Category: 2021

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Archives located in Watertown, Massachusetts contain a trove of photographic treasures. The process of cataloging the thousands of images is an often time-consuming, yet fascinating, research process. 

Sdepan Alyanakian (Photo: ARF Archives, Watertown, Massachusetts)

Last month, while reviewing the catalog, we happened upon a photograph where the handwritten last name was not entirely clear. The photograph was of a dapper young man with the imprint of a fingerprint left sometime over the years. We discovered the subject of the photograph was named Sdepan, and his last name began with “Al.” Entering this scant information into the Hairenik Digital Archives yielded a single result, Sdepan Alyanakian. From the September 9, 1917 issue of the Hairenik Daily, we learn that Alyanakian had drowned in New York. 

September 9, 1917 Hairenik Daily death announcement

Born in 1892 or 1893 in the village of Nirze in the Gesaria region, Alyanakian arrived in the US at the age of 18 or 19 in 1911 aboard the SS Martha Washington. In 1918, A Brief History of the Nirze Village of Gesaria was written by Senekerim Khederian and, just this year, an English translation by Gerard Libaridian was published by the Gomidas Institute. Alyanakian is mentioned a number of times in the book along with a short biography.

Alyanakian had worked in New York as a tailor. After joining the ARF, he enlisted in the first Caucasus volunteer movement in 1915. There is a record of Alyanakian first joining the 8th Company of the New York Guard on April 21, 1915. He left for the Caucasus soon thereafter in August. He would return to the US by 1917. I cannot be sure because of some conflicting information, but I may have found the ship manifest for his return aboard the SS Kristianiafjord on August 20, 1916. His World War I draft registration in the summer of 1917 stated he had served one year in the Russian army as an infantry private.

Alyanakian would again volunteer for the second Caucasus movement. Yet in August of 1917, he would drown at Holland Rockaway Beach on Long Island. Apparently, he had gotten cramps while swimming, and others nearby did not realize his distress until it was too late. His funeral took place on August 21, 1917 at St. Illuminator’s Church in New York City. He is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, though I could not find an image of the gravesite online.

Neither the book nor the Hairenik article contain a photograph, thus the one in the ARF archives is probably the only photograph of Alyanakian in existence. The Alyanakian family of Nirze seems to have been small. Khederian writes of four individuals in a household headed by Garabed Alyanakian. When Sdepan arrived in the US, he stated that he had no relatives remaining in Turkey and, again, he was single and without dependents on his World War I draft registration. His funeral record lists his parents as Mgrdich and Sultan Alyanakian. It is unclear if he has any surviving relatives today, but regardless, we should not forget men like Sdepan Alyanakian. “There was no one who had known him who did not mourn this young man’s death,” wrote Khederian. “Unger Stepan was modest and quiet, but by personality he was unswerving. He had a deep sense of the responsibility he was bearing as an Armenian.”

As we find new and interesting items in the ARF archives, we hope to share them in the pages of the Armenian Weekly.

1915 census

Abstract

Researching Armenian genealogy presents unique challenges, in large part due to the scarcity of records in the Armenian homeland and the scattering of families who survived the Armenian Genocide. Many Armenians immigrated to North America in the latter part of the 1800s and in the early 1900s. Fortunately, for those of Armenian descent living in the US and Canada, a tremendous amount of information can be found in primary source records of these countries to help them to learn about their Armenian families. The Armenian Immigration Project explores nine different types of American primary sources related to Armenian immigrants during this time period, using an evidence-based methodology to abstract over 170,000 entries from these records and present them in a searchable, free, online database.

Background

My paternal grandfather Dikran Arslanian was born around 1883 in the village of Sergevil, located in the kaza (county) of Keghi, sanjak of Erzurum (Garin), vilayet of Erzurum, in Turkey in the Ottoman Empire. He immigrated to the US through New York (Ellis Island) in 1906. Many of the men in his family also left Turkey in the years prior to the 1915 Genocide to find work in the US, Canada and western Europe in the hopes of bettering their family’s prospects and perhaps bringing their wives and children to join them. Of the 40 or so members of our extended Arslanian family remaining in Turkey in 1915, only two boys were known to have survived the Genocide. They were rescued from refugee camps in the Middle East after the end of World War I.

Dikran remained in the US, married a woman of French-Canadian descent and settled on the Pacific coast (Washington and Oregon). He finally arrived in Fresno, California in the early 1930s. My father was one of seven children born to this couple between 1918 and 1934 – first-generation Americans of Armenian and French ancestry.

