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Mr. Lovato Book Report: Tyson Coxum

Shows how brutal and the mass amount of number of Armenians killed during the Armenian Genocide.

This is Constantinople, where Vahan fled to in order to become free.

This is Bitlis, Turkey, where Vahan and his family grew up.

Adam Bagdasarian, author of, Forgotten Fire.

Thumbnail Photo of Character for site

Timeline:

July 28, 1914

World War 1 Begins

April 24, 1915

Armenian and Turkish war begins

November 11, 1918

End of World War 1

August 18, 1920

Women gained right to vote

Winter, 1915

Vahan’s dad is taken away by Turkish police and his uncle goes missing

Winter, 1915

The officers take Vahan’s family to a camp where his sister takes poison and grandma is shot while on a march.

Spring, 1916

Vahan and his remaining brother escape, but lose each other in an altercation.

Spring, 1916

Vahan stays with Selim Bey, a murderer, for shelter and food, but later leaves that place too.

Journal Entries:

1915

    My life right now is absolutely fantastic. I have everything I want or need and there is not a thing in the world that can stop my happiness. I live in a big house with all of my brothers and sisters. I have a mother and father who both live together and give me lots of love. There is always a hot meal prepared for me when I am hungry and there is constantly running warm water for when I take a shower. When I am tired, I know that I have a nice cozy bed to lay down and get a good night’s rest. When I am sick, I can depend on my sister to feed me and help me feel better. Man, my life is great. I belong to one of the wealthiest families in Bitlis, so I am confident that I will always have these luxuries wherever I go. I feel on top of the word, like nobody can stop me. The only thing that is putting a little darkness on my perfect world is that a couple of Turkish officers took my father and uncle away a couple of days ago and they have not come back yet. I know that they will return soon because they have done nothing wrong, but I am still curious why those officers needed them. It is only a matter of time before my dad and uncle come back. Other than that, life could not be better.

A couple months later:

    Everything has gotten so much worse. Remember when I said that things were all perfect and peachy. Well, not anymore. In fact, things are the exact opposite of that right now. I don't have long to write, so I will make this brief. Those same officers that took my father and uncle away came back to my house and ransacked the place. They led us all out into our garden and lined us up shoulder to shoulder. They asked all of my brothers and myself how old we were. Once we gave them all of our ages, they lined my two oldest brothers up against our wall. Then they pulled out there rifles and shot both of my brothers right before our eyes. It was so gruesome and disgusting. That wasn't even the worst part, to be sure that my brothers were dead, the soldiers put their barrels direct on my brothers’ skulls and fired. All that was left was a blood stained wall and two collapsed bodies that were once my brothers. Then, the soldiers took us away to some camp where other Armenians, just like us, were also being held. At this camp, Turkish officers would rape the women that were imprisoned. My sister was so afraid of being the next rape victim, that she drank poison, which later led to her death and end of her sufferage. That is now the third family member that I have seen killed today. I do not know how much more I can handle before I die too. We are being starved, parched, and held in poor living conditions. I cannot talk now, I hear the footsteps of the officers coming. I have to go.

A few weeks later:

    It has been a couple of weeks now and things have continued to get worse. My mom realized that the only way that we have a chance for survival, is if me and my brother escape and try to live on our own.  So, that night, my brother and I escaped by sneaking out the door, crawling through freezing cold water, with piles of bodies, ad walking over 10 miles through the night to a little city. When we arrived, we were instantly faced with the struggle of not being spotted by Turkish police. We came extremely close to being caught, but we were able to duck into a dark alleyway. However, the police were still able to see us, so we ran as fast as we could. Unfortunately, we ran in different directions and lost each other. Now, I am cold, thirsty, hungry, and alone. I do not know if I will see him again, but I really hope I do. He was the one that kept me going when I was cold and wet and had to walk over ten miles. He is the one that protected me and made me strong. Without him, I do not know if I have the strength or energy to go on. I have to do something or else I will starve to death. Tomorrow, I will try to find some food and shelter. Until next time.

   Many weeks after:

    Since last time, things have started to get a little better. I had nowhere to go for shelter because I was too afraid to be caught by Turkish officers. So, I decided to visit my old friend’s, Patoo, house to live with him and his mother. They were also a victim of the Armenian killings because Patoo’s older brother and dad were also shot by Turkish police. They have been so nice to me by providing me food, cold water for drinking, warm water for bathing, and shelter so I can finally get a good night’s sleep. I had to sleep in a closet all the way in the back though because Patoo’s mother was afraid that the Turkish police would come back and search the place. Upon finding me, they would murder the two of them along with myself. However, I was still grateful that she took me in and took care of me as if I was her own child. Unfortunately, the moment I feared has come. I have left her no choice, but to release me onto the street again. Her fear of the Turkish police searching her house grew stronger everyday that I was there. She gave me some food and water for my journey and a last hug before I stepped out once again onto the harsh streets. I will always be thankful for the hospitality that she showed me. Now, I must find another place to stay and survive. I will write again when I have found some spare time, but I must hurry before it gets dark.

Personal Narrative:

Forgotten Fire, by Adam Bagdasarian

    My name is Vahan Kenderian. I was born and raised in Bitlis, a province of Turkey, where I was always surrounded by beautiful scenery. I came from one of the wealthiest families in Bitlis and I lived in one of the bigger houses. I lived there for 12 long years, never having to worry about a single thing, until, things started to spiral out of control. Both my dad and uncle were taken from my home by Turkish police. Both of my older brothers were shot and killed right before my very own eyes. My family was taken to a camp were I saw women getting raped, my sister die of poisoning, and my grandma killed when a Turkish officer bashed her face with a rock to kill her. I was able to escape from the camp with my last brother, left mom and last sister behind, but we were separated during a scuffle.  In order to survive, I had to fight, become a beggar, and even live inside the house of one of the masterminds behind all of the killings.  I managed to escape by pretending to be a military officer in order to travel to a far away town and get help by some very generous people. They were able to get me on a ship to Constantinople, where I was able to be free and share my horrific story with millions. I was reunited with my sister many years later and we lived together forever.

