Interview with my Father-Adolf Zakaryan

Adolf Zakaryan was born August 10, 1958, in Sumgait Azerbaijan and lived there until he got married. After he got married he moved to Armenia. He lived there for nine years working at a telephone company. He has two daughters. After suffering through the Sungait Genocide, that occurred in Azerbaijan in 1988, when the Azeries wanted to kill all the Armenians because of the Karabach Movement that started in Armenia, his life changed forever. The terror of that day can still be seen in his eyes as he goes on with his life. Adolf now resides in America and continues to provide for his family, thankful that they are safe.

My visit to Sungait, Azerbaijan, was just like all the others. I would go for a few weeks, see my family and relatives and return home. My wife and kids returned home early while I stayed behind for a few extra days. Going there meant going and becoming part of the community and part of the people that lived there. A typical day started early in the morning. People would crowd the streets and do their daily work. Women would go to the market and men to work. Then around seven, work would be over and everyone would go home to eat dinner. I didn’t work but I would do work around the house.

In 1988, the Karabach Movement started in Armenia. It was a movement that would unite Armenia and Karabach and because of this the Azeries decided to kill the Armenians in Azerbaijan to scare them so that they would not go through with it. On February 27, 1988, the genocide started in Sumgait. It lasted three days. On the first day that Azeri people marched down the street carrying signs and saying nasty, horrible things about Armenians. On the second and third day the killing began. Their people knew which houses the Armenian people lived in. Those three days were the worst three days of my life. The horror and the madness were unbearable. After the killing started all the Armenians were in a panic. We were afraid to leave the house because the might have caught us. There was no way to get food so we ate what was left in our houses. We were even afraid of our neighbors because some of them were Turks. There were people running through the streets begging to be let into houses. Some people let them in but most of them were too scared to open their doors. The only source we had to the outside world was the radio. We listened to it all day long hoping to hear some good news.

There was not much we could have done to protect ourselves. The Azeries were breaking into people’s homes and killing anyone that they could get their hands on. Women, children, it did not matter to them who they killed. It was very easy for them because they had all the addresses. It was the scariest thing I have ever seen and will never forget it. Dead bodies were being dragged from the streets. I was praying that nothing would happen to my family and relatives and that I would survive this and go back to my wife and kids. My aunt was out visiting a friend and was on her way back when she was attacked and murdered, her body was chopped into little pieces. She was family and her death affected us deeply. Our hearts ached that someone we knew was killed in such a horrible way.

Not long after that on February 29, 1988, they announced on the radio that the Russian troops had come and it wasn’t long after that that the crisis was over. They took us to an underground hiding place until it was safe, and then we were placed on buses and were taken to Karabach. If they had arrived a little later we would not have survived. People were too afraid to go to the hospital because they were afraid that they would be killed there. After my relatives found places that they would stay, I decided to bring my mother back home to Armenia with me. When I was safely reunited with my family I felt overwhelmed and relieved and I felt so thankful that my family was safe and sound. They knew me well, and they knew that I just needed some time just to sort everything out so they gave me my space. When I was just mad or irritated with them and got very grumpy, they understood what I was going through and did not hate me but tried to comfort me. That is one reason that I am still together, still sane. I think about what happened all the time. It’s hard not to. I tell myself that it is over and that it is all behind me. It has changed me. I am more serious and more cautious. It makes you grow up and except reality. Sometimes, when we are sitting around talking, the conversation comes around to the Sumgait genocide, and I tell them what I remember and what happened to my aunt. My mother no longer lives with me. She stayed in Armenia with my sister. I thank god everyday that my family was not there to go through what I went through and that they are alive and well.       

Interviewed by Varvara Zakaryan