ELMAS Melikian
1897 - 1972
HIGHLIGHTS
Elmas was the granddaughter of a prominent leader in the village of Prapert, known as Nazaret Agha. During the Genocide, all three of her brothers were killed in the fighting, her grandfather was tortured, her father poisoned, and her mother and two younger sisters were sent on a death march to the desert and perished. Elmas and her one remaining sister were "given" to Turkish families as slaves. Few details were ever shared about her decade serving the Turkish family, but when she was finally freed, acquaintances who had known her before the war remarked that she was unrecognizable. She had become engaged to her second cousin, Onnik, before the Genocide. In 1927, he was able to send for her to come to America. They were married in Springfield, Massachusetts, and had four children: Shaken, Takvor, Salpie and Gorken.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS
PARENTS SIBLINGS SPOUSE CHILDREN
Ohan Melikian Kevork Melikian Onnik Melikian Shaken Melikian
Sima Yaylaian Mugerdich Melikian Takvor Melikian
Takvor Melikian Salpie Melikian Cavros
Mariam Melikian Gorken Melikian
Unknown Sister
Unknown Sister
Jewelry that Elmas brought from overseas
The necklace above can be seen in the photo below on the left.
GENOCIDE EXPERIENCE
In Onnik's memoirs, he describes Elmas' family as the "richest and most important family in the village [of Prapert]." This branch of the clan was headed by Nazareth Melikian, a man known as "Nazareth Agha," a title that denotes high standing and great influence in the local government. Onnik reports, "In keeping with their high station, they had a large home which had secret doors and passages." The family of Nazareth Agha was the last to leave the village, after the Turks had taken all the guns and all the men. Apparently, he had hoped to be spared the violence, owing to his important standing. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Nazareth Agha and his family were forced to convert to Islam, but even this did not save them. He was "roughed up quite a lot in the hopes that he would reveal [Onnik's] whereabouts," then killed either by a Turkish deserter from the army or a Turkish villager "with an old grudge."
Without their protector, Nazareth's family was systematically killed, as described elsewhere on these pages. Elmas' father, Ohan Melikian, was captured by the Turkish army and poisoned while in prison. Her mother, Sima Yaylaian, was deported with Elmas' two youngest sisters, by way of a "death march" through the desert. She was never heard from again, and all three presumed dead. Elmas' three brothers, Takvor, Kevork and Mugerdich, were all killed between 1915 and 1919. Two of the brothers had joined forces with Onnik, and escaped to the hills with stolen weapons. Kevork was "drafted" by the Turkish army and executed with the rest of the Armenian soldiers in 1915. Mugerdich was killed with a hatchet by Turkish citizens while eating with Turkish friends in 1916. Takvor was shot several times during a four-hour gun battle and bled to death in 1919.
Elmas and her last remaining sister, Mariam, were "given" to Turkish families and made to work as slaves. Not much is known about her decade-long experience with this family, but Anahid Merigian (married to Onnik's cousin Nish Merigian) once said that Elmas bore at least two children by the son of the Turkish family. The children were prohibited from leaving that family when Elmas was finally able to immigrate to the United States. It is unknown whether she escaped from that family, or was released, or who assisted her.
Onnik and Elmas, circa 1927
Elmas, Onnik, and baby Shaken, circa 1929
IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE
For a short time after leaving the Turkish family, Elmas and her sister Mariam lived with Onnik's father, Mgrdich Melikian, in Constantinople, where he owned an apartment building. Records show that the Turks took that building. Elmas' ship manifest records list her as a "servant/seamstress" on her way to meet her "father" Artin Melikian (actually a cousin of Onnik's). When Elmas finally arrived the U.S. by way of Providence, RI on March 30, 1927, she married Onnik almost immediately (on April 19, 1927). They lived in a triplex on Quebec Street in the Indian Orchard section of the city. The two had four children: Shaken, Takvor, Salpie and Gorken. Elmas died of a heart attack at age 74 in 1972.
Onnik, Shaken, Takvor, Salpie, Elmas, Gorken
circa 1937
Onnik and Elmas, circa 1967