One never realizes the long-term cost of evil because the succeeding generations pay the highest price. The assaults on Ashitha (and the first massacre) began over 170 years ago, but the last exodus of Assyrians leaving the Tyaray region occurred during the Turkish genocide which began in 1915. The Tyaray mountains bring a sad and […]
She was born on March 12, 1906 in Ashitha, Turkey. According to my cousin, she was named Gulestani after a flower that grows in the mountains of Turkey and Iraq. But her family abbreviated it and called her by the nickname “Janey.” When my Grandparents came to the America we had no idea of what […]
It’s nice to feel good about who we are. But visiting my Grandpa’s grave in Turlock, California brought me a mixture of feelings. It feels good to be a descendant of the courageous Rab Khaila Zaia Gewargis (George) who defended Habbaniyah and a large Christian enclave when it was attacked by over 60,000 Iraqi soldiers […]
When my dad was a young boy he went with his dad, Zaia Gewargis, toward the northern border between Iraq and Turkey. The terrain was a rugged climb and they were riding mules–more stable on their feet than horses in steep, rough places. When they reached the border, they reined their mules to a stop […]