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Find My Armenian Relative
Thursday, March 20th, 2014
A letter written by Artashes Mirzoyan as posted on Facebook by his
great granddaughter Lilit Mirzoyan
BY HAGOP GOUDSOUZIAN
Today I am inspired not to make a new film, but rather to help friends
find their lost relatives. I am inspired by a post on Facebook by
Lilit Mirzoyan who is searching for her relatives.
To help her and others I started a Facebook Page "Find My Armenian
Relative." Within the first 12 hours three individuals had posted
searching for a relative. Here is the Page's first story as posted by
her:
"My great-grandfather Artashes Mirzoyan was a member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun" and lived in Gegharot
village, near the town of Spitak, Armenia.
"When the Bolsheviks came to Armenia in the 1920s, they gathered the
anti-Soviet citizens and exiled them to Siberia. This was a quick and
easy method of getting them out of the way. This practice continued
for decades and came to its peak during Stalin's rule.
"Some of the non pro-Soviet people were warned and managed to escape
to the closest more or less friendly country at the time - Iran.
That's what my great-grandfather did. He left his wife and 4(?)
children, including my grandfather and escaped, hoping one day the
whole family will reunite. That never happened...
"In the beginning he was able to send letters and some of them got to
his wife. Later on the letters just stopped coming. This is the only
letter from him that survived where he is writing to his wife [as
posted on Facebook] telling how much he missed his family and asking
about their children.
"After the Soviet Union collapsed, my father initiated a search in
order to find any information about his grandfather. And he did find
out that Artashes (my great-grandfather) indeed lived in Tehran after
he escaped from Soviet Armenia. He was a young man and married in
Tehran and had children (2 sons (?)). These children emigrated from
Iran, most probably to the USA.
"My father had also found out that Artashes himself is buried in the
Armenian cemetery in Tehran. Unfortunately, my father is not alive
anymore, so I can't ask him how and what else he found out.
"At the time I wasn't much interested in family history, so I don't
recall all the details he used to tell me. But now I am in Artashes'
shoes, living in a country where I have no relatives. Well, not the
exactly, but almost, because I can go and see my relatives in Armenia
any time I want.
"Nevertheless, life abroad is not that easy without family or
relatives and I would like to find people that are from my family to
introduce them to my children. Even though we never met, I still have
a feeling we'll have a lot to talk about.
"I AM LOOKING FOR THE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN OF MY
GREAT-GRANDFATHER ARTASHES MIRZOYAN. Please help me find any
information about them.
Thank you!
Lilit Mirzoyan"
This touching story is but one of the life of the "andounee" and
"taparagan" Armenian life. We thought we had found our final
destination. Here, many of us alone, yet we are not alone. Every time
we moved we left someone behind. Some were taken to Siberia while
others the grand children of the Genocide. To Armenians, "family" is
sacred; it is our history, the very essence of who we are and our
keel.
Help me connect Lilit Mirzoyan and other Armenians with their lost
relatives. Take a peak, post, read, help, and share.
You can reach Lilit Mirzoyan with the Facebook Page "Find My Armenian
Relative" or post about the person you are looking for.
http://asbarez.com/120901/find-my-armenian-relative/
Thursday, March 20th, 2014
A letter written by Artashes Mirzoyan as posted on Facebook by his
great granddaughter Lilit Mirzoyan
BY HAGOP GOUDSOUZIAN
Today I am inspired not to make a new film, but rather to help friends
find their lost relatives. I am inspired by a post on Facebook by
Lilit Mirzoyan who is searching for her relatives.
To help her and others I started a Facebook Page "Find My Armenian
Relative." Within the first 12 hours three individuals had posted
searching for a relative. Here is the Page's first story as posted by
her:
"My great-grandfather Artashes Mirzoyan was a member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun" and lived in Gegharot
village, near the town of Spitak, Armenia.
"When the Bolsheviks came to Armenia in the 1920s, they gathered the
anti-Soviet citizens and exiled them to Siberia. This was a quick and
easy method of getting them out of the way. This practice continued
for decades and came to its peak during Stalin's rule.
"Some of the non pro-Soviet people were warned and managed to escape
to the closest more or less friendly country at the time - Iran.
That's what my great-grandfather did. He left his wife and 4(?)
children, including my grandfather and escaped, hoping one day the
whole family will reunite. That never happened...
"In the beginning he was able to send letters and some of them got to
his wife. Later on the letters just stopped coming. This is the only
letter from him that survived where he is writing to his wife [as
posted on Facebook] telling how much he missed his family and asking
about their children.
"After the Soviet Union collapsed, my father initiated a search in
order to find any information about his grandfather. And he did find
out that Artashes (my great-grandfather) indeed lived in Tehran after
he escaped from Soviet Armenia. He was a young man and married in
Tehran and had children (2 sons (?)). These children emigrated from
Iran, most probably to the USA.
"My father had also found out that Artashes himself is buried in the
Armenian cemetery in Tehran. Unfortunately, my father is not alive
anymore, so I can't ask him how and what else he found out.
"At the time I wasn't much interested in family history, so I don't
recall all the details he used to tell me. But now I am in Artashes'
shoes, living in a country where I have no relatives. Well, not the
exactly, but almost, because I can go and see my relatives in Armenia
any time I want.
"Nevertheless, life abroad is not that easy without family or
relatives and I would like to find people that are from my family to
introduce them to my children. Even though we never met, I still have
a feeling we'll have a lot to talk about.
"I AM LOOKING FOR THE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN OF MY
GREAT-GRANDFATHER ARTASHES MIRZOYAN. Please help me find any
information about them.
Thank you!
Lilit Mirzoyan"
This touching story is but one of the life of the "andounee" and
"taparagan" Armenian life. We thought we had found our final
destination. Here, many of us alone, yet we are not alone. Every time
we moved we left someone behind. Some were taken to Siberia while
others the grand children of the Genocide. To Armenians, "family" is
sacred; it is our history, the very essence of who we are and our
keel.
Help me connect Lilit Mirzoyan and other Armenians with their lost
relatives. Take a peak, post, read, help, and share.
You can reach Lilit Mirzoyan with the Facebook Page "Find My Armenian
Relative" or post about the person you are looking for.
http://asbarez.com/120901/find-my-armenian-relative/