09/03/2015 10:00
Special Project. Survivors of Armenian Genocide. Mkhitar Ter-Serobyan about massacres of the village of Yeritsu
Aysor.am is launching the third series of project “Armenian Genocide: Breaking the Silence.” Under the headline “Survivors” we will regularly present the testimonies of survivors of the 1915 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Turkey.
Testimony of survivor Mkhitar Ter-Serobyan about deportations and massacres of Armenians of the village of Yeritsu, Alashkert, Karakilisa region, Bayazet province.
“The previous conditions in the village: After the all-European war, the village of Yeritsu had 60 houses with Armenian residents. The village had 1,000 sheep, 3,000 head of cattle, 200 ploughs, 3 mills, two orchards with 600 trees. The village had a newly-built church - Saint Hovhannes Church and priest Ter Mesrop Gasparyan (he died during deportation). One of the villagers, Mkho Nhoeyan, had a wonderful Gospel, and Ghukas Ter-Kirakosyan had an ancient handwritten Narek. They took along those books when they left the village, but lost them en route. The village school had 40 pupils and a teacher with a budget of 15 Ottoman liras.
The current state of the village: The village is now completely ruined, Russian soldiers live in it, all the houses were destroyed and all firewood burned.
Draft: When Turkey started the draft, 30 men from Yeritsu village were conscripted. 20 of them fled at the first opportunity, ten others served in another army. Another nine men also fled, and nothing is known about the fate of the remaining man – Misak Khlghatyan. As a wartime tax, the government took 100 khalvars (30 poods) of wheat and barley from our village, 4 khalvars of cracked wheat, 200 carts of grass, 150 poods of oil, 300 pairs of shoes, socks, gloves, 200 blankets, think felt, 300 carts of seeds, 300 sheep, 250 head of cattle, 1000 hens, and so on. Villagers in 30 carts and on120 oxen were driven away to do labor. Turkish policemen seized those carts and oxen in Dutagh.
In November 1914 the Russians entered Alashkert. Rich Turks and military of Garakilisa came into Yeritsu village and then fled, taking along the local residents’ carts and oxen. The Russians stayed in the area for six weeks and then retreated in December 1914, together with villagers. Some villagers – 40 men, 8 women, two children – died en route to Etchmiadzin . Most of them froze to death.”
The project was prepared with the assistance of the Information and Analytical Center of the Armenian Government Staff.