As a teenager in the early 1970s, I became interested in learning more about my father’s Armenian family. My Armenian grandfather Dikran died in 1965, and my father knew very little about the Armenian side of his family (as he had been estranged from his father for many years). Dad referred me to one of his much older Armenian first cousins—Kevork, or “Uncle George” as we called him. He was born around 1895 and came to America in 1912. I met Uncle George at some family gatherings and later wrote to him with questions about our Arslanian family. George responded immediately, and we corresponded for several years. Not only did he share a lot about our Armenian family, but he gave me the addresses of several other older close relatives, including the two boys in our family who had survived the Genocide (who were then in their 60s and 70s). I put together similar questionnaires and mailed them to the other contacts, who promptly responded. Some of them also sent old photographs. One even provided a hand-drawn sketch of their home in Sergevil. (They all lived together in an extended household after my great-grandfather Sarkis Arslanian and his brother Garabed, the family patriarchs, were killed in the massacres of 1895-1896.)

The information I obtained from my correspondence with my older relatives in the 1970s enabled me to piece together our family story, but left a number of questions unanswered. In these days before the internet, widespread availability of primary source records and DNA technology, I figured that was as far as I was going to get in understanding the history of my Armenian family. At least I was able to meet some of my extended Arslanian family living in the US, England and France.

Primary Sources

Over the next several decades, I started researching primary sources to augment the information I had already learned about my Armenian family. Primary sources are official documents created near the time of the event for governmental, religious or commercial purposes, as well as unofficial material (such as correspondence or missing persons ads) created by someone with first-hand knowledge of certain facts. My research started with the general availability of the 1910 federal census, which was released to the public (via microfilm) in 1982, after a legal waiting period of 72 years. My Armenian grandfather and several of his family and fellow villagers first appeared in that census.

In addition to censuses, primary sources include vital records (births, marriages and deaths), military records (World War I and World War II draft registrations), ship manifests, citizenship records (naturalization and passport applications) and newspapers (especially missing persons ads). In those days, some of the records were available from the US and state and local governments in the form of microfilm, microfiche and paper files. Other records could be found in county courthouses and archives. During my business and personal travel in the 1980s and 1990s, I often set aside a day or two for genealogical research in courthouses, archives and cemeteries or for meeting and interviewing relatives.

The commercial availability of the internet in the 1990s was a game-changer for genealogists. Not only did forums emerge that allowed researchers to collaborate, but all kinds of different primary records started to become available online. For my Armenian research, the most important of these were the collections of ship manifests, starting with the Ellis Island website around the year 2000. I was able to take my Armenian research notes from the early 1970s and locate many of the individuals on the original ship manifests. Not only did these records reveal the relatives or acquaintances they were joining in America, but they listed (for arrivals in 1907 and later) the names and relationships of the ones they were leaving in the ‘old country.’ Many of the names of family and friends were previously unknown to me, leading to more research possibilities (new information on my Armenian family, at last!)

I became interested in learning more about other Armenian immigrants to America who originated in my grandfather’s home kaza of Keghi and eventually compiled a spreadsheet of over 2,500 immigrants from Keghi who entered America through Ellis Island. (Some were related to my Arslanian family, but I eventually learned that Keghi was quite a large kaza, consisting of over 50 Armenian villages clustered around the principal town of the kaza, called Keghi Kasaba.) To learn more about these Keghi immigrants to America, I tried to see if I could find them in the US and Canada federal census records and military draft registrations (and created spreadsheets for those).

At some point, I realized the significance of this approach for anyone researching their Armenian family who immigrated to America. I decided to expand my research beyond Keghi to include anyone of Armenian ancestry, regardless of their place of origin. More records became available online – ship manifests for ports other than Ellis Island, censuses for later years, citizenship records, vital records, newspapers, etc. (I created many more spreadsheets.)

Linkage of Primary Sources

It soon became apparent to me that there was tremendous value to be gained by looking at a number of different primary sources when researching individuals and family groups. You get a much more complete picture of a person’s history by combining information in a holistic fashion from different primary sources and timeframes, much more than you find in just a single record:

• date and place of birth (including town/village)
• interrelationships of individuals (relatives, neighbors from villages/towns in the “Old Country” and in America)
• dates and places of marriage(s) and death
• where they lived and how they got from one place to another
• occupation(s)
• how they lived and what they did
• photographs 

In the 1970s, I learned that by sending the same questionnaire to different older family members, their answers didn’t always agree. Dates were problematic. (Didn’t people know their own birthdays or that of their relatives?) Sometimes the chronology of events and names of people were inconsistent. The same thing, I realized, applied when looking at primary source records. They often don’t agree. Dates are off. Place names and personal names are spelled dozens of different ways. This is the nature of research with primary sources. Rarely will all of the information in a particular record be entirely correct. Often, it will conflict with a family’s oral traditions (memories being flawed, as well). Research of any kind is messy. You can’t take anything verbatim. It is important to look at the entirety of a person’s “paper trail” of primary records to look for corroboration and discrepancies and make a judgment as to which information is likely to be correct, which is incorrect and what information you may never know.

Why are primary records not entirely accurate? Here are some of the possible explanations.

