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03/31/2011
Armenian Genocide survivors remember
by Andrew Benjamin , Chronicle Contributor
Perouz Kalousdian, above, Charlotte Kechejian and Arsalos Dadir will
all attend a commemoration of the Armenian Genocide they survived on
May 1 in Manhattan. PHOTOS BY ANDREW BENJAMIN
`We suffered and we suffered and we and suffered. I'll never forget,'
recalled 101-year-old Perouz Kalousdian. Kalousdian is a resident of
the New York Armenian Home in Flushing and is one of three survivors
of the Armenian genocide who lives there.
This year marks the 96th anniversary of the start of the
Armenian genocide. Turkish leaders of the Ottoman Empire are believed
to have slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 through 1923, in
what historians consider one of the first modern systematic campaigns
to eliminate an
entire racial group. Though some deny the systematic nature and
extent of the killings, they were recorded in contemporaneous
accounts, including in a book by the American ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau.
The anniversary is to be commemorated with an honor to those who
survived in Times Square on May 1 at 2 p.m.
Three survivors who will attend the ceremony spoke to the press on
Sunday about the horrors they saw and their struggle to survive.
Despite her age, Kalousdian has a clear memory of Turkish soldiers
rounding up the men in Palu, the village she lived in. `They took all
the men. They took them and shot them,' she said.
Just 6 years old, she also witnessed soldiers tying males up two by
two and throwing them over a bridge into the River Euphrates.
As a way to keep her safe, Kalousdian's mother put her in an
American orphanage in Kharpet, now known as Elazig. At the orphanage,
she learned how to knit and sew.
Her father, who was living in the United States, sent money to her
and her mother, with the hope they would eventually come to America.
`It was always in my mind that we would be going
to America,' she said. At 14, she and her mother came to New York and
became citizens.
The next survivor who spoke was 98-year-old Charlotte
Kechejian. From Nikhda, she was 10 years old when her father was taken
away and killed by the Turks. Her last memory of him was of his
wanting to hug his family, but the soldiers refused to let him.
She and her mother were forced to walk in the scorching desert to
escape further persecution.
Kechejian couldn't remember how long she traveled in the
desert, but said it felt like an eternity. `I thought it was so long,'
she said. `I'll never get out of it.'
Kechejian and her mother barely got any food or water, but both
managed to survive. Her mother instilled hope that it would not last
long. `'It's a temporary thing,'' Kechejian recalled her mother
saying. `'So just grin and bear it.''
She was put into an orphanage for some time, and then came to
America with her mother. Asking for her daughter's approval, her
mother remarried, and Kechejian finished high school and found work at
various department stores.
The last survivor to speak was 97-year-old Arsalos Dadir. Growing
up in the village of Shabin-Karahisar, she came from a wealthy
family. Turkish soldiers forced her family out of their home. Her
father was killed by the soldiers.
Speaking through an interpreter, she talked of how little there was
to eat. `My mother would go out and [take out bread] from the cupboard
and it would be that small,' she said extending her
pointer finger. She and her siblings `would cry for more.'
She and her family survived thanks to her Turkish neighbors, who hid
them in a chicken coop.
Her family moved to Constantinople, now Istanbul. On the
way there, her three siblings contracted tuberculosis and died. She
was the only survivor. She married there and raised two sons, who
brought her to America.
After she was done speaking, she looked at everyone and remarked
`May God never reduce the number of people like you all around us.'
©Queens Chronicle 2011
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid458905&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574 902&rfi='
From: A. Papazian
Armenian Genocide survivors remember
by Andrew Benjamin , Chronicle Contributor
Perouz Kalousdian, above, Charlotte Kechejian and Arsalos Dadir will
all attend a commemoration of the Armenian Genocide they survived on
May 1 in Manhattan. PHOTOS BY ANDREW BENJAMIN
`We suffered and we suffered and we and suffered. I'll never forget,'
recalled 101-year-old Perouz Kalousdian. Kalousdian is a resident of
the New York Armenian Home in Flushing and is one of three survivors
of the Armenian genocide who lives there.
This year marks the 96th anniversary of the start of the
Armenian genocide. Turkish leaders of the Ottoman Empire are believed
to have slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 through 1923, in
what historians consider one of the first modern systematic campaigns
to eliminate an
entire racial group. Though some deny the systematic nature and
extent of the killings, they were recorded in contemporaneous
accounts, including in a book by the American ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau.
The anniversary is to be commemorated with an honor to those who
survived in Times Square on May 1 at 2 p.m.
Three survivors who will attend the ceremony spoke to the press on
Sunday about the horrors they saw and their struggle to survive.
Despite her age, Kalousdian has a clear memory of Turkish soldiers
rounding up the men in Palu, the village she lived in. `They took all
the men. They took them and shot them,' she said.
Just 6 years old, she also witnessed soldiers tying males up two by
two and throwing them over a bridge into the River Euphrates.
As a way to keep her safe, Kalousdian's mother put her in an
American orphanage in Kharpet, now known as Elazig. At the orphanage,
she learned how to knit and sew.
Her father, who was living in the United States, sent money to her
and her mother, with the hope they would eventually come to America.
`It was always in my mind that we would be going
to America,' she said. At 14, she and her mother came to New York and
became citizens.
The next survivor who spoke was 98-year-old Charlotte
Kechejian. From Nikhda, she was 10 years old when her father was taken
away and killed by the Turks. Her last memory of him was of his
wanting to hug his family, but the soldiers refused to let him.
She and her mother were forced to walk in the scorching desert to
escape further persecution.
Kechejian couldn't remember how long she traveled in the
desert, but said it felt like an eternity. `I thought it was so long,'
she said. `I'll never get out of it.'
Kechejian and her mother barely got any food or water, but both
managed to survive. Her mother instilled hope that it would not last
long. `'It's a temporary thing,'' Kechejian recalled her mother
saying. `'So just grin and bear it.''
She was put into an orphanage for some time, and then came to
America with her mother. Asking for her daughter's approval, her
mother remarried, and Kechejian finished high school and found work at
various department stores.
The last survivor to speak was 97-year-old Arsalos Dadir. Growing
up in the village of Shabin-Karahisar, she came from a wealthy
family. Turkish soldiers forced her family out of their home. Her
father was killed by the soldiers.
Speaking through an interpreter, she talked of how little there was
to eat. `My mother would go out and [take out bread] from the cupboard
and it would be that small,' she said extending her
pointer finger. She and her siblings `would cry for more.'
She and her family survived thanks to her Turkish neighbors, who hid
them in a chicken coop.
Her family moved to Constantinople, now Istanbul. On the
way there, her three siblings contracted tuberculosis and died. She
was the only survivor. She married there and raised two sons, who
brought her to America.
After she was done speaking, she looked at everyone and remarked
`May God never reduce the number of people like you all around us.'
©Queens Chronicle 2011
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid458905&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574 902&rfi='
From: A. Papazian