Bearing Witness to the Lost History of an Armenian Family Through the Lens of the Dildilian Brothers
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BEARING WITNESS TO THE LOST HISTORY OF AN ARMENIAN FAMILY THROUGH THE LENS OF THE DILDILIAN BROTHERS 1872-1923 2| They were born in Yozgat and Sivas, but driven out of their homeland. Tsolag passed away in Athens, Aram in San Francisco, and Haiganoush near Paris. “Writing one’s memoirs is tantamount Épinay-sur-Seine), the sister of Tsolag to wresting something from the clutch and Aram. of death,” says one thinker... The vast body of memoirs and The Dildilians did exactly that. correspondence handwritten by While documenting a dark period of Dildilians in Armenian and English, and Anatolian history in the early 20th the voice recordings and countless century with their cameras, they photographs of the family members penned in elaborate detail everything were brought together by Tsolag’s they experienced - wresting it from the grandson Armen Tsolag Marsoobian clutch of death. to form a coherent whole. During this work, Marsoobian studied This exhibition tells the story of the numerous historical resources as well Dildilian family, whose members as the memoirs of the faculty and worked as photographers primarily missionaries of the Anatolia College in the cities of Sivas, Merzifon, and to fill in the gaps. Immeasurable Samsun. The backdrop of the story, assistance was provided by Haig which starts in 1872 and ends in Der Haroutiounian, the grandson of 1923, consists of a war that ravaged Haiganouch. the world and a collapsing empire in death throes. At the center of the story The large majority of the photographs is an agonized nation crushed and gathered for the exhibition were annihilated under this collapse. chosen from among those taken by Tsolag and Aram Dildilian over the |3 The exhibition focuses on a painful years, in Sivas, Merzifon, Samsun, process, which resulted in the violent Konya and Amasya. These photographs eradication of Armenians from from the family collection number their 2,500-year old homeland. But more than 600. The rich photo archive more importantly it testifies to the of the Anatolia College was another educational, cultural and commercial key resource for the project. achievements of Anatolian Armenians as well as to what has disappeared During the preparatory phase, a from Anatolia, and how. few additional photographs by the Dildilians found in private collections The story of the Dildilians was pieced were included in the exhibition. The together from the memoirs of three exhibition texts draw on the main text family members: Tsolag (1872 written by Marsoobian. Furthermore, Yozgat-1935 Athens), the founder various informative notes are provided of the photography business; Aram to shed light on the period and guide (1883 Sivas-1963 San Francisco), who the audience. later joined his older brother in the business; and Maritsa Der Médaksian (1901 Merzifon-1987 Épinay-sur- Seine), the niece of Tsolag and Aram, who recounted many of the stories told to her by her mother, Haiganouch Der Haroutiounian (1877 Sivas-1954 For no man is witness to him that already believeth, and The Need to Bear thereforeWitness needs no witness; but to them who deny or doubt, or have not heard it. Thomas Hobbes This exhibition fulfills an unspoken promise had played a role in the survival of my family. I made over a quarter of a century ago. In I had been told that his skills were needed the mid-1980s my two uncles, Humayag by the government and thus he and his and Ara Dildilian, were working together immediate family, including my mother Alice, to write the story of the family, including were saved from the death marches that the important role that photography had took place in the summer of 1915. What I did played in the lives of many of its members. not know was that the family was allowed to Between my mother’s generation and convert to Islam and adopt Turkish identities my grandfather’s generation, I can count at the very last minute as a condition for six Dildilians who practiced the art of exemption from the deportations. They were photography. Humayag was one of them told by a sympathetic chief of police that and the steward of a significant collection the alternative was certain death. Thus they of the family’s photographs. The sudden remained in Merzifon, or as Armenians call death of Ara and the declining health and it Marsovan, during the whole course of the capabilities of Humayag made their dream First World War and the years of turmoil impossible to fulfill. The two brothers had that followed it. But the story does not end gathered together many documents, letters, here. They used their ingenuity to rescue and and memoirs over the course of the years hide upwards of 30 young men and women for the purpose of telling this story. These over the course