Tells Elizabeth Baltayan
My Mother Azniv Baltayan was from the city of Tavrik, Sebastia. She was the only survivor of the dynasty that was exterminated during the Genocide.
Mother told they had a Turkish neighbor who was very close to them. One evening, when men were away, that Turk Pasha visited them. Mother used to say he was like a family member. That Pasha's mother had died during childbirth and Azniv's grandmother Nazik had taken care of and brought him up like her own son. The Turk used to call Nazik “Great Mom”.
My Mother Azniv was six then. She and her two sisters went out to meet the guest and heard the conversation. When the Turk came in and seated himself by the table he told “Great Mom” Nazik that “the Turkish government had made a decision to displace the Armenian population, to assassinate and exterminate the Armenian nation”. He offered Nazik shelter in his house and even promised a corner for icons where Nazik Mom could pray. He said he would be able to protect all their family as he had certain advantages. Everybody was anxiously waiting for Nazik's respond. And she refused saying her dynasty and family would be wherever the Armenian nation was; if Armenians were to be exterminated let their family be killed out either. Upon hearing this, the Turkish Pasha went away and never returned; and a few days later happened what he had spoken about.
In April Baltayan dynasty set off on the road of exile in line with other Armenian families. As my Mother was too young she was carried. She easily got tired and asked her Grandmother to stop to eat or drink water. During an incident on the road one of her sisters was killed right before her eyes: she was beheaded and thrown into the water, which was really awful for my Mother.
At some point the caravan of migrants stopped. Everybody noticed certain change in the Turkish soldiers' attitude towards them: they did nothing violent, just, on the contrary, urged Armenians to walk slowly and without haste as they had a long way to cover.
However, everybody understood the reason for the Turks' cunning steps when they saw employees of an American orphanage.
The Americans collected children under age and my Mother Azniv appeared among them. After seeing her sister's death with her own eyes, Mother could hardly depart with her grandmother and other sister. “Set your own family and never forget your dynasty,” said Grandmother Nazik hugging Azniv dearly. “Always keep in mind the road of your sufferings.”
From the truck moving away my Mother was watching the long-long caravan trying to find her sister and grandmother.
Mother married Azaria Patrakchyan who was also from Sebastia, from the village of Patrin. They met at the orphanage. After living in Salonika, Greece for twenty years, they moved to Armenia in 1946. Dynasties of both of them went through that tragedy. They used to say, “We were two offshoot survivors of exterminated dynasties and had vowed to weave together and become a thick oak”...
* This story was published also in The Khariskh [Anchor, tr.] magazine, March/April, 2005, under the title “The Fresh Oak Offchoot”.
* Under the headline "100 years... Real Stories" Information, Analytical Agency "Armedia" presents real stories from the lives of the Genocide survivors (the stories are told by the survivors’ descendants, relatives, close people) collated by "European Integration" Non-Governmental Organization within the project "The Turk Who Saved My Life". The stories are special as the hero/heroes fled the claws of the Great Genocide through the direct or indirect assistance of a Turk/Turks (a neighbor, well-wisher, friend or witness of the event). The project is implemented with the assistance of the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The presented materials, opinions and conclusions introduce the views of the authors and participants and do not reflect the position of the United Kingdom Government.
* Photo credit: Ramazan Güloğlu
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
Other pieces in the series:
* Aris Nalcı talks about "The Turk Who Saved Me" Project: Story Project Aims to Face the Genocide Without Prejudice
* “A Fragment from My Grandmother’s Nostalgia Remained in Us”
* "Run, Go, Keep My Light Burning"
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