[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 51 (Wednesday, April 2, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E480]]
               HONORING THE LIFE OF HAYGANOUSH MARKARIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 2, 2008

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness and respect today, along 
with Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey, to honor Hayganoush Markarian, a 
resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, who passed away recently at the 
age of 105. Hayganoush was one of the few survivors of the Armenian 
Genocide of the early 20th century, so it further saddens me that she 
died without the government of Turkey, from where she fled, or the 
government of the United States, where she found refuge, officially 
recognizing that Genocide.
  Much has been said about the facts and numbers and statistics. We 
know that in Turkey between 1915 and 1921, 1.5 million Armenians died--
80 percent of the population. But it is women like Hayganous who put a 
human face on the Armenian Genocide and remind us that we are talking 
about actual people whose lives were lost or whose homes and families 
were destroyed.
  Hayganoush Markarian was born on January 24, 1902, in the historic 
Armenian city of Kharpert, which suffered huge losses in the Armenian 
Genocide. She lived with her parents, older brother, and four sisters.
  When the Turks came after her father and brother, both went into 
hiding--her brother dressed as a girl in order to safely cross 
dangerous areas and her father initially hid in the well at their home 
and later with Kurdish friends.
  Her mother somehow saved the family from the deportations and 
massacres and re-united with her husband briefly after World War I, 
before he died as a result of the damp conditions in the wells he had 
hidden in for such long periods.
  In 1923, the remainder of the family made their way to Syria, where 
Hayganoush married Markar Markarian in 1925. The Markarians later moved 
to Lebanon and eventually the United States. In both Syria and Lebanon, 
Hayganoush was an active member of the Armenian Relief Society, the 
oldest Armenian women's organization operating in the world.
  Hayganoush resided in Oakland until her death in March of this year 
at the age of 105. She had prayed she would live to see the day when 
she and other victims of the Armenian Genocide would see the Genocide 
officially recognized both here and in Turkey.
  Madam Speaker, although Hayganoush's prayer was not granted, she did 
see such a resolution pass the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the 
House of Representatives last fall. I am proud to be a cosponsor of 
that resolution, and I look forward to the day when the U.S. government 
officially recognizes the Genocide. Hayganoush Markarian's story will 
serve as a reminder to us of the sanctity of human life in Armenia and 
around the world.

                          ____________________