• Informant didn’t know
• Error in transcribing between work document and official document (or copying of official document)
• Lack of understanding between clerk and informant due to language difference
• Change of place names, borders; no clarity regarding level of place to use in the administrative hierarchy (e.g., village/town, kaza, sanjak, vilayet)
• Delay in time between event and recording of information
• Deliberate falsification (informant or clerk)

In general, information in a primary source is usually quite accurate with respect to things happening at the time of the record, assuming that the informant was knowledgeable. For example, a death certificate is usually correct for things like the decedent’s name, address, occupation, date and place of death, cause of death, and place of burial (or removal). That same death certificate may not be accurate for things like the decedent’s date and place of birth and names of the parents, since those things may not have been known first-hand to the informant, especially if the decedent was elderly.

Another good reason for gathering information from as many primary sources as possible for an individual is to uncover that “gem.” Many times I have gathered information for a person across many different types of primary sources, and one (and only one) of those sources contained a piece of information that allowed me to break through a “brick wall” and solve a puzzle that had perplexed family researchers for years. Perhaps there was an aunt living in the household in the 1930 census whose identity finally enabled me to identify that person’s parents. Or maybe the village of the person’s birth is only shown in the World War II draft registration (all other records for that individual giving just the name of the kaza, sanjak, vilayet or country).

After gathering information on Armenian immigrants to North America (US and Canada) from many different types of primary sources, tens of thousands of rows in multiple spreadsheets, I was challenged with how best to present this information to a global audience. At first, I just created pdf files of the spreadsheets and published them on a web server. This was not satisfactory for a number of reasons. The amount of information couldn’t easily fit on a single sheet (even in landscape mode). Each different sort order required its own spreadsheet, and it was almost impossible to link together all of the information for an individual across all of the different primary source records.

Around 2015, I solved many of these problems by organizing information from these different primary sources into tables within a database, and then publishing that database along with easy-to-use search tools to quickly view the information (over 170,000 entries) in a variety of different ways, even a consolidated view for an individual (linking all of that person’s records together).

Evidence-based Methodology

Many of the purported genealogies published in books and online are nothing more than a repetition of someone else’s mistakes due to shoddy or inadequate research. Early on, I tried to carefully document primary sources to support each relationship or event (birth, marriage or death) in my own family genealogies. Even if the primary sources are conflicting, as they often are, someone years later could at least examine each of the cited sources to draw their own conclusions.

In my research of Armenian immigrants to America (the Armenian Immigration Project), I have not attempted to document genealogies of any of the families other than my own. Rather, I am more interested in providing them with original evidence and clues that they can use to construct their own family trees or gain a better understanding of their own family histories. My role is more like an archaeologist digging up bones and artifacts, and then displaying, categorizing, cataloguing and indexing my finds. My objective is to allow others to find new information about the subjects of their research. 

By gathering as much evidence from primary source material for an individual (and their close connections), researchers will be able to determine which facts are independently corroborated and which ones conflict, and then use their informed judgment to develop a narrative of their family history. Many of us are uncomfortable with uncertainty. We need to learn to accept that some level of uncertainty is unavoidable. 

Oftentimes, information from primary sources will be in direct conflict with an oral family tradition that has been repeated (and probably embellished) for decades. Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to let go of these oral traditions. But that is usually the case with historical research.

Structure of Armenian Immigration Project Website

The project web site consists of two pages: Home and Project Reports and Queries.

The Home page is a description of the project – its background and each of the nine primary sources. For each primary source, a link is provided to allow you to download the entire database table in .csv format. You may import this file into your own spreadsheet program or database to create your own reports or do your own analysis. The character set is utf-8, and the column separator is a semicolon.

The Project Reports & Queries page is the workhorse of the project, allowing you to search through the more than 170,000 entries contained within the database tables. A report is a summary of data in a table (e.g., top joining street addresses on ship manifests). A query allows you to use various search criteria to find individual entries (abstracts) of the primary sources. Within the abstracts, you will often find links to other abstracts relating to the same individual or to someone in that person’s network (a relative, friend, or associate). This linkage of the abstracts is the key analytical benefit of the project.

In most cases, the abstracts do not provide a linkage to the actual image of the primary source record. There are several reasons why I chose not to do this. These include the time it would take to clip a discrete image and point to it, the fact that some types of records (like ship manifests and marriage registers) don’t lend themselves to just clipping the entry of interest without getting the whole large page with headings, the issue with links to the sources themselves (on sites like Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org) becoming outdated and invalid, as well as possible issues with intellectual property rights. For the Ads table, I present images of missing persons ads. For some of the records in the Deaths table, I include an obituary or news item relating to the person’s death. Published content, like American newspapers, are in the public domain after 75 years. Also, Fair Use guidelines allow their selective use for this type of scholarly research.

