[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MARGARET HOUGASIAN: A SURVIVOR'S STORY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 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.
  This is one of those stories:

                     (Submitted by Shirley Collins)

       My name is Shirley Kalashian-Collins. I was born in 1951 to 
     Armenian parents. My mother was born in Aintab, Turkey in 
     1920 in the midst of the genocide of the Armenians. My mother 
     and my grandparents narrowly made it out alive and found 
     refuge in the U.S. My paternal grandmother also had a 
     harrowing story. Due to the threat against the Armenians she 
     was shipped to the U.S. at 15 years old to marry an Armenian, 
     only to find out a few years later that her parents were 
     killed and her younger sisters kidnapped. My mother tried 
     hard to put all these stories down on paper so the world 
     would know what happened to our families. After she passed 
     away, I attempted to finish her project. After nearly 10 
     years and hundreds of hours of work, I put the story 
     together.
       Now I want to thank our Rep. Adam Schiff for his efforts to 
     put these stories that are left untold in the Congressional 
     Record. I know my mother, if she were alive, would be dancing 
     up and down with joy. You can't imagine how exciting this is 
     for me after all the years of work to make sure these stories 
     are kept alive and heard so that history will be recorded 
     accurately.
       Thank you Rep. Schiff. This is such a wonderful and amazing 
     idea.
       My great-grandfather, Sarkis Kalashian, married Margaret 
     Hougasian after my great-grandmother, Shoushan, died. Sarkis 
     was killed in 1915 by Turkish soldiers. This left Margaret a 
     widow with small children. My cousin, Margo Torigiants, 
     shared with me the following story of how her grandmother 
     escaped to France after Sarkis was killed:
       After the massacre of the Armenians started, Margaret 
     suddenly became a widow when her husband and older son were 
     killed in 1915. According to her granddaughter, Margo, 
     Margaret had some gold nuggets as Sarkis had been a merchant 
     in Kharpet. Earlier pictures of Sarkis and Margaret show them 
     happy and very well dressed.
       She used these gold nuggets to get some Turkish people to 
     help her and her children: Khoren, Hrant, Dickran, Araksi and 
     Vartan (and maybe Agavni--daughter of Khoren) to flee. She 
     dressed up the boys as girls to disguise them. (Boys were 
     more likely to be killed by the Turkish military). Somehow 
     they were able to get to Aleppo, Syria. She tried to get them 
     in an orphanage, but since they had a parent, she could not 
     get them in. she cooked for people and took the leftovers 
     home for the kids to eat. They stayed there for a few years, 
     but stayed close.
       They were afraid Arabs would kidnap the kids. From there 
     they settled in Marsielle, France.

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