How Aram became Said? Stories from the Armenian genocide survivors

Some of the relatives of those killed in the Armenian genocide have harrowing stories of death, destruction and despair. Mantashyan sisters read the opening lines of the diary of their father Aram Mantashyan who was an Armenian Genocide survivor. “I don't know my exact date of my birth. I was born in 1906 or 1907,” reads Seda Mantashyan. The diary tells about the horrible days of the Armenian Genocide: people were attacked and robbed as hungry wolves attack sheep. The river was filled with corpses of women and children. Aram Mantashyan was born Shapin Garahisar. He was saved by Kurds who changes his name. “My name was Aram but they called me Said so that they could help me,” he wrote in his diary. Aram Mantashyan led a hard life full of hardships and suffering. “I passed through many difficulties - beatings, suffering and misery until I returned to my homeland and found peace there.” The original diary is kept at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.