A Call from Home:
Armenia and Karabagh, My Journal

`Call from Home'; When history repeats itself, a Cambridge doctor steps in to make a difference

STEPHANIE SCHOROW

12/29/98
Boston Herald
Al
Page 049
(Copyright 1998)

"The evil that men do lives after them." -William Shakespeare

Three generations after the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Turkey, the grandchildren of survivors carry the pain of horrors they never endured, of fears they never faced.

From this strange burden, a new theme in America's immigrant literature has emerged. In the last two years, two highly praised books have been published that explore the lingering ache of ancient wounds: "Zabelle," by Nancy Kricorian and "Black Dog of Fate" by Peter Balakian. The first, a novel, is about a Watertown Armenian woman who escaped the slaughter of more than a million Armenians in Turkey. The second is a nonfiction exploration of Balakian's struggle to understand the trauma of his Armenian grandparents.

And now, a Cambridge doctor has self-published another account of Armenian suffering and survival - with a new twist.

"A Call from Home" by Carolann S. Najarian is a tale of the present, a document of the current traumas within the borders of the former Soviet Union, where Armenians have been struck by the forces of war and nature.

Yet Najarian's account of the present is suffused with memories of the past; like the other authors, she has found that, as she writes: "The Turks have never vanished for any of us since they marched into ancient Armenia in the 15th century."

At age 59, Najarian has the firm voice and comforting poise of a family doctor. It's a poise tested under fire; since 1988, she hasregularly flown into Armenia , a country formerly part of the Soviet block, and Karabagh, an Armenian enclave within the neighboring country of Azerbaijan which has been fighting to win independence. She has rediscovered a "new" homeland - not the area of Turkey from which her Armenian grandparents were driven, but "another" Armenia .

Growing up in New York, Najarian (like many children of Armenian descent) slowly learned about the genocide fromstories within the family. Her grandmothers fled their village in Turkey, when the pograms began.

"My father started to tell his childhood stories when I was about 7," recalled Najarian. "And then I became curious about other people in the family. I found out some had been in (Turkish) harems and escaped - now they were little old women with hair buns tied in the back.

"I had all these stories - although I was not active in Armenian organizations, except for going to an Armenian church."

Thirty years ago, Najarian came to the Boston area to study medicine; she later set up a practice and married a man also of Armenian descent. Her grandparents' past was only a distant echo in her life - until February 1988.

That's when Karabagh Armenians voted for separation from Azerbaijan. In response, in the port city of Sumgait, Azerbaijian rioters attacked Armenians. Hundreds were beaten or raped and at least 35 slain.

"It woke up in me this whole thing. My God, this is what happened to my parents. How can this be? We were at the point of thinking this could not happen again," she said. "All those childhood stories came back."

She joined other American Armenians in efforts to draw attention to Karabagh. And in May 1988, she made her first trip to the region with her husband.

Then on Dec. 7, 1988, "we woke to the news of the earthquake. No one could believe this had happened. Is this `our' Armenia ?"

In 40 seconds, as many as 80,000 were killed, a million left homeless and the northern part of Armenian was destroyed in a massive earthquake. In a few weeks, Najarian was on a plane with relief efforts. A woman who, wouldn't ride a roller coaster, was afraid of the dark, was now jumping into helicopters and heading into war zones.

With her skills as a physician and ability to speak Armenian, Najarian has returned to the region more than 25 times. She founded the Armenian Health Alliance, a nonprofit medical relief organization, and opened a women's clinic in Karabagh.

Her book, a journal of her experiences, weaves discussion of recent Armenian events with her efforts to practice medicine under the most difficult circumstances. Without an infrastructure to provide good nutrition, adequate food or even electricity, "sometimes, all you can do is hold their hands and cry with them," she said.

"And I think that's what started to get me so connected. Everything that I did was really with the plainest, simplest people. I had almost nothing do to with officials, because we were determined to take our aid right to the people who needed it."

What started as a humanitarian effort has continued for a decade because "it was in Armenia and there were so many things that reminded me of my parents and my grandparents," she said.

As Balakian said, "It takes several generations to tell a story."

"A Call from Home: Armenia and Karabagh, My Journal" ($22.95, Arpen Press) is available through Barnes & Noble or The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research.

Local Armenian resources include:

The Armenian Library and Museum of America collects and preserves Armenian culture and history. The independent institution holds more than 6,000 artifacts, including ceramics, coins, religious pieces and manuscripts. The library contains more than 15,000 titles as well as rare books, family archives and photographs. 65 Main St., Watertown, MA 02172 (617) 926-2562.

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, founded in 1955 for the advancement of Armenian studies and culture. The NAASR also runs an information center, archives, Armenia book clearinghouse and the Armenian Heritage Press. 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478 (617) 489-1610.

Source: Ovanes Manucharyan

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