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

During the Second World War as Turkey was considered animplicit ally of Germany in the Soviet Union the restrictionsto talk about Turkey and Turks in Eastern Armenia were significantlyeased. The family tragedy was relived particularlywhen finding the lost ones. People were continuously findingeach other even after decades. Currently living in the villageof Dashtadem one of our interviewees Mushegh Gevorgyan’sgreat-grandmother who escaped from Artshesh 1 of Van regiondied in her nineties (1982) without finding her daughter whoshe lost at the age 15.. However, few years after her death,in 1987, Mushegh found the daughter of his great-grandmother,his grandmother’s sister. The woman was a distinguishedHamshen Armenian senior, in one of the villages surroundingcity of Sukhumi. She was kidnapped by a local Armenianyoungster, who later married her, when orphans were broughtto the port of Batumi to board the ship that was destined forAmerica. The finding of this grandmother brought togetherDashtademis, many descendants of refugees from Van, Sasunand locals. They remembered the tough life/plight of thegreat-grandmother, who was the only one who survived in herfamily; those who lost their lives; those who were missing andthe hardship of children.Zulo Hovsepyan died in 1982. She did not livelong enough to see her daughter lost fromorphanage in 1926 and found in 1987.The grandmother spent a week in Mushegh’s house, whichduring that time became a place of pilgrimage for descendantsof refugees from Van and Mush, who refreshed sorrows.These stories had much greater impact on shaping the attitudetoward Turks and Turkey than any propaganda or ideology.Therefore, among the sources developing/revealing the attitudeof the population of Armenia towards Turkey the impact of true “oral history” is very strong; probablyeven more than the subsequent academic writing and publicizing of history.1 Artshesh- Arthshesh was located in the northern shore of Lake Van, in the estuary of a small river Artshesh. During differenttimes, Artshesh was referred to as a village, town, fort and port. When the water level of Lake Van rose, Artshesh graduallywent under water. Later on, a new town called Akants (Nor Artshesh, Erjish in Turkish) was founded on the higher landsto the north of the former settlement.83