PROCLAMATION: ARMENIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH (in translation)

Attached is my Google aided translation of Governor of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Maura T. Healey’s text proclaiming Arpil 2025, to be, AREMANIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, and urging all the residents of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.” This landmark recognition was made possible through the advocacy of high school student Anahit Marutyan. Her initiative and dedication played a crucial role in bringing attention to the importance of Armenian history and culture in Massachusetts. By taking the lead on this proclamation, Marutyan has not only honored her own heritage but has also created a meaningful legacy for future generations of Armenian Americans.Vaհe H Apelian.

Որովհետեւ՝ Մասաչուսեթսում ապրում է ավելի քան 30,000 ամերիկահայ, առաջին հայ ժողովուրդը Մասաչուսեթս ժամանեց 1800-ականների կեսերին. և 

Որովհետեւ՝ ամերիկահայերը նշանակալի ներդրում են ունեցել Մասաչուսեթսի մշակութային, սոցիալական և տնտեսական կառուցվածքում՝ հարստացնելով նահանգն իրենց ավանդույթներով, արժեքներով և ձեռնարկատիրական ոգով. և 

Որովհետեւ՝  հայերի սկզբնական գաղթը Միացյալ Նահանգներ տեղի ունեցավ օսմանյան սուլթան Աբդուլ Համիդի կողմից հայ բնակչության սարսափելի լայնածավալ ջարդերի պատճառով։ Հայոց ցեղասպանության ժամանակ 1,5 միլիոն մարդ սպանվել, տեղահանվել կամ բռնի կրոնափոխ է եղել։ Հայկական գաղթը Մասաչուսեթս շարունակվեց Երկրորդ համաշխարհային պատերազմից և Խորհրդային Միության փլուզումից հետո. և 

Որովհետեւ՝  միսիոներական կազմակերպությունների օգնությամբ Բոստոնը դարձավ հայկական բնակավայրի կենտրոններից մեկը։ Հայերը սկզբում հաստատվել են Սաութ Քով թաղամասում, ինչպես նաև Ուոթերթաունում, Իսթ Քեմբրիջում, Լինում և Չելզիում։ Հայերը աշխատանք էին գտնում տարբեր մասնագիտություններում՝ սկսած կոշկակարության, տեքստիլ, կաուչուկի և մետաղի արդյունաբերության մեջ, մինչև ձեռնարկատերեր, սրճարաններ, պանսիոնատներ, դերձակներ, մթերային ապրանքներ, գորգագործություն և լուսանկարչություն: և

Որովհետեւ՝  1882 թվականին նշանավոր հայ գաղթական Սառա Յազըյանը, որը սիրալիրորեն հայտնի է որպես «հայ գաղթականների մայր», դարձավ առաջին հայ կինը, ով 1865 թվականից ի վեր ժամանեց Վուսթեր՝ հայ ժողովրդի համար ապահով ապաստարան. և 

Որովհետեւ՝ Մասաչուսեթս նահանգը հպարտ է ճանաչելու հայ համայնքի նշանակալի ներդրումն ու ազդեցությունը մեր նահանգում, ինչպես նաև այն կարևոր դերը, որը նրանք խաղացել են մեր ընդհանուր մշակույթն ընդգծելու գործում՝ իրենց նվիրումով և քրտնաջան աշխատանքով. և

Որովհետեւ՝, ընդունելով այս տարիների ընթացքում հայ ժողովրդի առջև ծառացած հսկայական մարտահրավերներն ու զոհաբերությունները, մենք վերահաստատում ենք, որ հայկական մշակույթը ամերիկյան մշակույթի անբաժանելի մասն է, որն ունի ուժեղ ազդեցություն կյանքի բոլոր ոլորտներում,

Այժմ, հետևաբար, ես՝ Maura T. Healey, Մասաչուսեթսի Համագործակցության նահանգապետը, սույնով հայտարարում եմ April 2025 թ. 

ՀԱՅ-ԱՄԵՐԻԿԱԿԱՆ ԺԱՌԱՆԳՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԱՄԻՍ

Եվ կոչ արեք Համագործակցության բոլոր բնակիչներին գիտակցել այս իրադարձությունը և պատշաճ կերպով մասնակցել դրա տոնակատարությանը:

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The actual text:

 

Whereas, Over 30,000 Armenian-Americans live in Massachusetts, with the first Armenian people arriving

 in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s; and

 

Whereas, Armenian-Americans have made significant contributions in the cultural, social and economic fabric of Massachusetts, enriching the state with their traditions, values and entrepreneurial spirit; and

 

Whereas, The initial migration of Armenians to the United States occurred due to the horrific large-scale massacres of the Armenian population by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid. During the Armenian Genocide, 1.5 million people were killed, deported, or forcefully converted. Armenian migration to Massachusetts continued after World War II, and the collapse of the Soviet Union; and

 

Whereas, With the help of missionary organizations, Boston became one of the centers of the Armenian settlement. Armenians initially settled in the South Cove neighborhood, as well as in Watertown, East Cambridge, Lynn and Chelesea. Armenians found work in various occupations, ranging from jobs in the shoemaking, textile, rubber and metal industries to entrepreneurs, opening coffeehouses, boarding houses, tailors, groceries, rug businesses and photography; and

 

Whereas, In 1882, a notable Armenian immigrant Sara Yazyian known affectionately as “the mother of Armenian immigrants,” became the first Armenian woman to arrive in Worcester a safe haven for the Armenian people, since 1865; and

 

Wheeas, Massachusetts is proud to recognize the significant contribution and influence the Armenian community has made to our state, as well as the vital role they have played in highlighting our shared culture through their dedication, and hard work; and

 

Whereas, in acknowledging the enormous challenges and sacrifices the Armenian people faced over these years, we reaffirm that the Armenian culture is an integral part of American Culture, with strong influences across all the spheres of life,

Now, Therefore, I, Maura T. Healey, Governor of the Commonwealth Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim Arpeil 2025, to be,

 

AREMANIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

And urge all the residents of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance

 

