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MEMORIAL MARKS ARMENIAN HERO'S DEATH AT HOTEL NORTH OF CHICO
Enterprise-Record
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_21441708/memorial-marks-armenian-heros-death-at-hotel-north
Aug 30 2012
CA
CHICO - Memorials all over the world - including one near Chico -
pay tribute to a war hero and "freedom-fighter" who spent the last
month of his life in Butte County.
Gen. Andranik Ozanian is revered by people of Armenian descent
everywhere, said Chico State University accounting professor Tim
Kizirian.
Probably few people know that Ozanian came to Butte County and died
here, 85 years ago today.
Ozanian, who is known affectionately by Armenians as "General
Andranik," was born in 1865 in Armenia.
Modern-day Armenia is just east of Turkey and north of Iran. When
Ozanian was born, Armenia was part of the Ottoman Empire, a vast
Turkish empire that lasted from 1299 to 1922.
Ozanian grew up in a troubled time, Kizirian said. The Ottoman Turks
were attacking and killing great numbers of Armenians. One issue
was that the Armenians were Christians while the Ottoman Turks were
Muslims, the professor said. Another was the Ottoman Turks' increasing
desperation as the empire lost land and power.
Ozanian's fame stems from his deeds during what's known as the Armenian
genocide, Kizirian said. After the Young Turks - an especially
aggressive party - came to power, a decision was made to rid the
empire of Armenians.
The new leaders' motto was "Turkey for the Turks," said Kizirian,
who is an Armenian-American himself. The genocide, which was carried
out over eight years, began in the spring of 1915, when 200 members
of Armenia's "intelligentsia"
- mayors, professors, priests - were publicly hanged, he said.
The next step was to gather men of "fighting age" all over Armenia,
Kizirian said. They were told they were being drafted into the army.
Then they were marched out of their towns and villages and were killed.
During the period, 1.5 million Armenians died, Kizirian said. Elderly
men, women and even children were killed, and thousands were marched
into deserts and left to die, Kizirian said. "This was our Auschwitz."
Ozanian led guerrilla fighters, who tried to rescue as many people
as they could, he said.
In one famous episode, Ozanian and his men headed for a monastery,
diverting the attention of Ottoman Turkish soldiers who were about
to attack an Armenian village. As the guerrillas and the soldiers
fought for days, the villagers were able to flee.
It's said than when Ozanian and his men ran out of ammunition, they
escaped unnoticed by draping themselves with sheets so they'd blend
in with the snow-covered land.
During World War I, Ozanian was named a general and put in charge of
Armenian volunteer units of the Russian Army, the professor said. He
and these volunteers took part in 20 offensives.
After the war, Ozanian went to America and raised money for Armenian
refugees and orphans, Kizirian said.
The general and his wife were living in Fresno when he became ill
with heart trouble. A doctor advised him to go to Richardson Springs,
just north of Chico, to see if treatment in the mineral water there
could help him, Kizirian said. He stayed at the Richardson Springs
hotel for a month until he died of his heart ailment.
Kizirian said he hardly knew anything of the Armenian genocide until
after his son was born several years ago. Then, he asked his father
about their family history. His parents had avoided talking about the
"bad things" that had happened in Armenia, he said.
Some time after that, he said, his father read in a book about Ozanian
that the general had died at a hotel with hot springs near Chico.
When his father brought this fact to his attention, Kizirian said he
knew it must have been at Richardson Springs, and he started looking
for evidence.
He searched newspapers from 1927 but could find no mention of Ozanian.
Then, at the county offices in Oroville, he was amazed, he said,
to find the general's death certificate. And it said, indeed, that
he had died at Richardson Springs.
Kizirian said a copy he made of the certificate is now in the General
Andranik Museum in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
The professor said he spoke about Ozanian to the local director of
Youth With a Mission, the Christian organization that now owns the
Richardson Springs hotel building and its grounds. The director was
agreeable to having a memorial placed there in honor of Ozanian.
Since he first asked his father about the family history, he said
he's become very interested in Ozanian and the genocide.
