Q&A: Words filled with pain; Daughter keeps father's memoirs alive for future Armenian generations
Nov. 20, 2006
Journal times
By Phyllis Sides
Copies of "Destiny of the Dzidzernag" are available at Amazon.com or St. Mesrob Armenian Church's gift shop, 4605 Erie St.
The first genocide of the 20th century started in Turkey in April 1915. Racine resident Mariam Sahakian has a first-hand account in her father's memoirs. Sahakian's father, Varteres Mikael Garougian, survived the killing and recorded his experiences for posterity.
Armenians say that Turkish authorities executed 1.5 million people between 1915-1923, accusing them of helping the invading Russian Army during World War I. Turkey rejects the genocide claim, saying Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Turk Empire.
However, Henry Morgenthau, the United States ambassador to Ottoman Turkey between 1913 and 1916, wrote of the mistreatment and killings of the Armenians in "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story," a memoir of his years in Turkey. Because the past is important, Sahakian translated her father's memoirs into English.
This is part one of a two-part interview. The second installment will appear in Tuesday's paper.
Tell me about your father: Varteres Mikael Garougian was born the eldest of three sons on Sept. 14, 1892 in Khoulakyough village in the province of Kharpert, located in Turkish Armenia.
In 1911, to avoid being taken at 19 years of life into the much feared and dreaded Turkish military, his parents paid a bedel - temporary exemption fee - as well as bribes to Turkish authorities. They arranged for him to go to America temporarily to work in safety and earn money, hopefully for a short time.
In departing, Varteres left behind everything he loved - his wife Manan, his parents, two brothers and his village. When those horrible times began in 1915 in Armenia, which the then Turkish government referred to as "deportations" but were actually massacres and death marches, he and other similarly displaced young Armenian men in Racine were shocked, helpless and disturbed, bitterly questioning among themselves why they were spared while their loved ones in Armenia were not.
Seeking a possible means of returning to his homeland to search for his loved ones who might have survived, in 1917 Varteres left safety in America to join the Legion Armenienne (French Foreign Legion) or Legion d"Orient in New York. While in Armenia, as a Legionnaire soldier Varteres sought information about his family, corresponding with a considerable number of persons. In so doing he became well known as an intermediary for many survivors who desperately needed help.
In 1920, it was finally through missionaries that he found injured Manan and later his young brother Krikor. Everyone else he knew in Armenia had perished or been lost. After getting his wife to safety with missionaries and other survivor friends, Varteres was captured by Turkish authorities and taken away to face certain death. It was only through his cleverness and a miraculous reprieve that he was placed instead in the Turkish military in 1921.
Eventually he returned to Kharpert to help his young brother get settled and after several perilous attempts, found his way, again, back to Manan. By 1923 he realized that only by again leaving Manan to return to America to get his U.S. citizenship would he and Manan be able to live safely in America.
For many years "Baron Varteres" - as the students called him - was director and an instructor of the Armenian night school in the State Street Saint Mesrob Church, which was attended by a large number of Armenian children.
Why did your father write his memoirs? First, my father wanted his children and future grandchildren to know of, and to be proud of, their ancestors, whom they were never privileged to see, unfortunately, because most of their ancestors were killed or perished during the 1915-1923 death marches/massacres which the then Turkish government called "deportations."
Also, because he felt many other immigrant Armenians were being lured by the freedom, ease of life, and busy lives they had in America which enticed them to forget their important past lives as well as their terrible experiences during the deportations, he felt he must write. In fact, he hoped and eagerly anticipated that others would write of their experiences as well, but apparently not many did. By 1957-58, Varteres had almost completed his Armenian manuscript and was contacting people to get it published in Armenian before he died suddenly in 1958.
Why are your father's memoirs important? Between 1911 through 1930, keeping notes of his experiences, even through the most difficult times whenever he was able to jot things down, helped him to keep his sanity. Later on, being a perfectionist, compiling these notes into a narrative was of great importance to him.
He felt pride in being an Armenian, knowing his ancestors, language, history, and his culture. Because of all that was forbidden and wrenched away by the happenings in 1915-23 by the Ottoman Turkish government of those days, he felt he must keep alive what he could of his background upon immigrating a second time to this free, wonderful land of hope - America.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Journal times
By Phyllis Sides
Copies of "Destiny of the Dzidzernag" are available at Amazon.com or St. Mesrob Armenian Church's gift shop, 4605 Erie St.
The first genocide of the 20th century started in Turkey in April 1915. Racine resident Mariam Sahakian has a first-hand account in her father's memoirs. Sahakian's father, Varteres Mikael Garougian, survived the killing and recorded his experiences for posterity.
Armenians say that Turkish authorities executed 1.5 million people between 1915-1923, accusing them of helping the invading Russian Army during World War I. Turkey rejects the genocide claim, saying Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Turk Empire.
However, Henry Morgenthau, the United States ambassador to Ottoman Turkey between 1913 and 1916, wrote of the mistreatment and killings of the Armenians in "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story," a memoir of his years in Turkey. Because the past is important, Sahakian translated her father's memoirs into English.
This is part one of a two-part interview. The second installment will appear in Tuesday's paper.
Tell me about your father: Varteres Mikael Garougian was born the eldest of three sons on Sept. 14, 1892 in Khoulakyough village in the province of Kharpert, located in Turkish Armenia.
In 1911, to avoid being taken at 19 years of life into the much feared and dreaded Turkish military, his parents paid a bedel - temporary exemption fee - as well as bribes to Turkish authorities. They arranged for him to go to America temporarily to work in safety and earn money, hopefully for a short time.
In departing, Varteres left behind everything he loved - his wife Manan, his parents, two brothers and his village. When those horrible times began in 1915 in Armenia, which the then Turkish government referred to as "deportations" but were actually massacres and death marches, he and other similarly displaced young Armenian men in Racine were shocked, helpless and disturbed, bitterly questioning among themselves why they were spared while their loved ones in Armenia were not.
Seeking a possible means of returning to his homeland to search for his loved ones who might have survived, in 1917 Varteres left safety in America to join the Legion Armenienne (French Foreign Legion) or Legion d"Orient in New York. While in Armenia, as a Legionnaire soldier Varteres sought information about his family, corresponding with a considerable number of persons. In so doing he became well known as an intermediary for many survivors who desperately needed help.
In 1920, it was finally through missionaries that he found injured Manan and later his young brother Krikor. Everyone else he knew in Armenia had perished or been lost. After getting his wife to safety with missionaries and other survivor friends, Varteres was captured by Turkish authorities and taken away to face certain death. It was only through his cleverness and a miraculous reprieve that he was placed instead in the Turkish military in 1921.
Eventually he returned to Kharpert to help his young brother get settled and after several perilous attempts, found his way, again, back to Manan. By 1923 he realized that only by again leaving Manan to return to America to get his U.S. citizenship would he and Manan be able to live safely in America.
For many years "Baron Varteres" - as the students called him - was director and an instructor of the Armenian night school in the State Street Saint Mesrob Church, which was attended by a large number of Armenian children.
Why did your father write his memoirs? First, my father wanted his children and future grandchildren to know of, and to be proud of, their ancestors, whom they were never privileged to see, unfortunately, because most of their ancestors were killed or perished during the 1915-1923 death marches/massacres which the then Turkish government called "deportations."
Also, because he felt many other immigrant Armenians were being lured by the freedom, ease of life, and busy lives they had in America which enticed them to forget their important past lives as well as their terrible experiences during the deportations, he felt he must write. In fact, he hoped and eagerly anticipated that others would write of their experiences as well, but apparently not many did. By 1957-58, Varteres had almost completed his Armenian manuscript and was contacting people to get it published in Armenian before he died suddenly in 1958.
Why are your father's memoirs important? Between 1911 through 1930, keeping notes of his experiences, even through the most difficult times whenever he was able to jot things down, helped him to keep his sanity. Later on, being a perfectionist, compiling these notes into a narrative was of great importance to him.
He felt pride in being an Armenian, knowing his ancestors, language, history, and his culture. Because of all that was forbidden and wrenched away by the happenings in 1915-23 by the Ottoman Turkish government of those days, he felt he must keep alive what he could of his background upon immigrating a second time to this free, wonderful land of hope - America.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 8:14 PM
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