Project Reports & Queries Page

The Project Reports & Queries page allows you to search through any of the nine database tables corresponding to primary sources, as well as a combined search (across all tables at once). 

At the top is a sampling of five individual photographs. These photographs are part of a collection of over 4,000 photographs of Armenian immigrants whose entries are in the project. When you refresh the webpage, five more randomly chosen photographs will appear. If you click on a photograph, it will take you to that person’s entry. Presenting these faces is a way to help the data (names, dates and places) come alive. 

Each section on this page (delineated by headers with a yellow background) corresponds to one of the primary sources in the database. For example, you can run a query or report for the Deaths table, which includes abstracts of death registers and certificates. There are currently 3,883 entries in the table. To run the query or report, click the hot link. There are several different ways to search each table.

Let’s turn to the concept of roles. Each type of primary source record may mention one or more individuals. For example, in the death records, you will find the deceased person, his/her spouse and the parents of the deceased.

Next, how do we deal with all of the different spelling variations of personal names? For most last names, we will often find dozens of different spellings in the primary sources. Here is a sampling of those found for the last name Կրճիկեան. The transliteration of a name to the Latin alphabet is different for Western Armenian versus Eastern Armenian. It can also differ depending on where the record was written (by a French-speaking clerk preparing a ship manifest for a voyage from Le Havre or a military draft registrar in Fresno writing down a phonetic approximation of the name using American English conventions). When abstracting the names from the primary sources (those written in the Latin alphabet), I transcribed them exactly as written, so you can search across all of the different spelling variations.

To make it easier to find a last name across all of the different spelling variations, names that are phonetically similar have been grouped together under a label called the Last Name (Std.). The variations of the name Կրճիկեան can be found under the Last Name (Std.) of Grjigian. The labels are usually the Western Armenian transliteration in a style you will typically find in the US. This is not to say that this is the correct spelling of the transliterated name, as different families (or branches of the same family) may have their own spelling preferences. Sometimes, different last names may be grouped together if their spelling variations are hard to distinguish from one another or if they are based on the same root (e.g., Hagopian and Yacoubian). If a last name has commonly been anglicized to its American English equivalent (e.g., Arslanian to Lion or Lyons), you will find it grouped with the original Armenian name.

On each of the Query pages, you will find a button for a utility that maps any last name in the database to its standardized last name.

Place names are another challenge. In the Ottoman Empire, many towns and villages had different Armenian names than Turkish names, such as Garin/Erzurum, Dikranagerd/Diyarbekir, Kharpert/Harput, or Paghesh/Bitlis. Even the Turkish names were spelled differently in western European and American publications of that time (e.g., Erzurum vs. Erzeroum). After the formation of the Republic of Turkey following the end of World War I, many of the names were changed further (e.g., Smyrna to Izmir, Constantinople to Istanbul and Harput to Elazig). Of course, any place name could be found spelled dozens of different ways that are rough phonetic approximations on primary sources in American records. The same applies to names of places in the former Russian Empire (Alexandropol to Leninakan to Gyumri), now the Republic of Armenia. 

For place names, the Armenian Immigration Project uses the names in place at the start of World War I (in 1914), using the style most commonly found on American maps and in English-language publications. When referring to places in Turkey, the administrative hierarchy of place names in use at that time is used. For example, my paternal grandfather’s village of birth is referred to as Keghi (Sergevil), Erzurum, Turkey, using the kaza (Keghi), followed by the town/village name in parentheses, then the vilayet (province), then the country. For places that were then in the Russian Empire (now the Republic of Armenia), the towns and villages in the okrug of Kars are grouped together, as are those in the uyezd of Alexandropol. (Kars was recaptured by the Turks and incorporated back into Turkey in 1921.)

Example of Consolidated View with Linkages

One of my key objectives for this project is to show a consolidated view of information from primary source records for individual immigrants to America. This can be illustrated with the view for my paternal grandfather Dikran “Dick” Arslanian: 

The consolidated view is built around the immigrant’s ship manifest (or border crossing entry, in the event that the person arrived in the US by land through Canada or Mexico). Dikran arrived in America through New York (Ellis Island) on November 24, 1906 aboard the ship La Provence, which departed the port of Le Havre, France on November 17, 1906 (a voyage of seven days). He had traveled from his home village in Turkey to the Black Sea port of Batum (then in Russia), which was listed as his Last Residence. From there, he eventually reached France to begin the final leg of his journey to the US. Dikran, like many Armenian immigrants to America, traveled with others from his home village. To see others on his voyage, click the little ship icon. (This will bring up an additional view of voyages for that year, positioned with that particular voyage at the top of the screen. Give it about 10 seconds or so to refresh the screen for heavy immigration years like 1913 and 1921.) 

The immigrant’s place of birth first appeared in the ship manifests of late 1906. As seen in Dikran’s entry, it was erroneously listed as Batum. (This is typical with many of the 1906 ship manifests, conflating the places of birth and last residence; records of 1907 and later are generally more accurate in this respect.)

