Sarkis Deli Sarkisian was born in 1905 in the village of Keramet (Bursa province, southern Marmara region) in Ottoman Turkey. He survived the Armenian Genocide, made it through the deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia, nearly died in Smyrna in 1922, survived incarceration in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1933, and lived to tell the tale.
The book Deli Sarkis: The Scars He Carried: A Daughter Confronts the Armenian Genocide and Tells Her Father’s Story is about two journeys. One is the journey of Deli Sarkis from near extermination to survival; the other journey is by his eldest daughter, at the end of which she is able to answer the question: “What happened to the Armenians?” The author describes the plight of not only her father, Deli Sarkis, but other Kerametsi villagers as well. Deli Sarkis: The Scars He Carried is filled with photographs and maps illuminating the people and events described within.
Dr. Rubina Peroomian, who reviewed the book, writes that “…what differentiates it from others accompanying similar memoirs is that she associates each historical fact, event, or place with a parent’s or a relative’s personal experience of involvement with it.”
“With all the details of events, places, and people that the author provides, [the book] is a valuable contribution to the study of the Armenian Genocide.”
The author says she will continue to tell the story of the Armenians, but next time will write about their life-affirming contributions to world history, culture, and thought, with one literary detour: She still needs to write the story of her mother, who was born in Marash, Turkey.
For more information, visit www.scarshecarried.com.
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