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MOORESTOWN AUTHOR RECALLS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Courier Post
April 2 2015
Celeste E. Whittaker, Courier-Post
MOORESTOWN - Storytelling is a gift for Irene Vosbikian, an
Italian-American who grew up in South Philadelphia and married an
Armenian.
Vosbikian, 70, is a longtime Moorestown resident and author, a
mother of four and a grandmother of 11, so there is no shortage of
interesting stories.
She recently re-released her book "Bedros," originally published more
than two decades ago. The book, based on the life of her father-in-law,
is about a young man who escapes just before the horrific Armenian
Genocide, considered the first genocide of the 20th century.
April 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the event, in which more than
1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Turkish government.
"I'm not Armenian but I was introduced to this family via marriage
and my father-in-law," Vosbikian said. "My purpose was to relaunch,
not for the Armenian community, because the Armenian community has
been hearing this awful story for 100 years, literally. My purpose
was to get it into the mainstream."
Vosbikian's father-in-law, Bedros Vosbikian, was fortunate enough to
escape before the atrocities began in 1915.
"He happened to have been in the Turkish army and he was actually
very loved by his captain, who was a Turk," she said. "He had
the vibrations, the insight to know that something terrible is
going to happen. The accounts that are in the book are twofold. My
father-in-law, thank God, got out one year before. His family was saved
on the other side by this Turkish captain who adored him and said to
him, 'I will take care of your family until you get them to America.' "
He kept his word and Bedros escaped first to France, then the
Philadelphia area, during the buildup to the genocide.
Good timing
Irene Vosbikian says accounts of the genocide in her book came from
her personal research. Henry Morganthau, who was U.S. Ambassador to
the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, had volumes on the horrendous
acts that took place.
"I did other research as well," said Vosbikian. " ...Some of the
other accounts are from him (her father-in-law), such as how he fled
Istanbul, which is a very funny story. He basically dressed as a
woman and stowed away from Istanbul and ended up in Marseille, France."
Vosbikian decided about a year ago that she would relaunch her book.
It required countless hours of re-editing and repackaging.
Her son David said it's a great time for his mother to re-release her
work. There's more awareness about the genocide today. Amal Clooney,
the human rights lawyer who married actor George Clooney, recently
became part of a legal team representing Armenia in a case involving
denial of the genocide by a Turkish politician.
"The timing is great because as we've grown up, it was always, 'What's
Armenia? Is that Middle Eastern?' All my life you had to go through
pains to explain to people what it meant, where it was," David said.
"Through social media and communication being what it is today, you
have all the Armenian folks on Facebook putting posts up about the
100-year genocide."
Family close by
Irene Vosbikian and her husband, Peter, raised their family in
Moorestown -- two daughters, Terry Vosbikian Testa and Mary Vosbikian
Schlindwein, and two sons, Paul and David. All four are married and
reside near their parents, who have been married for 50 years.
"We're so proud of her," Vosbikian Testa said of her mother. "She's
doing this for nothing except to get the message out there about the
genocide. She's of Italian descent, married into the Armenian family
and just really kind of became an Armenian herself, in spirit, if
not in blood. She just really felt that this story was an important
one to tell.
"She's not in it for any kind of monetary gain. She's just in it to
get the very important story out there to the public."
Irene, a former freelance journalist and public relations specialist,
says her husband is "very emotional and proud" with her decision to
relaunch "Bedros."
"When we met, he (Peter) was the youngest of seven children, all of
whom married Armenians," Vosbikian said. "It was a very difficult
courtship. We wanted to give up many times and just say forget
about it. The family, they were just frightened because they were
all immigrants. They just didn't understand about anybody outside of
their little cocoon.
"It took a little time. I learned to speak the language. I spent a lot
of time with them. Eventually it became a very beautiful relationship.
It was just a little tough at first."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2015/04/02/moorestown-escape-armeniam-genocide/70804824/
Courier Post
April 2 2015
Celeste E. Whittaker, Courier-Post
MOORESTOWN - Storytelling is a gift for Irene Vosbikian, an
Italian-American who grew up in South Philadelphia and married an
Armenian.
Vosbikian, 70, is a longtime Moorestown resident and author, a
mother of four and a grandmother of 11, so there is no shortage of
interesting stories.
She recently re-released her book "Bedros," originally published more
than two decades ago. The book, based on the life of her father-in-law,
is about a young man who escapes just before the horrific Armenian
Genocide, considered the first genocide of the 20th century.
April 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the event, in which more than
1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Turkish government.
"I'm not Armenian but I was introduced to this family via marriage
and my father-in-law," Vosbikian said. "My purpose was to relaunch,
not for the Armenian community, because the Armenian community has
been hearing this awful story for 100 years, literally. My purpose
was to get it into the mainstream."
Vosbikian's father-in-law, Bedros Vosbikian, was fortunate enough to
escape before the atrocities began in 1915.
"He happened to have been in the Turkish army and he was actually
very loved by his captain, who was a Turk," she said. "He had
the vibrations, the insight to know that something terrible is
going to happen. The accounts that are in the book are twofold. My
father-in-law, thank God, got out one year before. His family was saved
on the other side by this Turkish captain who adored him and said to
him, 'I will take care of your family until you get them to America.' "
He kept his word and Bedros escaped first to France, then the
Philadelphia area, during the buildup to the genocide.
Good timing
Irene Vosbikian says accounts of the genocide in her book came from
her personal research. Henry Morganthau, who was U.S. Ambassador to
the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, had volumes on the horrendous
acts that took place.
"I did other research as well," said Vosbikian. " ...Some of the
other accounts are from him (her father-in-law), such as how he fled
Istanbul, which is a very funny story. He basically dressed as a
woman and stowed away from Istanbul and ended up in Marseille, France."
Vosbikian decided about a year ago that she would relaunch her book.
It required countless hours of re-editing and repackaging.
Her son David said it's a great time for his mother to re-release her
work. There's more awareness about the genocide today. Amal Clooney,
the human rights lawyer who married actor George Clooney, recently
became part of a legal team representing Armenia in a case involving
denial of the genocide by a Turkish politician.
"The timing is great because as we've grown up, it was always, 'What's
Armenia? Is that Middle Eastern?' All my life you had to go through
pains to explain to people what it meant, where it was," David said.
"Through social media and communication being what it is today, you
have all the Armenian folks on Facebook putting posts up about the
100-year genocide."
Family close by
Irene Vosbikian and her husband, Peter, raised their family in
Moorestown -- two daughters, Terry Vosbikian Testa and Mary Vosbikian
Schlindwein, and two sons, Paul and David. All four are married and
reside near their parents, who have been married for 50 years.
"We're so proud of her," Vosbikian Testa said of her mother. "She's
doing this for nothing except to get the message out there about the
genocide. She's of Italian descent, married into the Armenian family
and just really kind of became an Armenian herself, in spirit, if
not in blood. She just really felt that this story was an important
one to tell.
"She's not in it for any kind of monetary gain. She's just in it to
get the very important story out there to the public."
Irene, a former freelance journalist and public relations specialist,
says her husband is "very emotional and proud" with her decision to
relaunch "Bedros."
"When we met, he (Peter) was the youngest of seven children, all of
whom married Armenians," Vosbikian said. "It was a very difficult
courtship. We wanted to give up many times and just say forget
about it. The family, they were just frightened because they were
all immigrants. They just didn't understand about anybody outside of
their little cocoon.
"It took a little time. I learned to speak the language. I spent a lot
of time with them. Eventually it became a very beautiful relationship.
It was just a little tough at first."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2015/04/02/moorestown-escape-armeniam-genocide/70804824/