Many immigrants to America, particularly men, traveled back and forth multiple times. Dikran did not. Were this the case, you would see one or more Other Immigrant IDs listed, with hot links that enable you to view abstracts of those ship manifests, as well.

If an individual’s direct male descendant had a Y-chromosome DNA test performed (typically through the Armenian DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA), his results and a contact name would be listed here. This can be used, in Dikran’s case, to determine if other Arslanians are of the same family as him. (Most are not, unless they were from the same village in Keghi.) To be of the same family, their y-DNA results would need to be virtually identical. This field could also display the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) results for female immigrants. Here are the current haplogroup results for the Armenian Immigration Project database. This is a relatively new feature, which I hope will be used broadly by descendants of Armenian immigrants in America to find other members of their families.

Starting with ship manifests (to the US) in 1907, a column appeared for “The name and complete address of nearest relative or friend in country whence alien came.” In my database, I refer to this as the Leaving role (with Name, Relationship, Immigrant ID and Location). This field often contains the name of a spouse or parent in the Old Country who may or may not have come to America. (In Dikran’s case, this field is blank, since he traveled in 1906.)

Starting in about the year 1900, ship manifest entries showed the name, relationship, and street address of the person in America (“relative or friend”) they were joining (i.e., the Joining role in my database). In Dikran’s case, he was joining his older brother Marouke Arslanian in Madison, Illinois (near Granite City). By clicking on the hot link for Marouke’s Joining Immigrant ID, you can view all the information I have found for Marouke (whose photo appears above the Joining section of this page).

In the Comments field, there’s more additional information found for the immigrant on the ship manifest entry, such as if they were deported or had distinguishing physical characteristics (deformities, scars, tattoos, blue eyes, etc.).

The most important feature of this consolidated view are linkages to other entries appearing in my database for that same individual from the different types of primary sources records, which appear in the bottom section of this page. To the left of each entry, you will find a small icon depicting a magnifying glass. Clicking this icon will bring you to a view of an abstract for that record, which may itself contain linkages to other entries. For example, you will find entries for Dikran in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census, the World War I draft registration, a naturalization application from 1920, his 1912 and 1918 marriages (the latter one to my grandmother) and his 1965 death certificate from Modesto, California.

Note that his birth date is inconsistent from entry to entry, which is typical for Armenian immigrants to America. Also, there are a number of different spellings for his first and last names.

Every few months, I refresh the online version of the Armenian Immigration Project database with new entries. This consolidated view will automatically incorporate additional entries for the immigrant with each refresh. 

Conclusion

Doing an exhaustive search for your relatives in primary documentary sources takes a lot of time and patience, but it can be very rewarding and gratifying. You may find a personal signature or even a photograph that you’ve never seen before (in naturalization applications starting in 1930 and passport applications starting in 1915). Ship manifests may reveal new names and connections, as well as show how your relatives got to America. The decennial censuses of the US and Canada often show extended family groupings soon after they arrived. Be prepared for surprises, as family anecdotes are almost never completely accurate. Keep an open mind and have fun.

Members of the AYF-ER Central Executive pictured left to right: Sipan Ohannesian, Alex Manoukian, Vrej Dawli, Sosy Bouroujian and Aram Balian

WASHINGTON, DC—Members of the Armenian Youth Federation-Eastern Region (AYF-ER) Central Executive (CE) have formally expressed their grave concerns about the fate of the Armenian nation in a private meeting with Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts.

The group of young activists led by chairman Vrej Dawli (Chicago “Ararat” Chapter), Alex Manoukian (Washington, DC “Ani” Chapter), Aram Balian (Washington, DC “Ani” Chapter), Sipan Ohannesian (Washington, DC “Ani” Chapter) and Sosy Bouroujian (Washington, DC “Ani” Chapter) arranged the Friday afternoon meeting with the newly-installed Armenian envoy ahead of yet another trilateral agreement between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia rumored to take place sometime next week—one year after PM Nikol Pashinyan’s signing of the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 Artsakh War. Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Eastern Region (ARF-ER) Central Committee member Ani Tchaghlasian accompanied the AYF members as the ARF liaison to the Embassy.

“The Armenian nation is against additional reckless concessions,” stressed the CE during the closed-door meeting conducted in Armenian, “We are against the current negotiations that will create a corridor isolating our homeland.” 

One of the AYF’s many concerns is centered on the dangers of open borders and normalizing relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan. At issue, for example, is Azerbaijan’s long-standing plan of restoring foreign transport and communication channels with its Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic via a so-called “Zangezur Corridor” through the Armenian region of Syunik. 

