Death March to Paradise: A YOUNG IMMIGRANT’S CHILLING JOURNEY

Some of you have heard about what is now referred to as the Armenian Genocide, and countless others have not. For reasons which remain unspoken, Turkish citizens of Armenian and Greek ethnicity were targeted for extinction between 1915 and 1920. This book chronicles the events experienced by one Armenian youth, Vartan Nerses Barsumian.What follows is the harrowing account detailing the journey of a young Armenian immigrant, Vartan Nerses Barsumian. Vartan (1899 to 1984) chronicled the events of a five-year period (1915-1920) in a hand written paperback journal. He was a Turkish citizen born to Armenian parents, Nerses and Nouritsa Barsumian, in Aintab, Turkey. He was the eldest of four children, followed by brothers Hrant and Levon, and little sister Beatrice. In mid-April, 1915 Vartan Barsumian began his day as a fifteen year old boy. In the five years that ensued he faced unimaginable atrocities, and through strength, perseverance, and quick thinking, survived the direst of circumstances to emerge tall in the shoes of a twenty year-old man.By the end of the Genocide, nearly ninety-five percent of Armenians living in Turkey vanished, and the footprints of their former presence erased. The deserted homes and properties previously owned by these Armenian and Greek citizens were gifted to Muslim refugees, while the surviving women and children were forced to relinquish their Christian beliefs and convert to Islam, or die.Knowing how important this work was to my father, both personally and culturally, I took on the task of completing this true account of Vartan Nerses Barsumian’s epic experience to share with you. After years of research, I uncovered numerous Federal and State documents disclosing important facts supporting this body of work. Three generations of Armenians — Vartan Nerses Barsumian, my father Norris George Barsumian, and myself, Brian Charles Barsumian — have all contributed to these writings. As our father Norris had said, “Grandpa Barsumian was literally forced, on a Death March to Paradise.” Read more