Links Relevant to Book:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adam-bagdasarian/forgotten-fire/

Critical Review

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/144463.Adam_Bagdasarian

Quotes and a little background information about the author

www.cilicia.com/armo10b.html

Devoted to eye witness accounts and family histories of the ordeal.

www.ushmm.org

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Historical Links:

https://www.armenian-genocide.org/

Official site dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian genocide.

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment-1

Gives background information on the events leading up to women getting the right to vote

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history

Detailed article about the causes of World War 1

https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I

Facts and causes about World War 1

Significant Quotes:

"This is how steel is made," he said, which was what our father used to say whenever circumstances tested our character, which wasn't very often. "Steel," my father said, "is made strong by fire." And this was our fire. But I did not feel like steel.” (55)

Vahan's dad's words are super important to how Vahan develops as a character, and the meaning of the book. It's clear that Vahan needs to suffer to become stronger.

“Strangely, I wondered who would light the street lamps tonight, and somehow all those unlit lamps and the lamplighters who were not there to light them were the most hopeless sight of all”. (31)

This quote shows us exactly how Vahan is thinking about his life. He is not only thinking about what is going to happen to him and his family, but somehow what it means for the community too. It seems hopeless that no one is even around to light the streets or do the day-to-day things that keep a society running.

“But this time was different. This time I sensed that something might be wrong, and every time I'd start to enjoy my freedom, I'd see my father being led away by the gendarmes”. (12)

When the gendarmes take Vahan's dad, he starts to think about his freedom more seriously. It's always been something he's taken for granted, but he now realizes that he might lose this freedom before he knows it.

“If there is any trouble," he said, "take the poison and it will all be over." No one asked him what kind of trouble could be worse than death. They all seemed to know.” (21)

I think it's fair to say that the women in Vahan's life have it worse than the men. Vahan sees first hand how violated they are by the soldiers, and how much they have to suffer, just because they are women.        

Response #1:

    I believe that life is determined by fate and not by the choices you make. This perspective on life has led me to believe that the world is unfair to those who try to do nothing, but good. For instance, my older brothers. They did nothing, but do their jobs and be good sons. This did not stop those Turkish officers from pulling them out of their own house and shooting them in broad daylight. Another example was my older sister. When we were taken to the camp, she took poison because she was afraid that she would be the next rape victim. This is unfair to her and all of the other women in that camp because they did nothing wrong. They were punished just for being a certain race. Therefore, I believe that you can do every right decision there is, but it will not make you immune to what fate has in store for you. I just do not understand why the nicest and kindest people get punished before the wicked people in the world. I think that it is so unfair that all of these good people had to die just for all the monstrous people in the world can  continue to do more horrible things. It just does not seem right. I believe that nobody in the world should suffer, but I would rather have the wretched people suffer over the people who do nothing wrong.

Response #2

    I define success as overcoming all the obstacles in life to get what you want and earned. I believe that I have achieved success for many reasons. The first reason is that I am finally free. I no longer have to run and hide every time I see a Turkish officer. I no longer need to worry about whether or not I am going to eat today or have a place to sleep. All of my worries of being captured and thrown back in that camp again to rot and suffer are gone. The other reason that I believe that I have achieved success is that I am finally happy. Even though these last 5 years of my life have been filled with darkness, death, and suffrage, I have finally made it to a point in my life where I can be happy. There is not a single day that goes by without remembering the murders of my family members or the suffering in the faces of others. However, it was this dark and brutal time that helped me understand that life is truly valuable and you should cherish every last moment of it before it is gone. Without these experiences, I would not be the man I am today. I have overcome so much in the last few years and now I get to tell my story to the world. I get to help people understand the important life lesson that you do not live forever, so you should make the most of life before it is too late.

Response #3

    I have multiple people in my life that are important to me. However, there are three people that I would not be the person I am today, without. The first person is my sister Oskina. When I was sick, she would help nurse me back to health and she was someone that I could always rely on for help. She was like a second mother to me. When I escaped the camp and left her behind, it was like I left behind a part of myself. I was lost, until we were reunited. We have been inseparable since. The second person that means a lot to me is my older brother, Sisak. When we escaped from the camp together, he was the one that helped me keep going forward. He pushed me through the freezing water, the 20 mile trek, and kept my mind off of starving to death. Without him, I would have stopped and been a part of all the other bodies who became victims of the genocide. I owe it to him that I still have my life today. Unfortunately, he died of an illness during the genocide when we were separated, but his soul and strength remains with me at all times. The last person that really means a lot to me is my father. He is the one that helped me keep my dignity and strength when things got tough. If it wasn’t for him, I would have been some low life beggar for the rest of my life. He also died during the Armenian Genocide, but I will be sure to carry his legacy on for generations to come. I owe it to these three people that I am the man I am today and I will always be grateful for what they did for me.

Response #4

    If I could change one thing in my life, I would change that my family was never split up. If this happened, we would all be living in peace right now because the war would be over. We would be able to live without another worry about being captured or tortured again. We would be able to suffer through things together and be strong together, instead of being separated and weak on our own. We would be able to help comfort one another when things were not looking so good for us. It would be hard at first, but we would know that we were going to be just fine. That soon all of the suffering will be over and everything would be able to go back to normal. The things that we survived through would only make us stronger as a family. We would practically be invincible because we went through so much together and nothing would be able to break our cemented bond with one another. This would be impossible to have, since everything has already taken its course, but it sure would be nice to have my family with me.