Zarouhe, or Zano, known to her nieces and nephews simply as "merahkor" (meaning aunt on the mother's side) was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. She was put on a forced march from her native town of Gurun with her sisters and stepmother sometime after 1915. At the time, Zano was a widow with two children, a daughter and a son named Vartan (Walter). During the march, her young daughter died either of starvation, brutality or both and Zano was forced to leave her body on the side of the road.
After coming to this country, she stayed with her brother Boghos in MA. She later married a widower, John Poladian, and moved to Racine, WI. Her niece, Mary Bournazian, lived with her for five years until the age of 12.
After the death of her second husband, Zano moved to Fresno, CA, where she lived the remainder of her life. She died in 1978 at the home she shared with her son Walter. |
