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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

we used to visit them, there were regular contacts between our families; we were just friends, but wewere quite close. When we were visiting them, they used to speak Turkish at home. We didn’t speakTurkish. Their children... up to this day, they speak Turkish well, because they spoke Turkish at home.Well... there was a reason for this... In their village, where they came from, there were Turks, they didn’tlet them speak Armenian... They came to Armenia, but they didn’t speak Armenian well. They learnt Armenianwhile they were in Armenia. Therefore they used to speak Turkish at home. My father was prohibitingmy mother - by no chance – well, my mother spoke [Turkish], because her parents used to speakTurkish. He said “Not a single word spoken in Turkish in our house, only Armenian...” My father always[told] us about the Genocide, we... knew about that before since our early years. . At home, well... [he]was telling about the deportation... how terrible it was, the children were thirsty, hungry, suffering fromthe fear that they may come, may attack them... My father... us... I remember this... Yes, he was telling...well, there was too much fear then, during the Stalin period. I know this well, there was too muchfear. Therefore they weren’t [talking] in the presence of strangers... There was a family in our neighborhood, their son... he was a musician in Kirovakan... He was teaching at the Pedagogical Institute and atthe Conservatory. I had also taken his lessons. Look, how just a simple thing can... Well, the man was ina bread line at night and the whole day , the whole night he stood in the line. [His name was] KaplanyanDanel...you see, he was also a good tailor this guy... so, in the morning he came from taht line saying“what is this like, I stood in the line the whole night, I’ve got a single loaf of bread in the morning, Ibrought it over, it was all water in there, the dough wasn’t baked well, useless stuff inside, we had to cutthe crust to eat it ”. By that time there were many traitors, they informed on him, on the same day theycame after him ... they exiled him. On the very same day. Just exiled him... Well, there was someonenamed Yesayi Momjyan... he... was a scientist... He was from France; when he came, he was teachingFrench at school. The school director ... I don’t remember his surname – he didn’t pay his salary for sixmonths. He was taking the money and keeping to himself, never giving it to him. Just spending moneyon himself. So, the man went there and told “I cannot stand this anymore. I do not have sufficient moneyeven for my dayly bread. I will have to go and complain. I want to get my salary, just to live”. Well,this person made it so that the poor guy be exiled as a spy. ...when he came back... well, his wife couldhave stayed, only he was exiled , but his wife said she would go wherever her husband goes. They didn’thave children. They came back... his wife was very ill. Her... what do they call it...her trigeminal nerve ...it was frostbitten...there, inflamed, she had severe pain, she was always in pain.Once I happened to fined a picture in the street. It was Stalin’s picture, it was made very beautifully, incolor. Stalin was ugly, but he was very beautiful on that picture. I was a kid, so I took it, and I brought ithome... If I had thought about it a little... that our family was afraid... I knew ... of course, that talking wasdangerous, but, well... I brought it home. By some chance, that Momjyan man was there. He jumped likea tiger... Hurting me, he was holding my arms like this; he took this picture away from me, forgetting everything...It was a piece of cardboard, it was a picture, a picture made on a cardboard, and he tore it intotiny pieces, like this. Then he approached me, hit me, telling “I shall never again see things like thatin your hands”. Well, there were so many people who suffered from Stalin’s [deeds].152
It was probably after 60s... My father always remembered that day, the Genocide day. Until then we wereafraid to speak about it. But he was telling us about it...at home. He told us a lot, even some feelings haveawakened in me... At that time it was forbidden at school, but in 1965, I made a poster about the Genocidein our school... Most of my friends didn’t know anything... When I came home, my mother said “Ohmy, they may come, today, and take you over...” But in 1965 it wasn’t that dreadful anymore; in Yerevantoo, they marked the anniversary... Well, so... in 1965 it was the first time when my elderly uncle came...to Armenia. By the way, he was the first tourist that came to Armenia by car, through Turkey. My elderlyuncle, Karapet Ter-Karapetyan. I saw him for the first time then. After that there were some contact,visiting each other. Then my mother went [to see him]. My father died in 1971, he was only 56 years old.153
Page 2 and 3:
Published by:Institut für Internat
Page 5 and 6:
ContentsForeword...................