“The trilateral agreement did not establish peace, but rather provoked the enemy’s expansionist appetite,” warned the CE of the anticipated concessions, “We will not remain idle in the face of the destruction of our nation and will move against the current administration’s divisive and destructive policies, which are anti-Armenian and lead the future of our youth to the abyss.”

Makunts, who previously served as the head of the ruling My Step faction in the National Assembly and took on a brief stint as the Minister of Culture, was appointed to her current role in Washington by PM Pashinyan back in August. Criticized for her unseasoned background in diplomacy and politics, Makunts has since been promoting her one-on-one meetings with top Congressional leaders and their discussions about democratic reforms in Armenia and the strengthening of US-Armenia ties. 

In a Facebook Live broadcast outside the Armenian Embassy on R Street, Dawli provided a brief update on the AYF’s meeting. “We shared our views face to face to underscore the depth of our concerns and the commitment of Armenian youth worldwide to the security and survival of the Armenian nation,” explained Dawli, flanked by fellow members of the AYF-ER CE. “We will neither accept nor allow the abandonment of Artsakh, the surrender of any Armenian land, the establishment of foreign corridors across Armenian territory or the compromise of Armenian security,” he emphasized.

The AYF-ER has publicly expressed its disappointment with Makunts’ placement in DC. Last month, a small group of AYF members staged a peaceful protest outside the Armenian Embassy in DC, as Makunts was hosting a party for the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s independence. That was no cause for celebration for the group of activists, who were criticizing the Armenian government’s failure to prioritize instead the release of hundreds of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan. The AYF-ER reported that the Secret Service was summoned to disperse its lawful demonstration.

The unconditional return of Armenian POWs is one of several demands of the AYF-ER’s protests planned for November 9. As part of its participation in the pan-Armenian youth resistance movement initiated by the ARF Bureau Office of Youth Affairs in Armenia, the AYF-ER is inviting Diasporans in the eastern region to unite in New York, Chicago or Washington, DC next week and raise their voices in this existential fight for the homeland.

Glendale, California — 1987

“And that’s about it,” Varto sighed as she arranged the last bottle of pills on the shelf. She was looking after her son’s drugstore while he was away.

She pushed back her silvery hair and settled on the chair behind the counter. The smell of medication pervaded the air.

Looking for her Bible, she pulled a drawer open. Her eyes landed on the headline on the day’s issue of the Los Angeles Times: ‘Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down the Berlin Wall, Reagan Says.’

Her lips twisted into a cynical smirk. “Ha! As if Gorby would listen!”

She shuffled the newspaper aside and picked up the well-worn leather-bound Bible. Her wrinkled fingers lovingly stroked the gilded Armenian words on the cover.

With her spectacles perched on her nose, Varto turned to a dog-eared page. She clasped her hands in her lap and began muttering her prayers. But the sound of the front door opening disrupted her.

She lifted her gaze to find a twenty-something woman who hastened toward the counter. Her hood was up, her hands stuffed into the front pocket. She hunched her shoulder as her weary eyes scanned the shelves. 

Varto flashed a welcoming smile. “Good evening. Can I help you find something?”

The woman extended an old, empty bottle of sleeping pills and said, “This.” She scraped a hand through her hood, pushing it back to reveal disheveled brown hair, which hung around her tear-streaked cheeks. Her pallid complexion and dark circles marred an otherwise beautiful face.

Varto rose from her chair and walked to the nearby shelf with a frown. The woman’s jittery nerves, the way her eyes darted, and that look on her face made Varto sense something odd.

Varto picked up an identical bottle and set it on the counter. “And that will be—”

Before she finished her sentence, the young woman slid a crumpled twenty-dollar bill over the counter with trembling hands. She then grabbed the bottle and shoved it into her pocket. Without meeting Varto’s eyes, she quickly retraced her steps. As she laid her hand on the front door, Varto called out after her, “Wait! You forgot your change.” 

But it was too late. The woman closed the door and headed down the street.

Varto shook her head and mumbled to herself, “Youngsters these days.” She dropped the change into the register and retreated to the chair. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind. The woman’s eyes… those eyes contained a palpable fear, so much so, Varto felt it pulsing through her. She could only imagine what made the young woman so afraid. It then hit her. Varto recognized that fear from her own past. An all-consuming fear. Fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of life. If she was right, something terrible was about to happen.

Varto scrambled from the chair and rushed to grab her coat. She pulled it on and wrapped a scarf around her head. She hastily hung up the ‘Closed’ sign and locked the store behind her.

Outside, the icy wind billowed her scarf. She rubbed her palms and scanned the street until her gaze landed on the woman a short distance away. Varto followed her with quick footsteps. Unlike most women her age, her limbs hadn’t failed. At eighty-one, Varto was just as strong on the outside as she was on the inside.

As fate would have it, a passing truck blocked her view of the woman. With an irritated huff, Varto shook her head and scanned the street, hoping the young woman would appear in her line of sight again. 

