Fresno man’s mystery discovered in archives from Armenian Genocide
A Fresno resident has shared a recently discovered mystery of his ancestors who narrowly escaped the Armenian Genocide.
Michael Retting revealed the truth about his family's history after accidently finding photos from an archive.
He decided to publish the exciting story in the Fresno Bee ahead of the 104 anniversary of the Genocide.
Below is his article:
Several years ago, on the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I offered to share my family’s story of survival at the Armenian Students Organization at Fresno State’s commemorative event. Though there were multiple stories I considered telling, I decided to speak about a distant branch of my family that I knew the least about, for the very reason that I knew so little about them. In fact, my family had no knowledge of their existence until recently.
Several years ago, my aunt and I discovered a photograph of an unknown family as we were sifting through my late grandmother’s boxes of family archives. I initially thought the picture must have been of my ancestors’ family friends from Bitlis, a historically Armenian province of the Ottoman Empire. We later opened a different box and found a legal document that my great-great-grandfather Mardiros Gashagortzian drafted to sue the Ottoman government for the property his family lost during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
In this document, Mardiros listed his relatives who remained in the Ottoman Empire after he migrated to Fresno in 1899, fleeing the Hamidian massacres that preceded the Armenian Genocide. Mardiros found work as a carpenter, raised three children in Fresno’s Old Armenian Town, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1901.
After examining Mardiros’s legal document, I realized the photograph of the unknown family included Mardiros’s mother (my great-great-great-grandmother Mary), and his brother Harutyoon’s family in Bitlis in 1912. Mary is pictured seated on the right, proudly holding a portrait of Mardiros and his family that they had taken and mailed upon arriving in America. Her second son, Harutyoon, is seated in the middle next to his wife, both of whom would be murdered by Turkish soldiers three years after the photograph was taken.
Mardiros’s document laments the death of four of his nephews and nieces, Harutyoon’s children, in the Armenian Genocide. The two eldest sons, Jarjis and Khoshvart, were murdered early in the killings along with other young able-bodied Armenian men. Their little sister Siranoosh Gashagortzian, pictured to the left of Mary, perished in the death marches at the age of 12. Harutyoon’s eldest daughter Azniv escaped to Aleppo, where she wrote letters to her cousin in America, my great-grandmother Victoria, about the desperate condition of the Armenian refugees in Syria. Harutyoon’s son Smbat survived by remaining in Turkey and hiding his Armenian identity. He wrote to Victoria that he was “saved from the awful deportations and massacres of 1915 by assuming the Turkish name Djemal.” He further wrote, “for years I lived as a fugitive from town to town, county to county, and now I live in Istanbul. I feel myself alone in the world.”
These letters from the few who survived, the family picture, and Mardiros’s legal document constitute all that remains of Harutyoon’s family. They were massacred, torn from their homeland, their land and property confiscated. I chose to share their story to preserve their memory, as they were so nearly lost to history. I do not know if there are any surviving descendants of these children, somewhere in Syria, Turkey, or Armenia. Who would remember these faces if not for this picture, and who would remember their struggles if not for the letters in my grandmother’s boxes?
Their story is but one example of the devastation the Ottoman Turks inflicted upon Armenian families during the genocide, but it is also an example of their failure. That I am sitting here today, 104 years later, with this picture of the Gashagortzians in my hand and the memory of Harutyoon, Jarjis, Khoshvart, and Siranoosh in my heart, and that Armenians around the world continue to gather on April 24 to keep the memories and stories of their ancestors alive year after year, is a testament to this failure. We are still here, and we still remember and honor those we have lost.
Michael Rettig is a Fresno native and graduate of Fresno State with a master’s in history. His thesis was about Armenians who served in British intelligence during World War I.
Videos
Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
- 15:20 • 24.05.21 Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
- 11:39 • 24.04.21 Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
- 09:40 • 23.04.21 Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
- 15:34 • 22.04.21 Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
- 14:09 • 21.04.21 'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
- 12:37 • 03.04.21 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
- 17:33 • 11.03.21 Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
- 17:57 • 26.01.21 Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
- 13:33 • 22.01.21 Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
- 09:42 • 29.12.20 UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
- 18:41 • 24.12.20 NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
- 13:33 • 31.10.20 Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
- 16:37 • 30.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
- 11:25 • 28.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
- 13:45 • 24.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
- 11:51 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
- 11:40 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
- 10:39 • 24.10.20 Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
- 12:41 • 23.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
- 12:16 • 23.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
- 12:02 • 22.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
- 10:35 • 22.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
- 10:51 • 17.10.20 Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
- 15:09 • 15.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
- 13:13 • 13.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
- 12:56 • 12.10.20 Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
- 12:23 • 12.10.20 Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
- 17:23 • 09.10.20 Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
- 15:53 • 09.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
- 14:11 • 09.10.20 Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
- 15:52 • 08.10.20 Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
- 10:57 • 08.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
- 14:24 • 07.10.20 War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
- 19:31 • 05.10.20 Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
- 16:17 • 04.10.20 Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
- 12:39 • 04.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
- 13:49 • 03.10.20 Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
- 10:12 • 29.09.20 ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
- 23:42 • 28.09.20 There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
- 18:45 • 28.09.20 EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
Most popular articles Today Yesterday For a week
-
Law 15:01 • 17/05 Pro-Kurdish leader Demirtas gets 42 years in prison A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced Selahattin Demirtas, the former leader of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or HDP, to 42 years in prison for his alleged role in deadly protests in 2014 that were triggered by an Islamic State attack on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
-
Event 12:26 • 17/05 Тhe Vardanyan family call on representatives of the international community to demand for Ruben Vardanyan's and the 22 other Armenian prisoner unconditional release For eight months, the Azerbaijani authorities have flouted international law and human decency by keeping Ruben incarcerated without trial and without any proper process.
