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Your Central Valley News: Armenian Heritage Special

April 22, 2015

April 24th marks a significant day for the Armenian people

It's the 100th Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, when one-and-a-half million Armenians were targeted for extinction by the Ottoman Turkish Empire. It was the first genocide of the 20th century.

For every life lost, there's a story. Like that of Azniv Booroojian, my grandmother who as a teenager in Armenia, witnessed her own mother's rape and murder. Or Sarkis Anaforian, my grandfather, who came to Fresno to earn money to send back home. Sadly, his whole family was murdered before they could come here and join him.

Tragic stories, and just two of a million and a half others.

Why is this important here? Thousands of Armenians live in the valley. Their influences are everywhere. Like here in Fresno's courthouse park.

This is the Armenian folk hero David of Sassonm a statue by Fresno artist Varaz Samuelian, erected in 1971,

Tonight, we celebrate the valley's rich Armenian roots, but also remember what happened 100 years ago in hopes that such a tragedy never happens again.

This is ancient Armenia long before the 1915 genocide and this is Armenia after. After thousands of lives were lost or shattered. After thousands of miles were claimed by the Turkish government, still unwilling to acknowledge what had been done.

100 years later, the tragedy is remembered. This monument under construction is a reminder that the horror in Armenia beginning in 1915, should never happen again.

"The importance of this is that it should remind us that something bad happened in the past and if you don't remember it, it could repeat. Maybe not to Armenians but to somebody else.," Tanner Akcam, a historian and author, said.

Turkish historian and author Tanner Akcam toured the monument site with two religious leaders. Armenian archbishop Vicken Aykazian and Rabbi Kennth Seigel.

Three unique backgrounds, one common belief.

"If we really don't learn about these experiences-- about human grievances in the past, we can not create a better humanity. We can not create a better future," Akcam said.

22 countries have recognized the Armenian genocide. In Greece, Switzerland and Slovakia it's a crime to deny it.

43 of the U.S. states, including California, recognize it, but the United States as a whole, has not.

"There's no question in my mind that it was a genocide. Most countries have recognized it. I believe the united states should recognize it," Congressman Devin Nunes said.

"It's important for the congress to go on record. It's important for the president to talk about the sad note of 100 years ago," Congressman Jim Costa said.

Turkey's Ottoman Empire was replaced in 1923. The new Turkish government said the killings were a consequence of World War I. Political ties binding the U.S. to Turkey have complicated the issue.

"Turkey became an ally to the U.S. against communist Russia. The whole case right there, because then they became friends, military friends. Political friends," Barlow der Mugrdechian, from Fresno State Armenian Studies said. "So I think it's a harder more difficult issue to solve."

Solutions are difficult. The focus now is remembering, a tragic time in world history that's impacted thousands of lives here at home.

The genocide was documented by news outlets as it happened. The New York Times wrote more than 140 articles about it in 1915 alone.

Armenian's began arriving in the valley long before the genocide, as long as 130 years ago. Going on five generations now call the valley home and their history can be traced in one unique place in southwest Fresno.

"Right here is the burial site of Jonathon Sinonian," Frank Balekian, a local historian said.

This may seem an unlikely place for a history lesson, but it's really not. The history of one local culture is documented here in earth and stone.

"And he is the first Armenian born in California," Balekian said.

This is the Ararat Cemetery at Belmont and Hughes in Fresno. The "only" Armenian cemetery in the United States. It's 130-years-old, and many of the thousands interred here reflect that.

"Yes, it's Garabed G. Hovanessian. He was born in 1886 and died in May of 1989," Balekian said.

Our tour guides: local historians Frank Balekian and Meher Checkerdemian.

We walked the plots and looked at names. Each special to a local family, and some important to the community and the world. Like the Seropian brothers, the very first Armenians to come to Fresno in 1881.

"So Jacob came first and then his brothers Garabed and Simon also arrived," Balekian said.

Pilot Joe Sahakian who flew the "sacred cow", the presidential aircraft for President Harry Truman in World War II and Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwrite William Saroyan.

"He was cremated and half were interred here in Fresno and the other half went to Yerevan Armenia," Balekian said.

There are remembrances here of Armenia's tragic past. This monument erected in 1968 by the Manoogian family for those who died in the Armenian genocide 100 years ago.

"So here is buried the remains of unknown Armenians martyred by the Turks in 1915 to 1918," Balekian said.

It is the only place in the western world where actual remains are contained. This 10 acre plot of history is a stop for school tours and history buffs. Executive Director Sheri Manning-Cartwright says this stone cross gets a lot of attention. It's a memorial to Visalia-born Monte Melkonian

"He was your average American boy who got interested in his Armenian heritage and joined the secret army for the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh," Manning-Cartwright said.

Melkonian died on the battlefield in 1993 and was buried in Armenia, but he is not forgotten here. Nor was another war hero, Soghomon Tehlirian. Who survived the genocide and got vengeance by assassinating one of the Ottoman empire's top leaders. He was tried for the murder, and acquitted.

"This reminds you of that. It reminds you of the million and a half that were massacred. It was genocide, everybody knows that and this reminds you of the one that really avenged those people," Meher Chekerdemian, a local historian said.

13 decades of history on more than 10 acres of land. Documenting a culture that came here, made an impact here, and now rest here for eternity.

The land for the cemetery was originally donated to the Armenian community by a man named Moses Church in 1885. A second cemetery was later opened-- combined, they encompass about 16 acres near Belmont and Hughes.

Let's turn out attention on a time when downtown Fresno was truly the heart of the city. When ethnic groups had their own neighborhoods. We look back decades ago to Fresno's old Armenian Town.

This large old atlas was made for every U.S. city at one time.

It was used by insurance companies to asses property values, but 85 years later, it gives us an interesting glimpse into the past.

"When we look over here at 22/26 which is San Benito Avenue. That's the boyhood home of William Saroyan," William Secrest, a historian, said.

Fresno historian William Secrest gave us a look into the area once known as Armenian town. A part of south Fresno roughly bounded by Broadway and "O" , Inyo and the Santa Fe tracks.

"Here you go to the other side of the page and you have Emerson public school where William Saroyan attended," Secrest said.

There was Emerson School at Santa Clara and "I" , churches and stores, but it was primarily a residential area for Armenian families. Families not welcome anywhere else.

"It wasn't about what they were comfortable with, it was where they had to live. A lot of that whole settlement pattern came from the face that a lot of immigrant groups weren't welcome elsewhere in Fresno," Secrest said.

Not much of Armenian town exists today. The freeway and the convention center uprooted most of the homes. A few though, were preserved and moved to the corner of "M" and Santa Clara.

"Charming little cottages that really is the way to describe them isn't it? Well this is the house that my relatives lived in," Secrest said.

87-year-old Hal Tokmakian grew up in Sanger but remembers visiting one of these homes in particular at it's original "N" street location.

"We would come here all the time regularly in the 1930's, 1940's from Sanger for the holidays. For Easter and Christmas dinners at the Geroian home," Hal Tokmakian said.

Eventually Armenians moved to other parts of the city, and now, only a few landmarks remain-- the 100-year-old Holy Trinity Church, and 93-year-old Valley Lavoush Baking Company.

"You talk to people of older generations and they'll tell stories about how they've been coming to the bakery. They're so happy it's still here and they can get their fresh peda and lavosh," Agnes Saghatelian, from Valley Lahvosh Baking Company, said.

"There was definitely a community and it was a community that was solid," Secrest said.

Call it progress or destruction, Armenian town is gone, but those who lived it and learned about it know it was an important part of Fresno's Armenian past.