[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7621-7622]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 20, 2015

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. 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:

 From Arshalous Darbinyan, an Armenian Woman, on Behalf of Her Father, 
Babken Vardani Darbinyan, and Grandparents, Arshalous Markari Darbinyan 
                      and Vardan Sarkisi Darbinyan

       Arshalous Markari Darbinyan was happily married to Vardan 
     Sarkisi Darbinyan. The Darbinyans were one of the wealthy 
     families of Van. They were well respected community 
     intellectual leaders. In the spring of 1915, at the time of 
     deportation and forced relocation Arshalous Darbinyan was an 
     expectant mother. Andranik Zorava (a very close friend of the 
     family) personally appointed one of his assistants to deliver 
     a carriage to the Darbinyan residence. They left everything 
     behind, the house and most of their belongings. In a chaotic 
     rush they were forced to even bury their gold and most of the 
     jewelry in their garden, and left behind the pharmacy they 
     owned. The handmade carpets and rugs, and furniture were 
     stuffed in the wine cellar, as they naively believed that 
     once everything settled they would return home.
       Unfortunately, when they were halfway there in the middle 
     of the road the carriage flipped over. Arshalous was injured 
     the most. She lost her baby. Also, she received several 
     injuries on her face. Her husband, though in pain himself did 
     his best to help cope with the situation. They suffered 
     emotionally and physically, went through hardships, 
     eyewitnessed the genocide and were lucky enough to survive. 
     They were separated from their siblings, and the family was 
     scattered around the world. Some of them ended up in Fresno, 
     CA and the rest settled in Armenia.

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