Katherine Magarian

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Katherine Magarian was a survivor of the Armenian genocide. She witnessed her father get killed by the Turks at the age of 9, and he was a businessman, which the Turks saw him as a threat to try to start a revolution. She saw how the Turks gathered all the men and tied their hands to their back. She described how the Turks used their knives and slaughtered them like animals. Another thing that the Turks did to the pregnant woman were to cut the baby out of the stomach, show them, and kill the woman. Katherine basically lost her childhood like Vahan, and had to act mature in order to survive. Katherine and her mom had to walk for a long period of time, and they escaped. They went to Harput, and found Turks who were friendly. The Turks made Katherine work and clean, which kept her safe, and they were separated. Once the Turks kicked them out of the country, they went to an orphanage, and after she stayed in there for a while, she left to Cuba with her mother. They both moved to America, and she got married and had kids. Katherine and her husband tried to give their children the childhood they never had, and they took education seriously. Katherine had witnessed a lot of killings as she was under control of the Turks, and that has definitely shaped the way she lives her life. What I realized when I was reading Katherine's story is that our generation (in the U.S.) is extremely lucky to have the resources and have freedom no matter what race or nationality we are, and some people don't realize that.

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