Page 7 and 8:
ForewordThe project “Adult Educat
Page 10 and 11:
Aras, Yasin Aras, Welat Ay, Cenk Ce
Page 12 and 13:
The main audience of this book is o
Page 15 and 16:
“Wish they hadn’t left”:The B
Page 17 and 18:
ed by 1915 and where memories of Ar
Page 19 and 20:
1915 tends to be represented by int
Page 21 and 22:
Yet to a large extent, Turkish inte
Page 23 and 24:
this, we can’t. It’s impossible
Page 25 and 26:
een very advanced in trade and craf
Page 27 and 28:
How to Come to Terms with Phantom P
Page 29 and 30:
It is always you who has to be nice
Page 32 and 33:
to the way he was raised: “They f
Page 34 and 35:
empathize with Armenians: “My aun
Page 36 and 37:
Adil is not the only one marked by
Page 38 and 39:
ness may be an attempt to overcome
Page 40 and 41:
dernity and the oral transmission o
Page 42 and 43:
A soup pot with spoons around itAt
Page 44 and 45:
What if My Mother is Armenian?Ruhi
Page 46 and 47:
If I were younger I’d get baptize
Page 48:
with butter. We’ll serve the impo
Page 51 and 52:
The time Salih and Gavrik are worki
Page 53 and 54:
Turkey’s changing context is refr
Page 55 and 56:
‘It was to be expected.’ And my
Page 57 and 58:
against one another. The feet of th
Page 59 and 60:
Fear of Losing a CityZübeyde was b
Page 61 and 62:
half for me.’ But what do our Mus
Page 63 and 64:
e discussed when the kids were arou
Page 65 and 66:
possible by the difference in relig
Page 67 and 68:
The Charm of AraratMehmet is a 62-y
Page 69 and 70:
dogs protected the sheep against wo
Page 71 and 72:
The Story of the “Night People”
Page 73 and 74:
“I don’t know why, but my grand
Page 75:
Research in Armenia:“Whom to Forg
Page 78 and 79:
and can generally be located in Tur
Page 80 and 81:
“Whom to Forgive? What to Forgive
Page 82 and 83:
“Private Stories”After the esta
Page 84 and 85:
Recalling MemoriesOral history diff
Page 86 and 87:
In the village of Ujan, where the v
Page 88 and 89:
The home-museum of Gevork Chaush in
Page 90 and 91:
Memorial in the Ashnak village dedi
Page 92 and 93:
other regions are entirely populate
Page 94 and 95:
sources and materials for their mem
Page 96 and 97:
Ergir’s Soil is Strong, Ergir’s
Page 98:
Tatevik, the granddaughterof Mihran
Page 101 and 102: eral meanings in Armenian -”whole
Page 103 and 104: The Gospel with Golden Binding of S
Page 105 and 106: keeps a copper chalice that was bro
Page 107 and 108: In some families the passports of t
Page 109 and 110: at that time, Mustafa and Jamal, wh
Page 111 and 112: People were so frightened to lose g
Page 113 and 114: naked, they were decapitating every
Page 115 and 116: Water, Fire, Desert“There was an
Page 117 and 118: his mother dragged him behind her,
Page 119 and 120: Many of our narrators mention the R
Page 121 and 122: In the word-stock of the survivors
Page 123 and 124: in Kurdish villages, and helping th
Page 125 and 126: “Well, They Are Human Too”Even
Page 127 and 128: member this well, they said, the el
Page 129 and 130: speak to each other. Questioned by
Page 131 and 132: Hamze Ptshuk, survived from Hosnut
Page 133 and 134: “I don’t Know...”Why did this
Page 135 and 136: “My Dear Almast, Write it Down, W
Page 137 and 138: took his rifle and ran. The dog fel
Page 139 and 140: she didn’t tell it to me. In the
Page 141 and 142: elder guy in this house died and hi
Page 143 and 144: AH - Turks always killed to get int
Page 145 and 146: “My Father used to Tell us at Hom
Page 147 and 148: person... I have never seen him, bu
Page 149 and 150: gotten what you knew”. So, out of
Page 151: a paid Adult Residential Facility,
Page 155 and 156: the Vardevar 1 day . Even if we mak
Page 157 and 158: that this wasn’t a dream... and..
Page 159 and 160: was our historical village. Nich, I
Page 161 and 162: just filming around myself with no
Page 163 and 164: that person whether I could take a
Page 165: [Turk. wife]”. In the morning I t
Page 168 and 169: 4 Albert Mamikonyan,1953, in Kirova
Page 170 and 171: 11 Almast Harutyunyan,1920, Ujan vi
Page 172 and 173: 18 Eleonora Ghazaryan.1949, Ashnak
Page 174 and 175: 26 Nairi Tajiryan,1936, Egypt (Cair
Page 176: 33 Vazgen Ghukasyan,1933, Ashnak vi
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?