Varto noticed a middle-aged cop striding toward her with a concerned look on his face. Once he was a few steps away, he said, “You seem to be in a hurry. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Well—” Varto frowned and pointed in the direction where she last saw the woman. “A customer forgot to take her credit card back. She was heading that way. Too bad I missed her.” 

“Hmm.” The officer rubbed his chin. “I’ve finished my shift, and since I’m headed home that way, I could offer you a ride if you like.” He motioned to his car.

Varto flashed a polite smile as he opened the door to the passenger seat. They drove a few blocks and reached a dark neighborhood lined with brick houses. Varto looked out the window and heaved a sigh of relief.

The woman stumbled past a tree and unlocked the door to a house.

Varto signaled the officer to stop and he pulled over. After getting out of the car, she thanked him and he proceeded to drive off.

She rushed toward the woman’s house. In the yard, a stack of envelopes overflowed from the mailbox. Varto picked one up from the ground and read the name on it: Hannah Smith. She stuffed it back into the box. With bated breath, she walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.

Varto stood on the porch for so long, she contemplated returning to the store. As she was about to leave, the woman opened the door.

Varto smiled. “You must be Hannah. Perhaps you remember me from the drugstore.”

Hannah furrowed her brows. “Yes, but why are you here? I already paid, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. Err… you forgot your change.” Varto slid a hand into her coat pocket and fumbled.

“No need!” Hannah waved her hand. “I can’t believe you followed me all the way to my house just for the stupid change.”

Varto craned her neck and glanced at the living room behind Hannah. The open bottle of sleeping pills sat on the table next to a glass of liquor.

“Excuse me!” Hannah partially closed the door, blocking Varto’s view. “That’s none of your business.”

“You are right,” Varto said. “I am not here for the ‘stupid change.’ I dropped by to check if you are okay.”

Hannah crossed her arms. “I’m okay.”

Varto looked into her red-rimmed eyes. “Really? I don’t think so.”

Hannah clenched her jaw while tears threatened to break free. “Please leave me alone,” she croaked. “I’m… I’m fine.”

Varto shook her head and gently said, “No, you aren’t, dear.”

There was a moment of silence. 

Hannah crumbled to her knees and broke into tears. 

Varto lifted her up and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Slowly, she led a reluctant Hannah into the living room. A foul odor hung in the air. Cigarette butts and beer bottles were scattered all over the place. Pots of withered flowers stood on the windowsill. Untouched newspapers and unwashed laundry sat on the floor near the drawn curtains.

Varto helped Hannah settle on the couch and sat beside her. Cradling Hannah’s hands in her own, she asked, “What happened, dear? Tell me.”

With teary eyes, Hannah stared at the table in front of her. “My boyfriend cheated on me with my friend. He was just using me for sex.” She gulped back a sob. “Two days ago, I found out I’m pregnant. When I broke the news to him, he called me a slut. He accused me of sleeping with someone else and trying to pin the blame on him.”

She buried her face in her palms. “I’m estranged from my family and have a minimum-wage job. My life’s a colossal mess!” Hannah hung her head in defeat. “I’d be better off dead.”

“Hmm…” Varto said. “So, suicide would solve all your problems?”

Hannah sniffed, wiping her tears. “That’s so easy for you to say. You don’t know what it’s like for my generation.”

Varto tilted her head. “Trust me, Hannah. I have seen enough grief to last a lifetime. I have seen it all.” She lifted Hannah’s chin. “I am not going to try to talk you out of whatever you have decided to do.” She took a deep breath. “Let me tell you a story instead. It will take only a few minutes. Is that okay?”

Hannah rubbed her red, puffy eyes and nodded.

Varto leaned back as the memories she had harbored for a long time flashed before her eyes. “I was born eighty-one years ago—long before you, your mother, or perhaps even your grandmother. I was the youngest, born after two brothers and a sister. My father was an apothecary in Eastern Anatolia, today’s Turkey. He named me Vartanoush. Do you know what that means?” She smiled as she took in Hannah’s blank _expression_. “Sweet as a rose. But my life was anything but sweet. Truth be told, it was as bitter as it can be.”

Hannah leaned forward and listened intently.

“I was barely nine when the first World War broke out.” A chill raced down Varto’s spine as she relived the painful memory. “One day, gendarmes stormed into our house and arrested my father and brothers on false charges of treason. Our peaceful life was thrown into chaos overnight.”

“A few days later, the rest of my village—including me, my pregnant mother, and my elder sister—were forced from our homes. We abandoned everything we owned except our faith and dignity. The gendarmes lured us along the Euphrates River toward the Syrian desert under the guise of evacuating us to a safer place.” A warm teardrop trickled down Varto’s cheek. “When we realized we were being led on a death march, it was too late. Terrorized and starved, we spent days without food and water. My mother picked through…”—she choked back the bile rising in her throat—“through feces to pull out grains to feed us.”

