Speaking to One Another - The International Raoul Wallenberg ...

at that time, Mustafa and Jamal, whom she, in her mind, called Poghos and Artashes. She was able toconvince her husband to hire a female Armenian cook as a baby-sitter for his children, and later, whenher husband was on a ten day trip she fled with the help of that baby-sitter to Aleppo. She left her sonswith the baby-sitter “It happened so that the first door she knocked in Aleppo was door of her relatives from Adabazar.It was the house of Armine Kalents`s uncle, you probably know her, painter Armine Kalentc. They werefrom Adabazar and Knarik’s relatives... see how destiny plays with us”. Her hospitable relatives soon sent herto Washington where she got married with the other survivor and also had two children, one, as it wassaid, was named Poghos again. “My aunt told me that when she fed the second Poghos, she always was talkingwith the first Poghos, but she never dared to look for her first sons. She was terribly afraid that that would harmher children. She was so afraid that she even did not tell us the name of the city where her Turkish husband lived.Knarik’s husband and children know her story, but even they never tried to find out what happened to their brothers”.Aida Topuzyan says that her aunt didn`t like to talk about this period of her life, and she never talkedabout it after the first meeting.We can draw some parallels between this story and Arpik Shahinyan’s story: “...my aunt was a very beautifulwoman, she was captured by a Turk, and she was his wife for 7 years. For a long time, she was with this Turk,she suffered a lot, and finally she got away. He was a very rich Khan, besides Maqruhi, he had 15 other wives.Maqruhi said that he loved her very much but beat her twice a day. For 7 years, my aunt strangled every child thatshe delivered; she did not want to have children from a Turk... oh, you should here that story... She said she askedGod to release her from that prison, yes, she said, her husband would take Armenian prisoners and would burnthem in front of her, he would say, - “I will do the same with you, if you try to run away from me, I will burn youwith oil.” One day Maqruhi’s husband told her that a group of Armenian girls and women were gathered in thechurch, that all Armenian girls and women could go, they would be exchanged with Turkish prisoners of war, andhe asked her whether she wanted to go. Maqruhi thought that he was testing her and refused the offer.” When hesaw that I had no intention to go, he left for Beirut with no worries, he was trader at the time, and I dressed in yashmakand went to the church... I went there and said that I am Armenian, prisoner in that house, the Khan’s wife,but I can`t come on my own, you should come and force me out of there, I beg you and went back quickly.” The nextday, suddenly, someone knocked on the door. “Is there any Armenian girl?” The women said, “no, no, no, no, no,there is no Armenian girl here.” Pushing them out... I saw them from the upstairs and came down saying “I am theArmenian...” This time women started pushing me, but inside. “oh Maqruhi, don’t do it, he will kill us, he will killus all , he will thrust us, oh don’t let this happen.” They were crying so much, sobbing. I told them that the guy whocame and found me was my cousin and that I had to go. This is how she escaped.” Maqruhi would later marryand live in Armenia in Margara village. “But, God did not give her children anymore, because she strangled herchildren... She is buried with her husband in Margara village.”The story of Anahit Bardakchyan is both similar and different to the previous stories.. First of all, followingtheir settlement in Aleppo after the massacres one of eight girls from Bardakchyan’s family, Anahit’saunt, was forced away by a Turk, who converted her to Islam and married her. As long as they livedin Aleppo Anahit’s aunts and grandparents sometimes met with their sister and daughter and her firstson, Abas. “But then, my mother said, her sister’s husband moved to Turkey. This guy moved to Turkey and we109