of the next three years. materials and the photography collection Photography was not the only family activity were entrusted to me by my uncle Humayag in those years, for the family was active in 4| shortly before his death in 1990. I began by saving orphans and establishing orphanages. saying, “unspoken promise,” because while They did much to help rebuild the lives of my uncles never explicitly asked me to carry the few Armenians that remained after the on their work I knew in my heart that I had genocide. Their efforts were ultimately not an obligation that I must someday fulfill. It is rewarded for they were forced to flee their this moral obligation that is captured in the homes and their homeland by 1923. Thus title of the exhibition, “Bearing Witness to the they began the slow process of rebuilding Lost History of an Armenian Family.” their shattered lives in Greece, France and the United States. One might ask why it took me over twenty years to bring this project to this important In putting this exhibition together I see stage in its fulfillment. Establishing my myself as bearing witness to my family’s career as an academic philosopher and story. Yet it is my grandfather, his siblings, beginning a family both played a role in the and their children who have done the bulk delay. But I also suppose that there was of the work in bearing witness. Aside from some trepidation in delving deeply into my the more than 600 photographs they have family’s story, for I suspected that there left me, they have left behind hundreds and was much that would be emotionally quite hundreds of pages of memoirs, speeches painful in this story. While I knew much about and letters that provide a truly fascinating both the Dildilian and the Marsoobian family account of what their lives were like in the stories, having parents who openly talked latter decades of the 19th century and the about their family’s pasts in the “old country,” first two decades of the 20th. This is where I did not realize how utterly amazing was the Dildilian story is unique and unlike most their story of survival. The Dildilian story diasporan Armenian stories. Many such has much in common with the stories of families count themselves lucky to have a countless Armenians in the diaspora. This is few photographs and orally conveyed stories a story forever marked by the horrific crimes that were snatched from the flames that of 1915. But there is much that is unique in marked the end of Armenian life on their the story captured in these photographs and historic homeland. Our family is privileged the textual material you will read. I had known to have more, much more, that allows us that my grandfather Tsolag’s photography to reconstruct what their lives were like on those historic lands. This exhibition marks My university, Southern Connecticut State the beginning of a continuing process in University, is gratefully acknowledged for which I will discharge this moral obligation providing small research grants to facilitate to tell the history of this Armenian family my work. and more importantly, tell the story of the Armenian people during the most My cousin, Haïg Der Haroutiounian, began momentous time in their history. his journey into the story of the family much earlier than I. His explorations led Acknowledgements him to physically traverse the landscape of Anatolia where once the family had lived. An exhibition on this scale could not have He refashioned himself into a first-class been accomplished without the help of many historian. I have relied on his language skills individuals. The staff of Depo, especially and detective-like intelligence to unravel Asena Günal, the Project Coordinator, many aspects of the family story. For that were especially helpful. Kirkor Sahakoglu’s and the generous hospitality of all my brilliant design of the exhibition space and French cousins, I am forever grateful. presentation of the photographs enhanced the story immeasurably. In Kirkor I have My extended family has been truly found a friend. Anna Turay took the words I supportive of my work but I must single had written about my family’s story and with out the late Armen Dildilian and his wife her fine literary touch, gave them emotional Margaret for special thanks. Armen was the poignancy. Most importantly I must thank son of Aram, one of the Dildilian Brothers Osman Kavala whose strong encouragement Photographers. He shared with me many of and commitment to this project has been his father’s photographs and stories. unwavering over the more than three years of its gestation. Osman has been a friend and a Finally, but not least importantly, I must partner. thank my wife Fulvia and my daughter Sarah for the patience and understanding A note of heartfelt thanks must be given to they have shown me over the years of Ferda Keskin, whose ten-year friendship has this project.