Somehow I ended up reading three travelogs in a row. This one is traveling not to find anything about the ocean, however, but to reconnect with history.
Dawn Anahid MacKeen’s maternal grandfather narrowly escaped the Armenian Genocide repeatedly. At some point before his death in 1974, he wrote a diary about his experiences right before the genocide, recording in excruciating and horrifying detail the marches and massacres he was a part of, and his fraught journey home.
MacKeen retraces her grandfather Stepan‘s steps through the modern day area, trying to peace together his diaries with the actual land. The book has a chapter from each person, alternating, covering the same land 100 years apart. MacKeen’s goal is to attempt to find the family of the Sheik who saved her grandfather’s life, and thank them.
I had known there was an Armenian genocide. I had known that there was an influx of refugees to the US because the Armenian people had been systematically wiped out. I had even known that Hitler famously said, prior to invading Poland, a mere two decades later “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” I did not however know the level of brutality nor the amount of people, women, children, old people, who were butchered.
This is not an easy book to read. There are scenes of brutality so varied, there would be no way to warn of triggers. But it is an important read. As almost each Armenian who attempted to escape was told ‘go tell our story’, Stepan is compelled to. But it is his granddaughter who is able to bring it smoothly to life. I recommend it, but with caution.
