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`My Armenian Father: Journeys From the Past to Myself'

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  • `My Armenian Father: Journeys From the Past to Myself'

    `My Armenian Father: Journeys From the Past to Myself'

    http://massispost.com/archives/8300
    Updated: March 29, 2013

    The author - son of an Armenian father and a German mother - tries to
    find out where exactly he belongs: Who am I? Am I an Armenian who
    can't speak Armenian? Am I a German who is (all too) often treated as
    a foreigner? These doubts sent the author on a journey into the past -
    to retrace the life of his father who had survived both the genocide
    of 1915 in Turkey and the Second World War, and who had lived through
    the conflict between East and West Germany and its many consequences.

    Based on his father's anecdotes and family documents, the author
    describes the everyday life of the Dolabdjian family in Turkey until
    1915 and his father's experiences leading to his arrival in Germany in
    1922. Here was a stateless man who could not speak a word of German
    when he arrived in Germany in 1922. How was he able to go to school
    for the first time, pass his higher leaving certificate exams, study
    medicine in Berlin, qualify as a consultant, all against the backdrop
    of a worldwide economic crisis and the rise of National Socialism?
    Today we can smile about his later experiences during the
    tension-ridden relationship between the Federal Republic and the GDR
    which even led to the temporary loss of his hard-won German
    citizenship. But in those days it was a deadly serious situation.

    The Author
    Haig Dolabdjian was born in Germany in 1951 and grew up as the son of
    an Armenian father and a German mother. From an early age he showed an
    interest in his Armenian roots and from his father's stories learned
    that a catastrophe had struck the family during his father's
    childhood. In 1990 Haig Dolabdjian travelled to Turkey with his family
    - the next generation - in the hope of finding his father's
    birthplace. In 2011 he then flew with his family to Armenia and on a
    study trip there got to know the country and its people.
    This book describes the circumstances of the Dolabdjian family in
    Turkey up to 1915, the experiences of the author's father leading up
    to his arrival in Germany in 1922 and his father's later experiences
    in Germany, all reconstructed from stories and preserved family
    documents. Haig Dolabdjian's travel journals from Turkey and Armenia
    close the circle.

    This book is intended first and foremost for the author's immediate
    family, to ensure that their origins will never be forgotten. At the
    same time, however, it strives to inform a broader public about what
    happened in Turkey in 1915 and about what migration to another country
    involves.

    Haig Dolabdjian holds a doctorate in engineering and works free-lance
    in the field of electrical engineering. He lives with his family south
    of Munich.

    My Armenian Father: Journeys from the past to myself
    Publisher Hay Media Verlag, Frankfurt a.M., Germany 1 edition (Februar 11, 2013)
    sold by Amazon.com (KINDLE) or at LIBREKA.de (EPUB) ISBN 978-3-86320-024-4

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