Hannah’s eyes widened, and she stifled a sob. 

“I am sorry.” Varto fought back tears before continuing. “But that was the reality we endured. When my mother refused to sell my sister as a sex slave, the gendarmes”—her voice quivered—“they grabbed their bayonets and stabbed her through the stomach, splitting open her womb. She died, and so did the baby inside her. They dragged my sister and me away from my mother’s body. The sand around her was soaked with blood.”

Hannah clapped her hand over her mouth and gasped, “Jesus Christ!”

Varto’s lips parted in a melancholic smile. “Jesus Christ was nowhere to be found in the desert. I cursed Him for forsaking me. For my very existence. As days passed, bodies piled up and were left for the vultures to eat.”

Armenian woman kneeling beside dead child in field during the Armenian Genocide (Photo: Library of Congress)

A sudden coldness hit Varto. “Genocide.” The words she spat out left a sourness in her mouth. “That’s what it was. Cold-blooded genocide.”

Hannah raised her brow and asked, “The Holocaust?”

“No, not the Holocaust.” Varto shook her head, anguish engulfing her. “Ours is a forgotten holocaust. The tragedy was buried together with 1.5 million Armenian victims who were slaughtered like sheep by the Ottoman Empire. The genocide no one remembers, let alone cares about.” She frowned, her shoulders drooping under the weight of the loss of her people.

Hannah gently took Varto’s hands in hers.

“After being drained of all hope, I prepared for the inevitable.” Varto’s eyes found the floor. “One night, as my sister slept, I ran to the riverbank. I wanted to end my misery. A few steps separated life from death. But—” She bit her bottom lip. “At that moment, a voice inside my head repeated an old Armenian proverb my mother taught me as a child. The sun won’t stay behind the cloud. It reminded me not to give in. I discovered my strength in those golden words. Not to give the ruthless Empire what it desperately needed—my death. I couldn’t let them win. I listened to my inner voice and returned to my sister.”

She blew her cheeks out. “A few days later, an American missionary rescued me and my sister. He smuggled us out of Turkey using his connections. When I came to this country as a refugee, things were different. New place. New culture. New everything. I was afraid of this big, strange land. Nevertheless, I fought my way to fit in.” Her eyes glinted with a sense of longing. “After all, survival runs in the blood of every Armenian. Long story short, I found a job, got married, had a family. I brought my children into the world and continued my story—people who would not have existed had I jumped into the river.” She stared at the ceiling. “Even though I made this country my home, I will never forget my homeland. All this time, I have carried my home in my heart.”

As Varto finished her story, Hannah choked back a sob.

Varto cleared her throat. “At life’s crossroads, I had a decision to make. If I had chosen death, then those genocidal bastards would have gotten what they wanted. But I didn’t let them win. Now, it’s your turn to decide. Your life might not change—it could even get worse—but it’s up to you to choose between giving up and fighting back.”

Bending forward, she picked up the bottle of sleeping pills. As she shook it, a few blue pills landed in her palm. Varto pushed them into Hannah’s hands. “Like I said, I will not stop you.” She shot her a sidelong glance. “If you have made up your mind to die, so be it. I will leave flowers at your grave.”

Varto pushed herself to her feet. “The decision is entirely yours, Hannah.”

As Hannah narrowed her eyes at the pills in her hand, Varto walked out the front door.

Three Weeks Later

A slight drizzle landed in silvery beads on the front window of the drugstore, lending an eerie glow to the world outside. Varto ticked off medicines from the list as she arranged the new stock on the shelf.

Just then, a familiar voice greeted her. “Good morning.”

Varto quickly turned toward the counter.

Hannah stood at the entrance, beaming. She proudly ran a hand over her stomach.

A chuckle escaped Varto’s lips. “So, no flowers, then?”

Hannah grinned and handed over a slip of paper. “I just had my first prenatal appointment. Here’s a list of the medications I need.”

Varto adjusted her spectacles and examined the prescription. Before long, various health supplements were on the counter, neatly tucked inside a paper bag.

Hannah pulled out a wad of cash from her handbag.

“No, no.” Varto waved away her money. “This is my gift to you. From one mother to another.”

Hannah raised her hand. “But—”

“No buts.” A warm smile lit Varto’s face. “I insist.”

With a reluctant nod, Hannah uttered a silent ‘thank you’ and turned to leave.

***

Walking out the door, Hannah crossed a fresh puddle and let out a sigh. Deep inside, she wasn’t sure how she was going to raise her baby. Nevertheless, she steeled her nerves and looked at the sky. The clouds slowly parted to reveal the sun in all its glory.

“The sun won’t stay behind the cloud,” Hannah reassured herself as the sun smiled down on her, warming her skin.

It was a new dawn.

Her new dawn.

 ***

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a new Armenia.”

William Saroyan