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

“My Father used to Tell us at Home”Albert Mamikonyan told his family story on November 2, 2009, in the city of Yerevan in his apartment.His story has been written down by L.Kharatyan. S.Harutyunyan and H. Sahakyan attended the interview.(Below are some extracts from the interview. )Albert Mamikonyan started his story with a display of photographs. The first photograph had the pictureof his grandfather, grandmother, his father at a young age, and his cousin:My father’s name – his real name – was Marcos; he changed it at a later point. My grandmother’s namewas Srbuhi, and the name of my father’s cousin was Khachik. All these people ... they are Jamjyans.These photos were taken back in Ardvin; they lived near Ardvin, in the town of Ardanouch. This wasn’teven a town in effect, but it wasn’t a village, either. It was an urban-type settlement perhaps. My father’scousin changed their surname from Jamjyan into Chamchyan, for easier distinction perhaps. Jamjyan isfrom the word “jam” – glass; perhaps they did some glasswork, therefore they were Jamjyans. We havebecome Mamikonyans in Iran. When they were deported from Turkey, my father came to Batum, thenfrom Batum to Kharkov; they had a factory in Kharkov, they were among the richest people in Kharkov.After NEP 1 those who were rich were either expulsed, or shot dead. This was approximately in 1933...They had two large houses in Kharkov and one large confectionery. ... In order ... to avoid Stalin’s repressions,it was very easy - they adopted Iranian citizenship and moved to Iran...They all moved to Iran, and my father went ... My father, as a son of a rich person ... they go to studyabroad nowadays... just like that... they sent my father, he graduated from the Mkhitarian College. Afterthe Mkhitarian College he went to Italy and studied at the University of Rome. Later, upon graduation, hecame – well, his parents were in Iran, so he came to Iran. But Iran was involved in a war then, and theywanted to take him ... to the army. His friends said, “Let us get away”. And, to be able to get away, they[changed] his surname ... they made a new passport for him with a new surname - they changed it completely.My father was Mark Jamjyan, and then he became Ara Mamikonyan.They were in a good position in Ardanouch, they lived well. When the massacres started, some armedTurks came to the town – some [Armenians] got away, others went into hiding because, he said, initiallythey did not touch women and children. They were only killing men. They were gathering them, al-1 In Russia, in the beginning of 1920s they implemented the so-called New Economic Policy, or NEP.145