Janoboghossian@ucla.edu
My paternal grandfather’s family was from Yozgat in Central Turkey, while my paternal grandmother’s family was from Aintab. My maternal grandfather was born in Garin, the Armenian name for the town of Erzeroum, and my maternal grandmother was born in Alexandretta, both located in modern-day Turkey. Just by stating these facts, I have given a slight history of my family, where they came from, and thus proven that I know quite a bit about my past.
Some time ago, when I had asked a group of young Armenians where their families were originally from, I was given answers like, “Beirut,” “Aleppo,” and “Baghdad.” They failed to understand that what I was really inquiring after was where their families were from prior to the Armenian Genocide in 1915. I inquired again as to what cities their families originated from, and many of them glanced at me with confusion. Out of the group of twelve, three gave a few logical answers, but even they weren’t sure.
It is a shame that many from this generation are not aware of their own family history. One may blame the children for not being interested enough to ask their parents, but I believe that it’s mainly the other way around. Many parents don’t feel the need to pass on this valuable information to their children. Most parents are apathetic about this topic of conversation; some say because it’s not relevant, and others don’t want to bring up memories from the Genocide because it may affect their children negatively. These reasons, I believe, are absurd.
Alex Haley, the creator of Roots, did tons of research in order to go back nine generations in his family tree, up until the famous Kunta Kinte’s grandmother. Because of this one TV miniseries, many African-Americans began to do the same, researching their heritage and attempting to find out where they originated from. There is much obscurity in the case of the descendents of the slaves because it has been many generations since they were displaced from their homeland, yet they cared enough to trace their roots. If African-Americans can go back nine generations and figure out that Kunta Kinte’s grandmother was born in Gambia in the 1700s, then I’m sure Armenians can figure out their roots from less than 100 years ago.
Our case isn’t that complicated because it’s only been about three generations since we were displaced from our homeland. The difference is the existing apathy in some of the families and the lack of interest in children. Yes, we experienced a horiffic genocide, and yes, there are only a few survivors that are still around to this day, but the majority of today’s Armenian youth have no idea where their genocide-surviving ancestors came from. It hasn’t even been a hundred years yet and many have given up this fight. The younger generation nowadays is obsessed with trivial facts about professional athletes, such as the college they attended, their hometown, or how fast they can run the 40-yard dash. Shouldn’t we take some time out of our day to find out where we are from?
I believe that the problem with this generation stems from the lack of interest of ancient cities from lands on which we do not reside on anymore. The excuse many of the youth give when I ask them where they are from is, “Who cares? We don’t live there anymore.”
That is not the case with Americans of European descent, though I’m pretty sure many of them know the mixed cocktail of ethnicities they are comprised of, and which parts of Europe they’re from as well.
If the topic of the old country was more prevalent in Armenian households, then it wouldn’t be hard to trace back our roots. Just by knowing what towns your ancestors were from gives you a slight image of the Armenian Highland. This is a way to learn more about the history and geography of the lands that we used to live on before we were forcefully driven out.
It is also important to know names of other major ancient Armenian cities, because they are not under our control anymore, and instead are being given new names. For example, Kharpert is now Harpoot, Urfa is Şanlıurfa, Marash is Kahramanmaraş, and Dikranagerd is Diyarbekir.
As proud as we are of being American, we should also take pride in our background, because it is an ancient culture full of history. It’s a shame for us not to know where we are from because it is a part of our identity. We cannot just say we are “Halebtsi, Beirutsi, or Baghdadtsi” because that doesn’t fully encompass our identity.
While visiting the Dzidzernagapert Genocide Memorial in Armenia this summer, I noticed a long wall on the side that leads to the actual monument; it contains names of dozens of Armenian cities in which the genocide occurred. That wall had meaning to me because I knew where I was from and recognized the names of the cities inscribed on it. I even took pictures of the inscriptions of Erzeroum, Yozgat, and Aintab to show my family.
As much as the Armenian Genocide memorial affected me, the one thing that affected me the most was the soil from Erzeroum that was located inside the museum. It was very symbolic for me and for some reason hit a soft spot in my heart. That was a moment that I will never forget because I knew what it meant to me. I want others to experience that same feeling when a similar situation arises. So, if you have not already done so, ask your parents where you come from. What are you waiting for?
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