Survivors

Jacques Deyirmendjian is the deputy general manager for international development at Gaz de France. He is the man behind the essential negotiations on natural gas deliveries to France. After graduating from Ecole Polytechnique in the 1960s, Jacques Deyiermendjian had a remarkable career, from a modest position to his present titles. His success story is first and foremost a tribute to the memory of his parents, Hovsep and Nvard Deyiermendjian.

“My grandfather was a very reserved person, sullen, with an iron exterior. I can’t remember him ever laughing or with a smile on his face. All I remember is, pen in hand and lost in a pile of papers, he would write. And when he wrote, that ‘man of iron’ would weep. The tears would pour,” composer Marina Tagakchyan describes her grandfather, Ghoukas, son of Sharo, from Sasoun.

Karen Stepanyan is Russia’s most prominent scholar of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, the vice president of the Russian Dostoyevsky Society and a member of numerous editorial boards and commissions. His books have been published in the United States, France, Korea, Japan and many other countries. But today he’s talking about life, not literature.

Kalust Betlehemian was an Armenian politician who lived in Stanos (now Zir, Turkey) with his wife Maryam Bulbulian and their children Hovannes (aged eight), María (aged three) and their baby boy Garabed, who was only a few months old in 1915. The systematic plan to exterminate the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was underway and Turkish officers were rounding up Armenian religious, political and intellectual leaders. One day, there was a knock on the Betlehemians’ door; Kalust was next on their list. He was kept in prison for some time before he was finally killed.

It was an autumn day in Marash and, like many other Armenian families, the Zapazians went to church to celebrate Holy Mass. Some of them, however, stayed home; they had work to do.

Many names stand out from the early years of today’s thriving Armenian community in Argentina – and Don Jorge Sarafian is undoubtedly one of the most notable. Don Jorge was a man who overcame the struggles of his youth, maintained his love for his homeland and left a valuable legacy. His tireless work for Armenia and his efforts to pass on its culture are an inspiring example.

The Arzoumanian siblings continued their father Bedrós’s legacy. He instilled in them the value of education and neither of them let him down; both became outstanding professionals. “Dad always told us we had to study, because if what happened to him happened to us and we were forced to move to another country, we would have to be highly educated,” Diana remembers.

Patrice Djololian owns a magnificent pharmacy on Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Behind the wide counter is his private cabinet, looking more like a national archive than a private cupboard. A huge shelf is filled with boxes full of black and white photos, letters yellowed by time, certificates from the time of the First Republic of Armenia and old bonds. All of this is carefully hidden from strangers. Patrice is the custodian of his family’s history. He has gray hair, a kind and animated face and eyes that light up when the name of Siruni is mentioned.

Former Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, Dickran Kouymjian is an Armenian-American university professor with encyclopedic intelligence, a mischievous look and the soul of a globetrotter. His biography resembles a labyrinth with no beginning or end, winding through Romania, the United States, Lebanon and France.

“Before me stands the incarnation of infinite, inexpressible suffering. An eternal flame burns in the center of a wide circle, perpetuating that day of horror. Facing the monument is a man, alone and weeping, trembling with emotion. He has come to pay tribute to his parents. I contemplate the symbolic image of Golgothan horror, trying not to break into tears. I had been a hair’s breadth from that icy death, my child’s heart as yet unaware of the extent of the tragedy.”