Հասարակաց Յայտարարը

  Վաhէ Յ Աբէլեան

Այսօր Վարդան Թաշճեանը Լիբանէն հետեւեալ նկատողութիւնը ըրած էր իր էջին վրայ՝ 

«Լիբանանի մէջ հայկական երեք կուսակցութիւններ ( ՍԴՀԿ ՀՅԴ ՌԱԿ) մամուլով հրաւիրեցին նշելու Հայոց ցեղասպանութեան 110ամեակը Պէյրութի կեդրոնին մէջ: Գլխաւոր կարգախօսներէն մէկը կըսէ` "քանդենք լռութեան շղթան": Այս կարգախօսը (կամ անոր բնօրինակը` քանդենք լռութեան պատը) իմաստ մը ունէր 1955-ին,  1965-ին, 1975-ին, 1985-ին,  սակայն կը կասկածիմ որ, օրինակ, 1995-ին ու բնականաբար անկէ ետք կրնար պահած ըլլալ որեւէ այժմէականութիւն:

Կարգախօսը յայտնապէս կը վերաբերի Ցեղասպանութեան փաստի ընդունման, համաշխարհային ճանաչման, անոր մասին մարդոց իրազեկուածութեան եւ այլն: Այդ բոլորը, սակայն, եղած են արդէն: 2025-ին, այդ բոլորը կան, գոյութիւն ունին, կարեւոր չափերով: Փաստերը յայտնի են բոլորիս` մինչեւ ԱՄՆ նախագահի յայտարարութիւնը քանի մը տարի առաջ:

Այո, ճանաչումը կրնար աւելի ծաւալուն ըլլալ, սակայն երբեք այնքան նսեմ ու փոքր չէ, որ որեւէ մէկը մտածէ հայ մարդիկը դնել դէմ յանդիման "լռութեան շղթայի" մը, զոր պէտք է քանդել: Գոյութիւն չունի լռութեան շղթայ: Տասնամեակներէ ի վեր օր չ'անցնիր որ ցեղասպանութիւնը այս կամ այն կերպ թեմա չդառնայ զանազան շրջանակներու մէջ (Թուրքիոյ ուրացումը, Իսրայէլի տմարդութիւնը կամ Փաքիստանի մը անտարբերութիւնը եղանակ չեն ստեղծեր, ինչպէս կըսեն):

Երեք կուսակցութիւնները Լիբանանի մէջ ունին բազմաթիւ հետեւորդներ: Ունին ազդեցութիւն: Ամէն տեղ, ազդեցութիւնը զօրաւոր կ'ըլլայ յատկապէս պատանիներու եւ երիտասարդներու վրայ, ի բնէ: Նշածս կարգախօսին նման անմիտ կարգախօսները վատ ազդեցութիւն ունին մեր երիտասարդներու մտային առողջութեան վրայ: Այդ կարգախօսները ոչ ներկայի իրականութեան մասին բան մը կըսեն, ոչ ալ ուղենիշ մըն են ապագային համար: Անոնք սուտ կարգախօսներ են, որոնց հեղինակները պէտք է պատժուին, իւրաքանչիւրը`  իր կուսակցութեան մէջ:»

Մէջբերումը ըրի պարզապէս վերջին նախադասութեանը համար։

Քանի մը օր առաջ կարդացի որ Մասաճուսէդս (Massachusetts) նահանգին կառաւարիչը նշանակած է Ապրիլ ամիսը նահանգին «Ամերիկայի Հայկական ժառանգութեան Ամիս»ը - Armenian American Heritage Month -(տես ներքեւը)։ Իսկ այս նշանակումը ըրած է ոչ թէ նահանգին հայկական կազմակերպութիւններուն եւ կամ հայ եկեղեցիներուն միացեալ ճիքերուն շնորհիւ։ Նահանգին՝ Ապրիլ ամիսը «Ամերկայի Հայկական ժառանգութեան Ամիս» կոչելու ճանաչումը կարելի եղած է, Անահիտ Մարության անունով աշակերտուհիի մը նախաձեռնութեան շնորհիւ։ Աշակերտուհին նմանապէ կրթանպաստ ստացած է շարունակելու իր համալսարանական ուսուցոմը Clark համալսարանին մէջ։ 

 Շատ լաւ եւ շատ բարի եւ գնահատելի որ հայ երիտասարդ աշակերտուհին նման ձեռնարկ մը ծրագրած եւ յաջողցուցած է։  Բազում են Հայոց Ցեղասպնութիւնեան հայանպաստ աշխատանք տանողները քանի որ կրցած ենք փոխանցել  այդ մէկը, բայց ոչ հայ լեզուն, ոչ հայ գրականութիւնը, ոչ ալ մեր պատմութիւնը, եւ ոչ ալ հաւաքական կազմակերպութեան բարիքները։ 

Մասաճուսէդսը՝ Ամերիկահայ գաղութային կեանքին ամենէն հին նահանգն է։ Իսկ մենք Ուսդըր (Worcester) քաղաքին արուարձաններէն՝ Boylston ըսուած արուարձանին մէջ հաստատուած ենք 2018 թուականէն ի վեր։ Ուսդըր (Worcester) քաղաքը առաջինն է ուր Ամերիկահայ գաղութը սկսած կազմակերպուիլ։ Ամերիկահայ առաջին եկեղեցիները  այս քաղաքին մէջ հիմնուած են։ Այս քաղաքին մէջ է որ Խրիմեան Հայրիկին կոնդակով հիմնուած է Ամերիկահայ արաքելական առաջին՝  Էջմիածին Կաթողիկոսութեան պատկան թէմը եւ անոր եկեղեցին – Սուրբ Փրկիչ (1891)։

Ամերիկայի հայ աւետարանական առաջին եկեղեցին այս քաղաքին մէջ հիմնուած է եւ տակաւին գոյ է՝ Հայ նահատակած Եկեղեցին – The Armenian Church of the Martyrs (1901)։  Ամերիկայի Հայ Աւետարանչական Միւթիւնը (AMAA), ինչպէս նաեւ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի Հայ Աւետարանական Եկեղեցիներու Միութիւնը (AEUNA), այս քաղաքին եւ անոր Հայ Աւետարանական Եկեղեցիին մէջ հիմնուած են։ 

Այս նահանգինէ մէջ է որ Ամերիկահայ մամուլը սկսած է՝ այժմու «Հայրենիք» շաբաթաթերթով։

 Բայց այս նահանգին մէջ միայն մէկ հատ հայ նախակրթարան մը կայ – մինչեւ 5-րդ կարգ - հայահոծ Պոսթոն քաղաքին մէջ։  Իսկ Worcester քաղաքին մէջ նոյնիսկ միօրեայ հայ դպրոց չկայ։ Հայերէն լեզուն դադրած է գաղութային յաղորդակցութեան լեզու ըլլալէ։ Հայ գիրը, գրականութիւն, հայերէն գրել, կարդալ գրեթէ չգոյ է։ Հայախօս մշակոյթային կեանքը ամլացած է։  

Միակը որ կը թուի կրցած ենք փոխանցել իրերայաջորդ սերունդներուն՝ ցեղասպանութեան իրողութիւնն է։ Ամէն բանէ վեր եւ ամէն բանէ առաջ այդ իրողութեամբ է որ կարծէք կը պահենք մեր ինքնութիւնը՝  հոս։  

*** 

«Ամերիկայի Հայկական ժառանգութեան Ամիս»ը - Armenian American Heritage Month - https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2025/04/proclamation-armenian-american-heritage_8.html

Randal Pinkett on Donald Trump

Vaհe H Apelian

I have not seen a single episode of the popular The Apprentice, the American reality television series. But like most adult Americans, if not all, I had heard of the popular television series. 

Randal Pinkett is one of The Apprentice’s winners. I came to know about him in the Netflix documentary, “Trump, An American Dream.” I have watched that documentary more than once to get to learn more about Donald Trump, although I did not vote for him. But his policies will affect me no less.  As to Randal Pinkett, it turns out that he is a distinguished person in his own right. I quote Wikipedia ;” with an education background in engineering and business, Pinkett is both a Rhodes Scholar and a Walter Byers Scholar, and hold five academic degrees. Before entering the reality show, Pickett had already established a career in business and had become the co-founder of business consulting firm BCT Partner in 2001. As winner of The Apprentice season 4 in December 2005, Pinkett undertook a yearlong apprenticeship with Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City, New Jersey.”

This is what Randal Pinkett said about Donald Trump in the Netflix documentary “Trump, an American Dream.”

“I remember the day I arrived at the Trump Tower for my first day of apprenticeship. Donald was seated at his desk in his office at Trump Tower. He had this stack of magazines and newspapers on his desk, each of them had a Post-it note, a little yellow note inside it. He would grab one the stacks and he’d put it on his desk, and he’d open to the Post-it note and he’d red and he’d close it and grab the next one. I’m thinking “what is it, current events, stocks?” So I leaned as he’s going through this ritual, and he did not stop it while we’re talking, he continued with it. I see each one of the Post-it note was placed in the magazine or newspaper to an article about Donald Trump, that Donald Trump was basically reading about himself and that someone’s job is to gather all these materials, I suspect on a daily basis for Donald to read about Donald because Donald loves Donald. 

Donald runs his company with a very tight-knit inner circle, very tight. Primarily his children. He trusts them. They trust him. There’s a level of loyalty that’s “beyond just business”, but rather blood relationship that they have and I believe he looks them his much-trusted confidantes. Ivanka seemed to be the one who was most prominent among his children. I think he trusts the most. 

Donald’s philosophy in business is very adversarial. He believes that “for me to win, somebody has to lose.” The culture of the organization very much reflects that.”

My take is that the Donald Trump and the Trump family’s wealth came about in the aftermath of the World War II, and because of the economic policies America advocated. What a restrained global power America was at that time. The world history would have been much more different had any other power held the monopoly of the nuclear power, America did during and in the immediate aftermath of the WWII.

Thirty years before, in the aftermath of WWI, the European powers that ruled the world at the time, had dealt with Germany they had vanquished very harshly imposing upon it inordinate harsh terms in the Paris Peace Conference of 1918 in Versailles, France. Yes, at that same conference that dangled in front of the Armenians the Wilsonian Armenia. Historians claim that it was those draconian punitive demands upon Germany that gave rise to the Nazis. 

But in the aftermath of WWII, America helped built Germany and Japan, it had vanquished, along with them the rest of Western world. In the words of the Winston Churchill, it was the doing of the English-speaking peoples of the United States and of England, that shaped a better future of the world on the west of the world portioned by an iron curtain. It was that American brand inclusive economy that also enriched America and enabled its post WWII inordinate economic growth, of which Trump family became a beneficiary. But it is this growth, that America built in the aftermath of WWII as its own of economic model, that Donald Trump is imposing punitive tariffs and curtailing its natural growth. 

Along with the punitive tariffs, it is personalization of power that Donald Trump is pursuing,  is very concerning. 

I am reminded of Julius Ceaser and the demise of the Republic of Rome. In transitioning the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, Ceasar was not an emperor, nor the Senate was abolished. It was its legislative power of the senate and the institutional checks and balances of the republic that were curtailed in favor of an individual, the emperor. In the aftermath of the Ides of March, the average Roman citizens, caught in  their day to say struggles to make ends meet, may not even have remained aware of the historic change that was taking place. 

If it so happens that any of our grandchildren happen to read this blog, I hope that they would send word to me that the American Republic, for which I also stood, as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, still endures along the path of the Republic it was.

 

 

 

 

The Çankırı Worry Beads by Garbis Harboyan, M.D.

  Vaհe H Apelian

Բնագիրը կցուած է ներքեւը։ I was saddened to read today the passing away of Garbis Harboyan, M.D. I met him for the first time in NJ in early 1990's and we corresponded on and off. My condolences to his family, relatives, friends. The attached is my abridged translation of an article he wrote about “ THE 99 BEADS WORRY BEAD OF CHANKER, AN IRRIFUTABLE WITNESS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE - ՉԱՆՂԸՐԸ-Ի 99 ՀԱՏԻԿՈՎ ՀԱՄՐԻՉԸ՝ ՀԱՅՈՑ ՑԵՂԱՊԱՆՈՒԹԵԱՆ ԱՆԺԽՏԵԼԻ ՎԱՒԵՐԱԳԻՐ”. He had it published in Armenian newspapers and had it posted on his Facebook page as well.  Garbis Harboyan was a prolific author and an expert about Armenian medical professionals martyred during the genocide of the Armenians. He resided in Montreal, Canada with his family. Vahe H Apelian

“24 April, 1915, government officials in Bolis (Istanbul) conducted a widespread arrest of individuals named on a list prepared by the Turkish government. Approximately 200 Armenian community leaders including intellectuals, merchants, physicians, pharmacists, clergy, lawyers, activists and politicians were unexpectedly arrested and were imprisoned in Ayash (Ayaş), a small town near Istanbul.  

Forty-five individuals from the list were killed and the rest were exiled to a prison in  Çankırı, a city on the north coast of Turkey. Some of those who were sent there were also killed there. Among those remaining was Vartkes Atanasian (Վարդերես Աթանասեան), who was a merchant from Istanbul and an official representative of his neighborhood (թաղապետ). Vartkes Atanasian carved on the 99 beads of his worry-bead the names of the remaining imprisoned Armenians. On the larger piece through which the two strings of the worry-bead were brought together and tied, he carved the following: “Çankırı, 1915, April 11, memorial”. 

While he was in prison, a Turkish coachman presented himself to his wife Srpouhy and told her that her husband gifted the coachman a watch and asked him to deliver to her his worry-bead. Srphouhy accepted it without realizing that the individual beads are engraved. Vartkes Atanasian did not return home. He was subsequently deported and was martyred in Der Ez Zor.

 His daughter Eugenie, having survived the Armenian Genocide, found refuge in Paris carrying her father’s worry bead. In 1965, in the aftermath of the 50th commemoration of the Armenian genocide, she realized that her father’s worry-bead is a cherished relic not only for her family but also for the nation as a whole. Consequently, she gifted the worry-bead to the Armenian Genocide Museum in Armenia. The worry-bead ended up in a display case in the Armenian genocide as a memorial of the Armenian genocide museum bearing no caption. It was simply displayed as a “19-20th century art”.

Until 1984, no one had realized that the worry-bead is not only a mere relic from a martyred Armenian but that it is, in its way, an important historical document. None of the officials of the genocide museum had taken any interest in the worry bead as a document. Iremained in the display case. 

In 1984, Garine Avakian (Կարինէ Աւագեան), a senior researcher, historian, and antiquarian, who has been affiliated with the genocide museum for the past 27 years became attracted to the worry bead that had 99 beads (far too many than a customary worry-bead). 

Garen studied the worry-bead with scrutiny and found out that that Vartkes Atanasian had engraved on each bead the name of an Armenian thrown in jail in Çankırı. On the larger bead that tied the two ends of the string, he had engraved, “Çankırı, 1915, April 11, memorial.” Thus, Vartkes Atanasian had engraved 103 names from those who were jailed there. Some of the beads had more than one name.

The following are the names engraved on the beads: 

1.Gomida V. (Կոմիտաս վ.), 2.  Hovnan V. (Յովհան Վ.), 3. Kachouny Khn.1 (Քաջունի քհնյ.), 4. Jevaherje J (Ճեւահիրճի), 5.  R. Sevag (Ռ. Սեւակ), 6. (Meskjian (Միսքճեան), 7. Topjian (Թօփճեան), 8.  Vartan Khn. (Վաբղան քհնյ.), 9.  T. Delar (Գ. Տէլալ), 10. Kazazian (Գազազեան), 11. Torkomian (Թորգոմեան) – physician (բժիշկ), 12. Boghosian (Պօղոսեան), 13. Denanian (Տինանեան), 14. Merza (Միրզա), 15. Altounian – dentist (Ալթունեան – ատամնաբոյժ), 16. Gkhlkharan (Կխլիառան), 17. Zareh (Զարեհ), 18. Yeznig (Եզնիկ), 19. Asadour V. – pharmacist (Ասատռւր Վ. – դեղագործ), 20. Manegian (Մանիկեան), 21. Zarifian (Զարիֆեան), 22. Meskjian (Միսքճեան), 23. Hajian (Հաճեան), 24. Chazaros (Ղազարոս), 25. Terzian (Թէրզեան), 26. Nshan (Նշան), 27. Nor-Gelejian (Նար-Կիլէճեան), 28. Arsenian (Արսենեան), 29. Tanielian B. - lawyer (Դանիէլեան Պ. – փազտաբան), 30. Cheraz (Չերագ) 31. Movses (Մովսէս), 32. D. Keleg – editor (Տ. Քէլէկ-խմբագիր), 33. P. Kgian (Բ. Քկեան), 34. Topjian (Թօփճեան), 35. Andonian (Անաոնեան), 36. Tolayan (Թօլայեան), 37. Shahnour (Շահնուր), 38. M. Mrents – teacher (Մ. Մրենց – ուսուցիչ), 39. Khonasarian (Խօճասարեան), 40. Varoujan (Վարուժան), 41. Shamdanjian (Շամտանճեան), 42. Chavoushian (Չաւուշեան), 43. Tabazian (Թապագեան), 44. Dkhpou- Okh (Տխբու-Օխ) 45. Aghababian (Աղապապեան), 46. Parselian (Բարսեյեան), 47. Dorian (Տօրեան), 48. Yessayan (Եսայեան-տաղարտը), 49. Kochoy Srpen (Գոչոյ Սրբին), 50. Yerchanig (Երջանիկ), 51. Zenop (Զենոբ), 52. Hoscheg (Հոսչիկ), 53. Hrant (Հրանդ) 54. Ereoum (Երէում), 55. Levon-2 (Լեւոն-2), 56. Azpeg (Ազբիկ), 57. Kantarian (Գանթարեան), 58. Gozmos (Կոզմոս), 59. Beylerian (Պէյլերեան), 60. Tashjian (Թաշճեան), 61. Hanesian (Հանեսեան), 62. Aram (Արամ), 63. Zeef (Russ.) (Ցիֆր (ռուս.)), 64. Deovletian (Տէօւլեթեան), 65. Kahayan- artisan   (Քէհեայեան – արհեստաւոր), 66. Maysbajian (Մայսպաճեան), 67. Basmajian (Պասմաճեան), 68. Sekonian (Սէքոնեան), 69. Chbj – architect (Զպճը – ճարտարապետ), 70. Arsajian (Արսչանեան), 71. Varteres – (Վարդերես – մուխբար), 72. Ferou-Khan (Ֆէրու- խան), 73. Sarafian (Սարաֆեան), 74. Avtounian (Աւթունեան), 75. Jambaz (ճամպազ), 76. Hrach (Հրաչ), 77. Momjian (Մոմճեան), 78. Kalender (Գալէնտէր), 79. Vaghenag (Վաղինակ), 80. Kalfayan – office – employee (Գալֆայեան – պաշտօնեայ), 81. Beyepian (Պէյեբեան), 82. Barouyr (Պարոյր), 83. Noyeg-commissioner (Նոյիկ – յանձնակատար), 84. Tatarian Թաթարեան, 85. Keoleyian (Քէօլէեան), 86. Ohnegiank (Օհնիկեանք)-4, 87. Terlemez-money-changer (Թէրլէմէզ սեղանաւոր), 88. Der-Kevorkian (Տէր-Գէորզեան), 89. Basmajian (Պասմաճեան), 90. Tayezjian (Դայըզճեան), 91. Injjineyan (Ինճիճէեան), 92. Kapageozian (Գաբակէօզեան), 93.Maneasian (Մանէասեան), 94. Ghonchegul (Ղոնչէկիւլ) 95. Parisian (Փարիսեան), 96. Korian-merchant (Գորեան – վճռկն), 97. Keropian – reverend (Քերոբեան – պատուէ)- Փ, 98. Toumajian (Թումաճան), 99. Balakian-. (Պալազեան- ծ.վ).

In 1992 Garine met Vartabed Grigoris Balakian, the author of “Armenian Golgotha” and noted that his name is engraved on the last, the 99th bead. She read his book and realized that Grigoris Balakian had only mentioned the names of 69 individuals imprisoned, while Vartkes Atanasian had engraved the names of 103 individuals imprisoned in Çankırı.  After long research about the names engraved on the bead, she was able to track down the descendants of many, whose names were engraved on the beads and  contacted them and collected detailed information about the person whose name is engraved. 

In 2002 Garine Avakian published a book about the worry-bead titling it «Եղեռնայուշ Մասունք Կամ Խոստովանողք Եւ Վկայք Խաչի» - A Genocide Relic  or  Confession and Witness of the Gross. The book is the story of the worry-bead. After the publication of the book, Garine received more information about the names engraved on the beads from some of the descendants of the survivors. 

In the book, Garine Avakian presented the biographies of the persons whose names are engraved on the bead detailing their deportation routes. She noted that thirty-five of the engraved names were martyred, and sixty one had survived. She has not been able to collect information about the rest. The information she gathered about the names engraved on the beads revealed interesting details. For example, doctor Jevaherje survived because he was the gynecologist of the Sultan’s women. 

Thanks to Garine Avakian’s diligent work, the worry-bead has ceased to be an art piece for display and has become and irrefutably primary source of the Armenian genocide. Garine Avakian noted in her book; “The worry-bead has become a piece of history, an engraved witness of the Armenian Genocide and a rosary that ties generations”.

Garbis Harboyan, M.D.

Montreal, November 10, 2015

                                        *** 

Բնագիրը՝ https://hairenikweekly.com/?p=35155

The Çankırı Worry Beads by Garbis Harboyan, M.D.

 Vaհe H Apelian

Բնագիրը կցուած է ներքեւը։ I was saddened to read today the passing away of Garbis Harboyan, M.D. I met him for the first time in NJ in early 1990's and we corresponded on and off. My condolences to his family, relatives, friends. The attached is my abridged translation of an article he wrote about “ THE 99 BEADS WORRY BEAD OF CHANKER, AN IRRIFUTABLE WITNESS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE - ՉԱՆՂԸՐԸ-Ի 99 ՀԱՏԻԿՈՎ ՀԱՄՐԻՉԸ՝ ՀԱՅՈՑ ՑԵՂԱՊԱՆՈՒԹԵԱՆ ԱՆԺԽՏԵԼԻ ՎԱՒԵՐԱԳԻՐ”. He had it published in Armenian newspapers and had it posted on his Facebook page as well.  Garbis Harboyan was a prolific author and an expert about Armenian medical professionals martyred during the genocide of the Armenians. He resided in Montreal, Canada with his family. Vahe H Apelian

 Garbis Harboyan M.D. and the Çankırı Beads 

“24 April, 1915, government officials in Bolis (Istanbul) conducted a widespread arrest of individuals named on a list prepared by the Turkish government. Approximately 200 Armenian community leaders including intellectuals, merchants, physicians, pharmacists, clergy, lawyers, activists and politicians were unexpectedly arrested and were imprisoned in Ayash (Ayaş), a small town near Istanbul.  

Forty-five individuals from the list were killed and the rest were exiled to a prison in  Çankırı, a city on the north coast of Turkey. Some of those who were sent there were also killed there. Among those remaining was Vartkes Atanasian (Վարդերես Աթանասեան), who was a merchant from Istanbul and an official representative of his neighborhood (թաղապետ). Vartkes Atanasian carved on the 99 beads of his worry-bead the names of the remaining imprisoned Armenians. On the larger piece through which the two strings of the worry-bead were brought together and tied, he carved the following: “Çankırı, 1915, April 11, memorial”. 

While he was in prison, a Turkish coachman presented himself to his wife Srpouhy and told her that her husband gifted the coachman a watch and asked him to deliver to her his worry-bead. Srphouhy accepted it without realizing that the individual beads are engraved. Vartkes Atanasian did not return home. He was subsequently deported and was martyred in Der Ez Zor.

 His daughter Eugenie, having survived the Armenian Genocide, found refuge in Paris carrying her father’s worry bead. In 1965, in the aftermath of the 50th commemoration of the Armenian genocide, she realized that her father’s worry-bead is a cherished relic not only for her family but also for the nation as a whole. Consequently, she gifted the worry-bead to the Armenian Genocide Museum in Armenia. The worry-bead ended up in a display case in the Armenian genocide as a memorial of the Armenian genocide museum bearing no caption. It was simply displayed as a “19-20th century art”.

Until 1984, no one had realized that the worry-bead is not only a mere relic from a martyred Armenian but that it is, in its way, an important historical document. None of the officials of the genocide museum had taken any interest in the worry bead as a document. Iremained in the display case. 

In 1984, Garine Avakian (Կարինէ Աւագեան), a senior researcher, historian, and antiquarian, who has been affiliated with the genocide museum for the past 27 years became attracted to the worry bead that had 99 beads (far too many than a customary worry-bead). 

Garen studied the worry-bead with scrutiny and found out that that Vartkes Atanasian had engraved on each bead the name of an Armenian thrown in jail in Çankırı. On the larger bead that tied the two ends of the string, he had engraved, “Çankırı, 1915, April 11, memorial.” Thus, Vartkes Atanasian had engraved 103 names from those who were jailed there. Some of the beads had more than one name.

The following are the names engraved on the beads: 

1.Gomida V. (Կոմիտաս վ.), 2.  Hovnan V. (Յովհան Վ.), 3. Kachouny Khn.1 (Քաջունի քհնյ.), 4. Jevaherje J (Ճեւահիրճի), 5.  R. Sevag (Ռ. Սեւակ), 6. (Meskjian (Միսքճեան), 7. Topjian (Թօփճեան), 8.  Vartan Khn. (Վաբղան քհնյ.), 9.  T. Delar (Գ. Տէլալ), 10. Kazazian (Գազազեան), 11. Torkomian (Թորգոմեան) – physician (բժիշկ), 12. Boghosian (Պօղոսեան), 13. Denanian (Տինանեան), 14. Merza (Միրզա), 15. Altounian – dentist (Ալթունեան – ատամնաբոյժ), 16. Gkhlkharan (Կխլիառան), 17. Zareh (Զարեհ), 18. Yeznig (Եզնիկ), 19. Asadour V. – pharmacist (Ասատռւր Վ. – դեղագործ), 20. Manegian (Մանիկեան), 21. Zarifian (Զարիֆեան), 22. Meskjian (Միսքճեան), 23. Hajian (Հաճեան), 24. Chazaros (Ղազարոս), 25. Terzian (Թէրզեան), 26. Nshan (Նշան), 27. Nor-Gelejian (Նար-Կիլէճեան), 28. Arsenian (Արսենեան), 29. Tanielian B. - lawyer (Դանիէլեան Պ. – փազտաբան), 30. Cheraz (Չերագ) 31. Movses (Մովսէս), 32. D. Keleg – editor (Տ. Քէլէկ-խմբագիր), 33. P. Kgian (Բ. Քկեան), 34. Topjian (Թօփճեան), 35. Andonian (Անաոնեան), 36. Tolayan (Թօլայեան), 37. Shahnour (Շահնուր), 38. M. Mrents – teacher (Մ. Մրենց – ուսուցիչ), 39. Khonasarian (Խօճասարեան), 40. Varoujan (Վարուժան), 41. Shamdanjian (Շամտանճեան), 42. Chavoushian (Չաւուշեան), 43. Tabazian (Թապագեան), 44. Dkhpou- Okh (Տխբու-Օխ) 45. Aghababian (Աղապապեան), 46. Parselian (Բարսեյեան), 47. Dorian (Տօրեան), 48. Yessayan (Եսայեան-տաղարտը), 49. Kochoy Srpen (Գոչոյ Սրբին), 50. Yerchanig (Երջանիկ), 51. Zenop (Զենոբ), 52. Hoscheg (Հոսչիկ), 53. Hrant (Հրանդ) 54. Ereoum (Երէում), 55. Levon-2 (Լեւոն-2), 56. Azpeg (Ազբիկ), 57. Kantarian (Գանթարեան), 58. Gozmos (Կոզմոս), 59. Beylerian (Պէյլերեան), 60. Tashjian (Թաշճեան), 61. Hanesian (Հանեսեան), 62. Aram (Արամ), 63. Zeef (Russ.) (Ցիֆր (ռուս.)), 64. Deovletian (Տէօւլեթեան), 65. Kahayan- artisan   (Քէհեայեան – արհեստաւոր), 66. Maysbajian (Մայսպաճեան), 67. Basmajian (Պասմաճեան), 68. Sekonian (Սէքոնեան), 69. Chbj – architect (Զպճը – ճարտարապետ), 70. Arsajian (Արսչանեան), 71. Varteres – (Վարդերես – մուխբար), 72. Ferou-Khan (Ֆէրու- խան), 73. Sarafian (Սարաֆեան), 74. Avtounian (Աւթունեան), 75. Jambaz (ճամպազ), 76. Hrach (Հրաչ), 77. Momjian (Մոմճեան), 78. Kalender (Գալէնտէր), 79. Vaghenag (Վաղինակ), 80. Kalfayan – office – employee (Գալֆայեան – պաշտօնեայ), 81. Beyepian (Պէյեբեան), 82. Barouyr (Պարոյր), 83. Noyeg-commissioner (Նոյիկ – յանձնակատար), 84. Tatarian Թաթարեան, 85. Keoleyian (Քէօլէեան), 86. Ohnegiank (Օհնիկեանք)-4, 87. Terlemez-money-changer (Թէրլէմէզ սեղանաւոր), 88. Der-Kevorkian (Տէր-Գէորզեան), 89. Basmajian (Պասմաճեան), 90. Tayezjian (Դայըզճեան), 91. Injjineyan (Ինճիճէեան), 92. Kapageozian (Գաբակէօզեան), 93.Maneasian (Մանէասեան), 94. Ghonchegul (Ղոնչէկիւլ) 95. Parisian (Փարիսեան), 96. Korian-merchant (Գորեան – վճռկն), 97. Keropian – reverend (Քերոբեան – պատուէ)- Փ, 98. Toumajian (Թումաճան), 99. Balakian-. (Պալազեան- ծ.վ).

In 1992 Garine met Vartabed Grigoris Balakian, the author of “Armenian Golgotha” and noted that his name is engraved on the last, the 99th bead. She read his book and realized that Grigoris Balakian had only mentioned the names of 69 individuals imprisoned, while Vartkes Atanasian had engraved the names of 103 individuals imprisoned in Çankırı.  After long research about the names engraved on the bead, she was able to track down the descendants of many, whose names were engraved on the beads and  contacted them and collected detailed information about the person whose name is engraved. 

In 2002 Garine Avakian published a book about the worry-bead titling it «Եղեռնայուշ Մասունք Կամ Խոստովանողք Եւ Վկայք Խաչի» - A Genocide Relic  or  Confession and Witness of the Gross. The book is the story of the worry-bead. After the publication of the book, Garine received more information about the names engraved on the beads from some of the descendants of the survivors. 

In the book, Garine Avakian presented the biographies of the persons whose names are engraved on the bead detailing their deportation routes. She noted that thirty-five of the engraved names were martyred, and sixty one had survived. She has not been able to collect information about the rest. The information she gathered about the names engraved on the beads revealed interesting details. For example, doctor Jevaherje survived because he was the gynecologist of the Sultan’s women. 

Thanks to Garine Avakian’s diligent work, the worry-bead has ceased to be an art piece for display and has become and irrefutably primary source of the Armenian genocide. Garine Avakian noted in her book; “The worry-bead has become a piece of history, an engraved witness of the Armenian Genocide and a rosary that ties generations”.

Garbis Harboyan, M.D.

Montreal, November 10, 2015

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Բնագիրը՝ https://hairenikweekly.com/?p=35155

Khrimian Hayrig on his birthday

Vaհe H Apelian

Mkrtich Khrimian, the beloved Khrimian Hayrig, was born on April 4 in 1820 (1921?) to a well-to-do family of merchants who may have originated from Crimea, Khrim in Armenian, as his  family last name attested.

I owe my visualization of Khrimian Hayrig  to the book I read,  “HAYRIG HAYRIG” (ՀԱՅՐԻԿ ՀԱՅՐԻԿ). The book  shed  light about the man, Mgrdich Khrimian, who would be known in Armenian history more by his endearing nickname ‘Hayrig’ implying a compassionate and a concerned father.  Ara Aginian, who has passed away in 1976, wrote the book, which was published as supplement to an Armenian newspaper. Aras Publishing published the edition I read, in 2004 in Istanbul.

The book, which is a biographical sketch, begins from the time sixteen-years-old Mgrdich set foot in Istanbul as another migrant and ends with his death at the age of eighty-seven in Echmiadzin. Some of the conversations noted in the book are commonly accepted to have taken place but the overall narration is likely partly figments of the author’s imagination to give cohesion to the story and make it readable.

Reading the book it becoma evident that Khrimian stood apart from the crowd from get go. From his days as a teenage migrant in Istanbul to an aged pontiff, he attracted people by his physical attributes. He was tall, handsome and had expressive bluish eyes. The eminent British historian H.F. B. Lynch, who attended his inauguration as catholicos, commented on the imposing splendor of his appearance. 

His physical endowments could have helped any ambitious person to ascend the social scale. He, on the other hand, loved to be with the common every day folks and remained totally oblivious to social status and to wealth. The upper class Armenians of Istanbul who wanted to rub shoulder with the Patriarch who sat at the apex of their social order and sat at the table with the Sultan himself, were dismayed finding him continue visiting and staying with the Armenian migrants from the interior of the country who did menial jobs and lived in the communal housing (khans). When they vehemently objected to his hitherto unheard behavior that should have no place with a sitting Patriarch, they said. He dismissed them saying, “It should not have happened, it happened. You had not seen it before, you saw it now”. He gave away his salary as a patriarch, who ranked among the high placed officials in the administrative hierarchy of the Ottoman Empire. 

Five years after his resignation as the Patriarch, his successor Nerses II Varjabedian, appointed him in 1878 to head the Armenian delegation to the Berlin Conference even though Khrimian did not speak much of Turkish let alone other foreign languages and had no administrative position. He was chosen to lead the delegation because of his forceful personality and imposing physical stature and the loyalty and the trust he commanded.

 His life consisted of two distinct phases. He spent the first 34 years of his life as a layperson in search for his niche. His first sixteen years were spent in Van with his parents and with the local priests learning how to read and write Armenian, a rarity at the time in the interior of the country. He came to Istanbul at the age of sixteen along the many young men  in quest of knowledge while the other migrants his age looked for work to get by. Pretty soon he established a reputation as a promising, out of the ordinary young man but his association with the migrants from the interior of the country never wavered. Not long after his arrival he became the protégé of an Armenian Amira who hosted him in his opulent residence and appointed him as a tutor to his two children and had him placed as a teacher in an Armenian school.  

His stay in Istanbul lasted four years. He returned home to find out that his father had passed away. He tried some business ventures that were financially disastrous. Fortunately his well-to-do family could absorb the losses. He reluctantly gave in to his mother’s wishes and married the girl chosen for him, as was the customs of the day. He became a loving father to his daughter and through her felt bonded to his spouse with whom he shared nothing much. His wanderlust in quest of knowledge eventually took the better of him and he left home embarking on a pilgrimage to get connected to his nation’s roots. He visited Etchmiadzin and other historical Armenian sites, wrote, returned to Istanbul and had his first book published through the generosity of Amira Ayvazian in memory of the Amira’s son whom Khrimian had tutored. He returned home after an absence that had lasted seven years to find out that his wife, daughter and mother had passed away. It is then that he had a revelation that celibate priesthood is his calling and the best venue to enlighten his people who indeed lived not only in abject poverty but also in ignorance.

He remained a maverick during the second phase of his life as a celibate priest even though he ascended the hierarchy all the way to its apex as Catholicos of All Armenians. Instead of finding in the church the instruments and the support he needed to help him enlighten the Armenian masses he found the entrenched clergy vehemently objecting to his efforts along with the Armenian landlords who opposed him. It became an uphill battle for him to establish the first printing press among the Armenians in their Anatolian heartland. He became a thorn and a rose, arousing heightened sentiments towards him, either way. A segment of Armenians conspired against him and plotted at least two failed assassinations. They also instigated the Turkish authorities against him. But he won the hearts of the people at large, who started calling him Hayrig, an endearing moniker he cherished a lot. The people bestowed it upon when he, as the prelate of Daron, stood with them and had their exorbitant taxes lowered a bit for their vital relief.  It is through the unwavering support of the people that he ascended the ecclesiastical ranks always remaining true to them.

Six years after the ratification of the Armenian National Constitution by the Ottoman High Porte, he was elected the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1869.  The Armenian denizens of Istanbul thought that the prelate from the interior of the country would be compliant. But, not long after his election he made amending the constitution, against the wishes of the upper class Armenian in Constantinople, his primary agenda. The hundred thousand plus Armenians in Istanbul commanded three times more representation in the National Assembly than the entire Armenians in the interior of the country, he estimated to be three millions. A plausible figure given that Hamidian, Adana massacres along with the rampant usurpation of Armenian lives and property had not yet run its course decimating the people to two million at the dawn of the Genocide.

He faced a vehement opposition by who’s who. Krikor Odian, an architect of the Armenian Constitution attempted to reason with him about the obvious flaws of the Constitution giving in to the wishes of the Sultan's court to secure his ratification of the Armenian Constitution. But Khrimian remained adamant. Unable to amend the constitution to have a fairer representation of his flock to have their grievances heard and acted upon, he resigned in 1873 but continued to remain a moral authority and an intellect to reckon with. With the collusion of Armenians, the Sultan’s Sublime Porte eventually had him banished on a “permanent pilgrimage” to Jerusalem in 1890. To the outrage of the people, in Jerusalem, his spiritual brethren treated him more as pariah in his ecclesiastical home. Yet everyone, foe and friend alike, knew that they were dealing with an out of the ordinary individual who commanded an unwavering loyalty and esteem by the people. When the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians became vacant with the death of his predecessor, he was unanimously elected Catholicos of All Armenians in 1892. His move from Jerusalem to Etchmiadzin took months. There was not a community that did not want to host the newly elected pontiff on his way to occupy the throne set by Gregory the Illuminator.

His reign as the Supreme Head of the Armenian Church may be the crowning years of his long service to his people. He might have been mellowed a bit. The people at large might have understood the person more.  Those years proved to be a harmonious years between the shepherd and his flock from all walks of life. His reputation as the champion of the Armenian nation was further cemented when the aging Eagle, as he himself would liken him to one, stood his grounds against the orders of the almighty Tsar to have the Armenian Church properties nationalized and he won.

He was a prolific writer and publisher. He established the first printing press in Western Armenia and started publishing a journal titled Artzvi Vasburagan (Eagle of Van) in 1855. In 1863 he started a similar journal titled Artzvik Darno (Eagle of Daron).  Along with these journals, the book I read credits him with fifteen literary titles spanning from 1849 to 1909. Like Khatchadour Apovian (1809-1848) in Eastern Armenia, he wrote in local Western Armenian vernacular peppered with literary and classical Armenian. He had special reverence to Armenian authors. When the young poet Bedros Tourian, who had dedicated a poem to him as the newly elected Patriarch of Constantinople, died at the age of twenty-one, his followers wanted a music band play accompanying his coffin to fulfill the wishes of the young poet. It was unheard of to have a music band in a burial procession, so the Church did not give them permission to do so. In desperation they appealed to Patriarch Khrimian who famously told them that he too would not give them his permission, but he would forgive them for doing so.

Khrimian Hayrik to this day is referenced more as the messenger of the famous speech he delivered in 1878 upon return as the head of the Berlin Armenian delegation. The speech remains known in Armenian history as the “Iron (or Paper) Ladle Speech”. He likened his experience at the Berlin Conference to a feast where the attendants with their iron ladles took their share from the favored Armenian dish Herissa. He, on the other hand, was carrying a paper ladle and thus could not scoop anything for himself even though he was the taller and the more imposing among the delegates.  He urged the people to arm themselves and to gift each other arms and only arms.

It is not uncommon to read claiming that he was a revolutionary by citing his famous speech. Reading this book has made me realize that such an interpretation is way too simplistic. Revolutionaries aim to topple an existing order and have it replaced with an ideologically more conducive one.  To draw a parallel to modern parlance, Khrimian was more of an advocate of the people’s right to bear arms, a holy grail in the American Constitution, and not an advocate of revolution. He never advocated raising arms against the State be it Sultan’s or the Tsar’s. He had no vision to have these states abolished and replaced or even for the Armenians to have their own independent state.

Members of the oldest Armenian political party, Hnchag Party, tried to entice him to work with them when he was in the Western Armenian homeland. He refused to deal with them.   The Tashang party was established in Tiflis in 1890, two years before his ascendancy as Catholicos. The party stood with him against the nationalization of church property but that there was no ideological parity between him and the party. He was and remained a clergyman at heart safeguarding the institution that was the Armenian Church. He wanted to ameliorate the lot of his flock, the Armenian people through the established orders. The concepts of free and independent Armenia or of social–isms were alien to him. All he wanted was to safeguard Armenians against unlawful usurpation and assure their rights as subjects of the Sultan or the Tsar.  When the Sultan’s Sublime Port proved to be unable or unwilling to the sanctity of the lives, labor, honor, and property of his flock, the Armenian people, he appealed them to take matters in their own hands and assure those rights by themselves.

He passed away on October 27, 1907 and in the grounds of  Etchmiadzin, not far from the Cathedral.

The book “HAYRIG HAYRIG” made for a fascinating reading and portrayed a way of life and living the Genocide would end up obliterating.

 

How soap came about

Vaհe H Apelian 

ԼaurApel soap at different stages

Everything we use came about because of a collective know how or because of a person’s know how and invention. I am not speaking of rockets and robots; but of the mundane, such as pen, pencil, and pin. We do not think much of them, or wonder whose bright idea was to come with colored pencils, dry ink rollerball pen, and different kinds of pin, such as  hair pin, cloth pin, safety pin and a few other kinds as well.

 How about soap? How did soap come about? 

The other day my maternal cousin Jack Chelebian M.D, brought to the attention of a group of us about soap. I quote his posting of a post he had read: “Up until the 1900s, many people in the Appalachian hills relied on making their own soaps. Soap making season usually coincides with hog killing season, on account of needing the hog fat, to render into lard, to make the soap. While lard was the main ingredient in traditional Appalachian soaps, lye was also an essential ingredient. Lye was necessary for a chemical process called saponification, or in other words, turning the lard into soap. Lye was usually obtained through a method that called for collecting rainwater in an ash hopper and filtering it through wood ashes, the resulting liquid being lye. The lye, lard, and water would all be boiled together until it thickened, and left to set and form soap that would later be used for everything from personal hygiene, to laundry. Due to isolation and poverty, it was essential in Appalachian culture to learn to respect the land, flora, and fauna by utilizing what the land provides around you, and to not waste any part of the animals you sacrifice. Creating homemade soap from hog fat, rainwater, and wood ashes is a great example of that, and a tradition that is still in practice today. Soap may seem like a simple luxury we don't give a second thought to, today, but it also reminds me of the resilience and determination of our ancestors when I see photos like this one.”  

Manufacturing soap in Kentucky

That is about making soap in Kentucky in the United States. How about soap in Kessab and in that and other parts of the world? Archeologist claim that soap has been around even before the common era.

Jack then added a note saying, “It’s all over my head and seems far from LaurApel. But I thought Stepan might get it and have something to say about it”

Stepan is my paternal cousin and LaurApel is his brand of famed soap made from Laurel tree (see link below) that bear small, olive-like, purple fruits or berries that are not edible. Kessab, much like Syria in general, is known for Laurel soap, called ghar soap.  Stepan has its patented brand ghar soap made from the berries of the Laurel tree, he manufactured in Kessa under LaurApel brand.

Stepan had the manufacturing process perfected and had it expanded into a thriving manufacture and exported LaurApel ghar soap as far as Japan. 

Stepan is a soap affectionate and is a soap aficionado. He was planning to convert the one-time Keurkune school into a soap museum. But hell broke loose on March 21, 2014 when Muslim extremists from Turkey attacked Kessab, sacked and plundered it and decimated Stepan's Laurel soap manufacturing facility and his dream of the soap museum. 

This is how Stepan explains how soap came about in that part of the world. 

“Actually, that's the way soap was invented. Women doing their laundry along rivers, creeks or streams, used ash for cleaning.  Some women noticed that the ashes collected from the sacrificial altars mixed with the animal's lard, cleaned much better than the pure ashes. Hence the idea of mixing lard with ashes to get a more effective cleaning agent came about. 

  That idea was later developed into making soap and for saponification of oils.

Hence the soap making industry was called "turning ashes into gold”, but regretfully onto dust as well in Kessab.

Those who are interested to read about the manufacture of soap in Kessab it its hey days, may read the following link:http://www.laurapel.com/

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Link: In praise of Gasli – Laurel – tree: https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/11/in-praise-of-gasli-tree_97.html