-
Economy 17:26 • 17/05 Armeconombank has successfully accomplished about 120 projects with international institutions by attracting funds equivalent to about USD 640m. Astghik Manrikyan Currently the Bank cooperates with almost all leading financial institutions, and it managed to accomplish about 120 successful projects aimed at the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.
-
Event 12:50 • 17/05 Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day The International Telecommunication Union today is a United Nations (UN) agency that coordinates the use of global radio frequencies, advancing telecommunications infrastructure worldwide, and fosters the development of technical standards on a global scale.
-
Law 15:01 • 17/05 Pro-Kurdish leader Demirtas gets 42 years in prison A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced Selahattin Demirtas, the former leader of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or HDP, to 42 years in prison for his alleged role in deadly protests in 2014 that were triggered by an Islamic State attack on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
-
Event 12:26 • 17/05 Тhe Vardanyan family call on representatives of the international community to demand for Ruben Vardanyan's and the 22 other Armenian prisoner unconditional release For eight months, the Azerbaijani authorities have flouted international law and human decency by keeping Ruben incarcerated without trial and without any proper process.
-
Economy 17:26 • 17/05 Armeconombank has successfully accomplished about 120 projects with international institutions by attracting funds equivalent to about USD 640m. Astghik Manrikyan Currently the Bank cooperates with almost all leading financial institutions, and it managed to accomplish about 120 successful projects aimed at the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.
-
Event 12:50 • 17/05 Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day The International Telecommunication Union today is a United Nations (UN) agency that coordinates the use of global radio frequencies, advancing telecommunications infrastructure worldwide, and fosters the development of technical standards on a global scale.
-
Politics 12:27 • 14/05 I encouraged the two countries to maintain momentum in peace discussions, for the benefit of the people. OSCE Chairman-in-Office “Recently announced border demarcation agreement with Armenia is a step in the right direction. Encouraged the two countries to maintain momentum in peace discussions, for the benefit of the people,” he wrote.
-
Event 11:15 • 15/05 Trump's Boeing 757 clipped corporate jet at West Palm Beach airport - source Former U.S. President Donald Trump's private Boeing 757 clipped another corporate jet while taxiing at West Palm Beach International Airport in Florida on Sunday, a source familiar with the incident said on Tuesday.
-
Economy 14:18 • 14/05 “Capital markets have a crucial for economic development.”: Grigori Zakaryan As for the prospects, I think the development of Armenia’s capital market will depend on a significant increase in the number of new issuers and issues, and on how the process of bringing companies to capital markets turns out.
-
Law 15:01 • 17/05 Pro-Kurdish leader Demirtas gets 42 years in prison A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced Selahattin Demirtas, the former leader of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or HDP, to 42 years in prison for his alleged role in deadly protests in 2014 that were triggered by an Islamic State attack on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
-
Event 12:26 • 17/05 Тhe Vardanyan family call on representatives of the international community to demand for Ruben Vardanyan's and the 22 other Armenian prisoner unconditional release For eight months, the Azerbaijani authorities have flouted international law and human decency by keeping Ruben incarcerated without trial and without any proper process.
-
Economy 17:26 • 17/05 Armeconombank has successfully accomplished about 120 projects with international institutions by attracting funds equivalent to about USD 640m. Astghik Manrikyan Currently the Bank cooperates with almost all leading financial institutions, and it managed to accomplish about 120 successful projects aimed at the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.
-
Event 12:50 • 17/05 Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day The International Telecommunication Union today is a United Nations (UN) agency that coordinates the use of global radio frequencies, advancing telecommunications infrastructure worldwide, and fosters the development of technical standards on a global scale.
Politics
-
10:21 • 09.05.24 Lukashenko congratulated the RA President
Law
-
19:14 • 30.10.23 Conductor Sergey Smbatyan Acquitted
Economy
-
19:13 • 16.05.24 Armeconombank and EBRD Signed USD 10m Agreement
-
12:08 • 07.05.24 ARMECONOMBANK's statement regarding the Freedom House report
Event
-
17:08 • 16.05.24 “Get Started”: An educational platform for young startuppers
Science/tech
-
14:18 • 08.05.24 AstraZeneca withdrawing Covid vaccine worldwide