THE 1913 WINTER IN VAN

Matheos Eblighatian

Translated: Vahe H. Apelian
Edited: Jack Chelebian, M.D.

In 1913 Matheos Eblighatian was appointed as the prosecutor general in Van. No Armenian in the Ottoman Empire had occupied such a high judicial position before, at least not in Van. Interestingly he regarded his assignment as a service in the fatherland, that to say Armenia. After a long journey starting on May 15 through Constantinople Batumi, Tiflisi Yerevan, Igdir, he arrived to Van on July 12. In his memoir (A Life in the Life of My Nation – Կեանք մը Ազգիս Կեանքին Մէջ) he narrated his first winter in Van, alluding to them as “long nights in Armenia”. Attached is my translation of that segment.

"The winter that year was harsher than usual. The snow, I was told, was more abundant that winter. Sometime in early November, I woke up to a blanket of snow. The snowflakes were piling on each other.

From our house in Aykestan, which was close to Khach Street, to my office in the center of the city, took three-quarter of an hour to cross on foot. It was impossible to travel by cart because of the snow. The snow sleighs were not ready yet. Consequently, with 8 to 10 Armenian lawyers and employees, we set foot walking. By the time we arrived to the court some nine centimeters of snow had piled on our shoulders. Fortunately, although the building was old, the floors were carpeted and the furnaces were red hot. I was accustomed to snow. I had experienced snow blizzard in the outskirt of Istanbul, where I lived. But the situation in Van was completely different.

As the days went by, the snow fell with abundance and settled. Until the beginning of spring, we had between one to one and a half meter snow accumulations. On both sides of the streets, a narrow passage would always be formed and on the larger avenues, the sleighs did the same. The greatest unease was the realization that we were besieged and imprisoned of sorts. There was an overwhelming whiteness all over. For short travels, it did not affect adversely, but after traveling for hours, the never ending snow white pierced the eye and people would end up suffering from pain for long periods of time. Of course, the snow had also its appeal. The city would look marvelous in the moonlight.

The nights were long. There were no occasions left for murder to have me bothered at any moment of the day. Therefore we spent every evening visiting colleagues. Most of them were not from Van. At times we also visited few local colleagues. In these situations, the women would stay in a separate room leaving the males alone. The people were used visiting each other during these long nights in Armenia. Telling stories and jokes were the orders of the day. My colleagues respected my abstinence (from alcohol) and they would not drink.  Usually, after dinner, we would take a walk outside.

The situation was altogether different when the governor and high placed officials got together. After drinking all night long, they would eat close to midnight. The governor had initiated these invitations. The rest took a turn to do the same.

Among the Armenians, Terzibashian initiated inviting us, followed by Tutunjian. The Party (i.e. ARF) invited the governor and his entourage in Ishkhan’s house. The second invitation was in honor of the Armenian lawyers. In the preliminary court, there were two Armenian judges and an assistant judge. With me, there were four lawyers. There were two other Armenian judges in the investigation tribunal. Thus, there were six Armenian lawyers in Van in those days. Along with the host, Aram (Manougian) was also present, who enlivened the evening. Along with us, there was a senior guest who was a Russian Armenian architect. He was a quiet man who spoke seldom and looked more studying us.

Needless to say Ishkhan and Aram did their best to entertain as well. Since it was a purely Armenian gathering, the Armenian issue and the everlasting call for the sanctity of life, honor, and property would follow after each salutation speech. Finally, the Russian Armenian guest spoke and said that he was very pleased to see that the present Armenian government officials did not resemble the ones Raffi had described in his novels. It was true. Not only us, as newly appointed government officials in the era of the constitution, but most of the Armenian government officials preceding us, thought and acted as an Armenian as much as each could.

Among the Armenian government officials, there were those who pursued their national aspiration had thus left their offices. Unfortunately, the period of the constitution did not last long and the people did not get to know the state of the Armenian government officials and hence being “Turk’s official”, generally elicited contempt. I elaborated on this point when I was given the concluding speech and I explained at length to the Russian Armenian guest the current relationship between the Armenian officials and the government.

Imagine my astonishment when years later on my way to America on an ocean liner, while passing through Istanbul, I visited Hovhannes Katchaznouni. I found out that the Russian Armenian architect we had as a guest that day, was he. He was accused in a lawsuit in Petersburg against the Tashnagtsoutiun. He had come to Istanbul evading the trial and had found refuge in Ishkhan’s house. Later on, I met him again in Istanbul and in Roumania and later in Athens the day before his departure to Armenia."