Kizirian, who worked as an auditor before turning to teaching, said
he's embarked on a research project and plans to write an article he
will title "Auditing Genocide."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Enterprise-Record
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_21441708/memorial-marks-armenian-heros-death-at-hotel-north
Aug 30 2012
CA
CHICO - Memorials all over the world - including one near Chico -
pay tribute to a war hero and "freedom-fighter" who spent the last
month of his life in Butte County.
Gen. Andranik Ozanian is revered by people of Armenian descent
everywhere, said Chico State University accounting professor Tim
Kizirian.
Probably few people know that Ozanian came to Butte County and died
here, 85 years ago today.
Ozanian, who is known affectionately by Armenians as "General
Andranik," was born in 1865 in Armenia.
Modern-day Armenia is just east of Turkey and north of Iran. When
Ozanian was born, Armenia was part of the Ottoman Empire, a vast
Turkish empire that lasted from 1299 to 1922.
Ozanian grew up in a troubled time, Kizirian said. The Ottoman Turks
were attacking and killing great numbers of Armenians. One issue
was that the Armenians were Christians while the Ottoman Turks were
Muslims, the professor said. Another was the Ottoman Turks' increasing
desperation as the empire lost land and power.
Ozanian's fame stems from his deeds during what's known as the Armenian
genocide, Kizirian said. After the Young Turks - an especially
aggressive party - came to power, a decision was made to rid the
empire of Armenians.
The new leaders' motto was "Turkey for the Turks," said Kizirian,
who is an Armenian-American himself. The genocide, which was carried
out over eight years, began in the spring of 1915, when 200 members
of Armenia's "intelligentsia"
- mayors, professors, priests - were publicly hanged, he said.
The next step was to gather men of "fighting age" all over Armenia,
Kizirian said. They were told they were being drafted into the army.
Then they were marched out of their towns and villages and were killed.
During the period, 1.5 million Armenians died, Kizirian said. Elderly
men, women and even children were killed, and thousands were marched
into deserts and left to die, Kizirian said. "This was our Auschwitz."
Ozanian led guerrilla fighters, who tried to rescue as many people
as they could, he said.
In one famous episode, Ozanian and his men headed for a monastery,
diverting the attention of Ottoman Turkish soldiers who were about
to attack an Armenian village. As the guerrillas and the soldiers
fought for days, the villagers were able to flee.
It's said than when Ozanian and his men ran out of ammunition, they
escaped unnoticed by draping themselves with sheets so they'd blend
in with the snow-covered land.
During World War I, Ozanian was named a general and put in charge of
Armenian volunteer units of the Russian Army, the professor said. He
and these volunteers took part in 20 offensives.
After the war, Ozanian went to America and raised money for Armenian
refugees and orphans, Kizirian said.
The general and his wife were living in Fresno when he became ill
with heart trouble. A doctor advised him to go to Richardson Springs,
just north of Chico, to see if treatment in the mineral water there
could help him, Kizirian said. He stayed at the Richardson Springs
hotel for a month until he died of his heart ailment.
Kizirian said he hardly knew anything of the Armenian genocide until
after his son was born several years ago. Then, he asked his father
about their family history. His parents had avoided talking about the
"bad things" that had happened in Armenia, he said.
Some time after that, he said, his father read in a book about Ozanian
that the general had died at a hotel with hot springs near Chico.
When his father brought this fact to his attention, Kizirian said he
knew it must have been at Richardson Springs, and he started looking
for evidence.
He searched newspapers from 1927 but could find no mention of Ozanian.
Then, at the county offices in Oroville, he was amazed, he said,
to find the general's death certificate. And it said, indeed, that
he had died at Richardson Springs.
Kizirian said a copy he made of the certificate is now in the General
Andranik Museum in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
The professor said he spoke about Ozanian to the local director of
Youth With a Mission, the Christian organization that now owns the
Richardson Springs hotel building and its grounds. The director was
agreeable to having a memorial placed there in honor of Ozanian.
Since he first asked his father about the family history, he said
he's become very interested in Ozanian and the genocide.
Kizirian, who worked as an auditor before turning to teaching, said
he's embarked on a research project and plans to write an article he
will title "Auditing Genocide."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress