1997_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1997

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Hye Sharzhoom
December 1997
Odabashian Family History
The following is a continuation in
a series of student essays to be
published by Hye Sharzhoom. If
you have an essay about any aspect
of Armenian life or culture that you
would like to publish in Hye
Sharzhoom, please contact Dr.
Kaprielian in Social Science Room
216 or call her at 278-6493 or the
Armenian Studies Program office
at 278-2669.
of Erzurum. In that era it was the
custom that once a Kghetzi got married he would leave after a few
months and go to Istanbul, or Polis
as it was commonly known (Greek
meaning city) to work and send
money home. The reason for the
departure was because making a
living in Erzurum was hard.
Karekin's grandfather went to
Istanbul after his first child was born-
General View of Garin
Michael Harutinian
Staff Writer
My great-grandfather Karekin
was born in 1875 in Erzurum, the
ancient capital of Armenia as well
as the capital city ofthe province of
Erzurum. It is a city which has
been renamed throughout the centuries as Garin.
Karekin's grandfather was
born in Kghi, one of the most distinguished districts in the province
a boy named B oghos, my great greatgrandfather. Karekin's grandfather
got ajob as a manager of an inn. The
family name Odabashian stemmed
from his profession: Oda (Turkish
for inn) and Bashi (Turkish for
keeper). During the time there my
great great great-grandfather met a
man named Boorasdanian from a
village near Erzurum called Doghnig
and he was there for the same reason. He had a daughter named
Mariam. The two men became
friends and talked about their families.  Since they each had a child
they decided that it would be perfect to have their children marry.
B oghos and Mariam were engaged
as infants.
Some years later when my
great great great-grandfather returned to Erzurum the wedding
took place. Boghos was 21 and
Mariam was 15.
Shortly after the marriage at
around 1870, Boghos my great
great-grandfather rented a building from the Pasdermajian family,
the most prominent and wealthiest
Armenians in Erzurum. Since my
great great-grandfather had the experience of running an establishment in Istanbul he decided to
open a bar/casino/restaurant combination. It was a place where men
went to relax and read newspapers
in both Armenian and Turkish,
and had excellent food cooked by
a Chef he had brought from
Istanbul. His casino/restaurant was
the only one run by an Armenian
that the Turkish government allowed Turkish citizens to attend.
This included school officials,
military, government workers, etc.
The establishment was not a true
inn because it did not have sleeping facilities.
Their first child was Karekin
(my great-grandfather) followed
by Vartanoush, Khoren, Azniv,
and Nerses. They lived in a two
story house where they kept cows
and poultry. Karekin's sister
Vartanoush and her husband
Mihran Prudian and their children
Vartan and Aram lived with the
family on the second floor, Across
the street lived Vartkes
Seringulian, a noted revolutionary.
When my great-grandfather
Karekin graduated from the
Ardzenian school the director told
him that the local pharmacist was
looking for an apprentice to learn
the profession and found Karekin
best suited for the position. In
Erzurum pharmacists were respected as much as doctors; due to
the lack of doctors, pharmacists
were often called upon to do doctors work.
With the 1908 declaration of
freedom, equality, fraternity, and
peace, Armenians were free to
travel. My great-grandfather
Karekin decided to go to Istanbul
to practice his profession. The day
before Karekin was to leave
He was asked to accompany
the Tiriakian family: a recent
widow, her three children, and her
brother back to Istanbul, because
they were stranded in Erzurum.
During the eight day trip he be-
Karekin and Noemi Odabashian
came acquainted with them and    —
the eldest daughter Noemi eventu
ally became his wife. Once in
Istanbul his old neighbor Vartkes
Seringulian one ofthe revolutionaries who was now the representative
from Erzurum to the Turkish gov-
ernment,informed Karekin that the
Limondjian Pharmacy, the top pharmacy in Istanbul was looking for a
qualified pharmacist. He applied
and was given the job. Now his aim
was to bring his family out of
Erzurum and into the comparative
safety of Istanbul.
Karekin started by sending for
his brother Khoren who was in danger of being inducted into the Turkish army. He got Khoren a position
in the German embassy which deferred him from service and later
Karekin also got a position in the
embassy.
Karekin was lucky to fall into
the good graces of his boss, whom
he was able to
get out of several tight spots
that might
have sent him
to jail. He, in
turn aided
Karekin a few
times when
his life was in
danger and
covered up for
him when he
hid dozens of
people escaping from the
authorities.
In 1913
Karekin sent
for his mother
and his
brother
Nerses. Soon
after, in 1914,
war broke out
and travel
was prohib-
i t e d .
Karekin's
See ODABASHIAN, Page 7
My Grandfather Levon
By Sosi Thomassian
Staff Writer
Levon Shahnazarian doesn't
accurately remember his
date of birth, but believes
that it was on June 30, 1913. He
was born in Erzerum, in Western
Armenia, the son of Serpouhi and
Khatcho. My grandfather had two
sisters and a brother. Even though
he doesn't remember much about
his family, he will never forget the
day when he and his family were
separated. Levon recalls that a
Turkish policeman (gendarme)
handcuffed his father, grandfather,
and brother and took them away.
Levon believes they were killed.
These events occurred in 1915. This
left Levon, his mother, grandmother, and two sisters.
The Young Turk government
then forced Armenian families to
march fromtheirhome to thedeserts
of Syria. Levon's grandmother and
one sister were taken on a separate
deportation route than Levon, his
mother, and sister. Not knowing
where they were being taken, or
what was going to happen to them
all they could do was pray for the
best.
Levon remembers how they
were deported from one city to the
next with little water and food. The
Turkish gendarmes dragged them
through
Levon Shahnazarian
conditions of the desert he said to
me, " I remember being pushed
around by the gendarme and saw
people kicked when they wanted a
little break from walking.
As the hot, long journey continued, my grandfather became not
only older but also very alert to his
surroundings. One incident that he
will always remember was how
Levon's mother left her new born
baby daughter on the side of the
road. Since she could not carry
both of them, she had to choose
between the children she loved
deeply. Levon's mother decided
to leave the baby girl because she
was small and knew that she was
not going to have enough energy
to take care of a baby girl. Levon
said in a soft voice, " I remember
my mother looking back to see
how my sister Knarig was doing
and hoped that someone would
pick her up and take her to a safe
place."
As the years passed, Levon
now was getting older and what he
had seen could never be forgotten.
When I asked him what he had
seen there was a long pause of
silence. Could it be that he did not
want to remember or was it so bad
that he did not want to tell me?
Finally, after several minutes he
told me what he had seen. He
remembers a place called Der el
Zor. This was a place where many
skulls were piled very high. Not
bodies. Just skulls. Later it was
found out, that they were the skulls
of Armenians. He also remembers a time he-arid his mother had
to walk over dead bodies. This
place was near the Euphrates River.
Somehow Levon and his
mother made it to Marash, Turkey
in 1920. This shows that they had
been roaming around for five years.
When they arrived in Marash in
1920, they didn't know where to
go. An Armenian Church gave
them shelter for a couple of months
until Levon's mother found ajob
as a seamstress. Just when things
were going in the right direction
for them a war broke out in Marash.
Mustafa Kemal and his army were
once again attacking the Armenian population. Levon was wandering the streets and felt eerie
about his surroundings. He saw
small groups having discussions
and realized that most ofthe stores
, were closed. So he decided to go
get his mother from work. As he
was entering his mother's work
place, he saw that soldiers surrounded the area. He was frantically trying to get inside so he
could reach his mother, but was
unable to. A man pulled him out of
there and said, "Get out of here and
go to the church where it will be
safe." As he entered the church he
heard gun fire and explosions. By
now the church was filled with many
families. Levon was hungry and
had no other choice but to ask for
food. My grandfather showed me
by putting out his hand and begging, " I am alone and hungry, can
I have some food please?" And of
course they would not refuse a little
boy that had no family and an empty
stomach.
My grandfather was placed in
an orphanage in Marash. The conditions of the orphanage were not
very pleasant but he could not complain because he had nowhere else
to go. One problem of the orphanage was the amount of food they
received. The orphans were served
with food once a day, which consisted of one cup of tea and some
bread. From the orphanage he was
sent to foster parents. They did not
take care of Levon as a mother and
father would have. He ended up
contacting malaria and was hospitalized for a few months. After he
recovered he returned to the orphanage. In 1923, many orphans
were transported to an orphanage in
See LEVON, Page 6