[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 105 (Thursday, July 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1349-E1350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      STORIES OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 2010

  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to memorialize and record a 
courageous story of survival of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian 
Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulted 
in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children. As the 
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau documented at 
the time, it was a campaign of ``race extermination.''
  The campaign to annihilate the Armenian people failed, as illustrated 
by the proud Armenian nation and prosperous diaspora. It is difficult 
if not impossible to find an Armenian family not touched by the 
genocide, and while there are some survivors still with us, it is 
imperative that we record their stories. Through the Armenian Genocide 
Congressional Record Project, I hope to document the harrowing stories 
of the survivors in an effort to preserve their accounts and to help 
educate the Members of Congress now and in the future of the necessity 
of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
  Below is one of those stories:

  Submitted by Katia Kusherian, Whose Mother Is 95 Years Old and Also 
   Contributed by Providing Details Included in the Following Stories

       ``Here are some of the many stories I have heard from my 
     parents.
       ``My first story: In 1915, my father's parents were killed, 
     and my father, Hovannes, became an orphan. My father was from 
     Tigranakert. A Turkish woman adopted him and he lived in that 
     family. He had to go to the fields every morning to work. His 
     stepmother's older son rode a horse and my father always had 
     to run to keep up with the

[[Page E1350]]

     horse. And every morning the young Turkish boy repeated to my 
     father asking: `What are you going to do geavour, if I kill 
     you.' My father did not answer. Eventually my father's 
     stepmother told my father that one day her son will kill him 
     for sure. She finds a way to send my father to Syria.
       ``This is how my father stayed alive. When we talk about 
     kind Turks, I think we should not forget that the main 
     purpose was to assimilate the orphans, so it was half 
     kindness.
       ``My second story and my third story are about my 
     grandmother--mother's mother--Armaveni. She was born in 
     Ichmee (a village) and got married to Serovbe Beylerian and 
     moved to Ortagyoukh. Both villages are in Keyvee, which was a 
     small county near Adabazar near Istanbul. The county of 
     Keyvee had five villages--Ichmee, Ortagyoukh, Knjelar, 
     Kurdpelenk and Partizak.
       ``My second story: During the deportation from their 
     village, Ichmee, near the city of Adabazar, the Turks forced 
     my grandmother's father, Voskan, to do his natural needs--of 
     course there was no toilet--in front of his children and 
     daughters-in-law to humiliate him, and before he finished, 
     they pushed and kicked him in his back. Later on they were 
     killed and only some of the children, including my 
     grandmother, escaped.
       ``My third story: Gayanee, the survivor in this story, was 
     from Ortagyoukh. My grandmother Armaveni and Gayanee met in 
     Romania after the Genocide. A group of Armenians were tied up 
     with ropes and shot. Among them, one young girl named Gayanee 
     survived. After the shooting, at night, long-bearded men with 
     curved swords--yataghans--came to check if anyone from that 
     group was still alive. They were slashing the bodies with 
     their swords to ensure no one would stay alive. Gayanee 
     managed to crawl under the dead bodies and covered herself 
     with them. Fortunately, they did not notice her. After the 
     Turks left, she crawled out and ran. She had no food or 
     water. Even though Gayanee escaped and remained alive, she 
     was spiritually handicapped and later died at a young age 
     after developing TB.
       ``I never had grandparents from my father's side. They were 
     all killed by Turks. I hope their souls will rest in peace.''

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