Browsing by Author "Minassian, Mihran"

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    Անտիպ Փաստաթուղթեր 1909ի Կիլիկեան Կոտորածներու Օրերուն Ալեքսանտրէթի Հայութեան Վիճակին Մասին
    (2018) Minassian, Mihran
    Relatively little has been written about the small Armenian community of the Alexandretta Sandjak. There are no separate monographs which shed light on the history of the Armenian-inhabited towns and villages of the region. Likewise, there is no separate study of the events that took place in the Sandjak during the 1909 Cilician Massacres. Though the centre of the Sandjak, the city of Alexandretta, was not directly subjected to massacres, nonetheless certain villages of the Sandjak were and had huge human and financial losses, like, for instance, the village of Kerekkhan. Most of its inhabitants was massacred, while some killings, looting and destruction took place in other villages of the Sandjak. These, however, did not become full scale carnage. After a brief overview of the Alexandretta Sandjak, the author highlights Armenian aspects of the region and produces - from the Aleppo Armenian Prelacy - three unpublished documents which shed light on the oppression and violence that the Armenians of the region faced during the Cilician Massacres. The documents are written by the local vice-prelate, Father Krikor Minasian. The first one is a letter describing the prevailing conditions in and around the cities of Alexandretta, Beylan and Chork Marzban and the massacres and looting that took place. The second document is a report about the killings that took place in the villages of the Sandjak, with the names of the victims. The third is a detailed answer to the questionnaire that was sent from Aleppo concerning the killings, looting and related acts that took place in the Sandjak during the atrocities. The documents shed new light on the events and enrich knowledge not only of the history of the Armenians of the Sandjak of Alexandretta but add up to a fuller picture and understanding of the Adana Massacres.
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    Հայոց Ցեղասպանութեան Հետեւանքով Կորսուած Հարազատներու Փնտռտուքի Աշխատանքը Սուրիոյ Տարածքին
    (2018) Minassian, Mihran
    A search operation started as soon as the survivors of the Armenian Genocide had arrived at their new stations. They started to ask questions and inquire about their family members, relatives, and co-villagers. Diverse means were used in this search operation: announcements with the heading "looking for" were printed in newspapers, letters were sent to different addresses, survivors were interrogated, some even returned to Aleppo and the Syrian deserts to conduct searches for their lost ones. Aleppo, as the main center of refugee settlement and as the first station on the road to the Syrian deserts, was the point of convergence for all the attention of those looking for surviving relatives. From all over the world Armenians sent inquiries to the Aleppo Prelacy, diverse compatriotic unions and individuals, always expecting "good news" for recovery of kin. The immense number of inquiries induced the Prelacy to adopt a special search system. Every inquiry was processed by designated personnel; the content of the letter was summarized and immediately communicated to assigned individuals. Alongside query letters addressed to the Prelacy, announcements were often made from the altar of the church by clerics and posted on the walls of the church and other public places. The information gathered was combined and sent to the inquirer. Notwithstanding this extensive and systematic effort, very few were able to find their relatives as most had perished and details of their deaths were unknown.