My Grandfather Samson’s Story

Ali finally realised that attempting to convince young Samson was pointless and, at night, accompanied my grandfather across the Turkish border to Armenia and then to the city of Ejmiatsin, where all the migrants were going. Among these migrants, Samson happened to become reunited with his uncle Minas, with whom he spent his days and nights. My uncle persuaded Samson to leave Ejmiatsin and go to a remote village to work, as there was a lack of jobs in Ejmiatsin due to the volume of immigrants.

My grandfather then wanders to the village of Kosh (which in ancient times was known as Kvashavan, the summer residence of the kings). Vanush Gevorgyan, the grandson of Ter-Gevorg from Kosh (whom we call uncle Vanush), told me that when Samson came to the village of Kosh, he met Abraham from the Pzzan family (the villagers would call him Apo). Abraham hires young Samson to do manual labor in his home.

One cold winter, Vanush’s grandmother, Lusntag, sees Samson crying in the street. She asked him why he was crying and he replied that a dog lived a better life than he did. He told her of how he lived a carefree and luxurious life in his father’s house where they had servants, and that now he was hungry and suffering day and night, hot and cold, just for a piece of bread. Very moved by this, grandmother Lustnag turned to her husband and persuaded him to take Samson to live with them. She told her husband, “you brought a Yazidi to live with us, and yet our own Armenian Apo is not living well.”

Realising that Apo would not give Samson to him, Ter-Gevorg turned to the priest and together they persuaded Abraham to take Samson with them. Noticing Samson’s humbleness, diligence, intelligence and literacy, Ter-Gevorg loved him dearly and even baptised him in the village church as the fourth brother of his spiritual sons Khachatur, Vachagan and Benjamin.

Samson became a member of the family and became a support for Ter-Gevorg’s sons. Ter-Gevorg decides to marry Samson off and, soon, members of Ter-Gevorg’s family built a small house for Samson and marry him off to Vardanush (from Mush). At Samson and Vardanush’s wedding, my grandfather (realising that people of Mush drink a lot) told someone in Russian that these people from Sasun are crazy and if they drink they will definitely fight. One of the guests (who was from Mush) understood Russian and subsequently informed the people of Mush what he had said.

Upon Samson’s journey to Kosh, some people from Mush stopped the bride and groom, and members of the Ter-Gevorg family with guns and forced them to return their daughter. No matter how much Ter-Gevorg attempted to persuade them, the people of Mush would not concede. Upset and wounded, Ter-Gevorg promised them some animals in exchange for their permission to take the bride. He honored his promise.

From the marriage, Samson had five sons whom he named after his brothers and father: Petros, Ishkhan, Vardevan, Patvakan and Aghabab. Petros and Ishkhan died of starvation as children. Later, my father Vardevan also named his eldest son Samson after his grandfather, and my uncle Patvakan named two of his three sons after his missing uncles Ishkhan and Petros.

My brother Samson is said to be very similar to his grandfather, not only in appearance, but also in his intelligence and literacy. My grandfather Samson was very literate and spoke several languages during those years.

My grandfather Samson died at a young age of tuberculosis in 1935. He is buried in the cemetery next to St. Gevorg Church in the village of Kosh (Armenia) which later became the cemetery of his family. His tomb is located above the grave of his late father, Ter-Gevorg. To this day, when talking about my grandfather, the people of Kosh refer to him as Samson from Pzzan. The Pzzan family loved my grandfather very much and their children/grandchildren did not know until fairly recently that Samson was not their real uncle.

After Samson’s death, his aunt Eva found my father and uncles. She had also emigrated from Turkey. Eva lived in the Leninakan city of Armenia (now known as Gyumri) and had four sons. An epidemic broke out in Leninakan in those years and my grandfather’s aunt, Eva Zadoyan, was taken to hospital. When she returned home, she could not find her sons. Some said her sons had died and others said that the Americans had taken them away. Up until the end of her life, Eva lived with my uncle Patvakan’s family but did not find her sons.

We have since heard from some unreliable sources that my grandfather, Fr. Petros (father of Samson), allegedly lived in Yerevan during that time, but that father and son had not met. Many years later, when my uncle Aghabab (Samson’s son) was working as a member of construction crew in Jrvezh demolishing old houses, one of the residents of these houses angrily told him that he ruined houses wherever he went. My uncle inquired about this and found out that the man was from Kaghzvan and recognised my grandfather’s father, Ter-Petros. My uncle Aghabab told his brothers about this. My uncle Patvakan inquired and learned that my grandfather’s brother’s son-in-law Vardevan, was living in Ejmiatsin and went to meet with him.

My grandmother Vardanush’s family also has a painful history. Vardanush emigrated from Erzurum. Her father and uncles were very rich. Her father’s family members fled from Erzurum but her cousin did not manage to escape. Later, the villagers who fled to Armenia said that the Turks had captured her cousin and beaten him to force him to tell them where his family’s wealth was, promising to release him afterwards. He led them to a large pit in the yard of their home, where he showed them that he had hidden his family’s gold, valuables and carpets. Breaking their promise, The Turks killed him and seized all of my grandmother Vardanush’s wealth.

I am deeply saddened and wholeheartedly regret that my husband and I (upon creating Ashtarak TV) never filmed our grandmother Vardanush telling her and my grandfather Samson’s life story about their migration.