return it,” says Vahe Tachjian.
Heeding our call, many Lebanese-Armenians directly donated a bunch of
items to us. We now keep them in Berlin. On March 27, Houshamadyan held
it first exhibition at the Greens Party cultural center in Berlin. It
will last for two weeks and will display primarily photos and a number
of other such items.
Houshamadyan studies the history of not only Western Armenia but all
regions of the Ottoman Empire (for example the western districts
of Konya and Izmir and the Arab provinces of Baghdad, Aleppo and
Jerusalem) where Armenians lived. A large number of memoirs were
written about Armenians not only in Western Armenia but in the
abovementioned regions as well. Vahe Tachjian says this is why
theHoushamadyan website uses the terms Ottoman Armenians and not
Western Armenians.
During the Genocide, Armenians living in the mountains took up arms
while those in the towns tried to reason with the Turks
[f06643cbf3.jpg] Kesirig (Kesrig) village’s priest Rev Hagop
Der-Hagopian and his family (Source: Vahé Haig.) This photo is from
houshamadyan.org
Sifting through the materials collected by Houshamadyan, Vahe Tachjian
always learns something new and interesting. For example, in Western
Armenian villages the houses were one story. If not, either they had
no window or just a small one on top. What’s new is that after 1908,
those one story homes became two story and with a window or two.
“Having a window signified that the outside would be looking in
on you. Before, a stranger couldn’t look inside. That’s to say a
neighbouring Kurd or Turk would start looking inside. For them,
that psychological change happened after 1908,” says Vahe Tachjian.
A short time later, in 1909, the massacre of Adana Armenians would
alter that hope for a new life. After 1909, those Armenians who
had earlier left for the United States and had returned with their
families to Western Armenia were thoroughly disillusioned and once
again left for America or Egypt.
As to the question whether the pre-Genocide social milieu and daily
life of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire revealed any indications that
years later these same Armenians would be subject to Genocide, Vahe
Tachjian says that Armenians either didn’t wish to see the coming
tsunami that would destroy them or that they couldn’t understand
where it was headed. He argues that this is because the Armenians
comprised the weakest element in an empire that started down the road
of committing genocide.
He also notes that it’s difficult to leave your hearth and home in
times of comparative peace; when no practical steps are being taken
to destroy you. The first objective of Armenians was to remain in the
Ottoman Empire and to live safely and well. Armenians were puzzled as
to why the Ottoman authorities weren’t safeguarding their lives and
property from marauding Kurdish beys and were seeking assistance from
those same authorities and Armenian institutions in its service. When
they found no solution from those quarters it was only then that
Armenians slowly started to think of other solutions. Khrimian Hayrik
presented one of those solutions, but you can’t pick up an “iron ladle”
and wield it in the course of one day.
When I asked if his study of Houshamadyan materials revealed any
differences in lifestyle between those Armenian communities that
organized self-defense efforts and those that didn’t, Vahe Tachjian
responded that those residing in mountain enclaves, semi-autonomous
and with little contact with the outside world (Mousa Ler, Zeytoun,
Shadakh), took up arms and resisted when they were ordered to pack
up and leave. Armenians living in the towns tried to reason with
the Turks and convince themselves that this was merely a temporary
resettlement. They believed the statements of community leaders and
institutions who, also under the influence of the authorities, told
Armenians that they would all be returning.
Turkey’s Embassy shows an interest in Houshamadyan, but not the
government of Armenia
[2374173050.jpg] The Gosdanian family from the town of
Harput/Kharpert. (Source: Isabel Calusdian Goshgarian collection.) The
photo is from houshamadyan.org
Vahe Tachjian says the history of the culture and lifestyle of
Western Armenia is forgotten, both in the Republic of Armenia and
the diaspora. Today’s Armenians might be able to say where their
grandparents came, but as to how they lived is a different matter.
Fifty years ago there were still people who knew. That generation
has since passed and a new, reconstructed history has come to the fore.
In the new Armenian historiography, there is no room for local
histories.
The Houshamadyan director believes that not enough work is being
done in Armenia to research the history of Western Armenia. True,
the Genocide is studied, but research into the life of Armenians
before 1915 is rare. There is a great deal of material regarding
the western Armenian legacy stores away in the archives in Armenia,
but it must all be examined, organized and published.
In Berlin at the end of this year, Houshamadyan will publish the first
volume of an academic research study entitled “Ottoman Armenians”. The
volume will include some ten academic articles and photos regarding
the social and cultural life of Armenians. Houshamadyan also plans
to organise lectures, conferences and exhibitions in the future.
Vahe Tachjian laments the fact that no representative of the Armenian
government, even the Ministry of the Diaspora or the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, has yet to express an interest in the work carried
out by Houshamadyan.
In comparison, Turkey’s Embassy in Germany had contacted Houshamadyan,
asking about its activities and members. The embassy even advised
the organization to refrain from using the term genocide.
Most visitors to the Houshamadyan website are from the United States,
followed by Armenia and Turkey, especially from the interior provinces.
Houshamadyan operates on the largesse of individual donors. In
addition to a small permanent staff, the organization has a network
of volunteers ready to help.
Funding, and consequently, an adequate staff remain major problems.
But Vahe Tachjian says that despite the obstacles the work being
carried out is a reward in itself. After all, they are reconstructing
an entire world.
1st photo: Sis. Krikor Mjrkian’s house is on the left, located just
in front of Sis Catholicosate. The photo has been provided by Vahe
Tachjian.
sion-to-reconstruct-the-lost-world-of-ottoman-armenian-town-and-village-life
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From: A. Papazian
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/24935/houshamadyan-lebanese-armenian-is-on-a-mis