The Long Life Lived in Two Countries

Asli Karapetyan, a seventy- year -old, woman lives in Glendale California and remembers her past. Asli was born, in Tehran, Iran and emigrated from Iran to Armenia in 1969 with her family. She lived in Armenia for twenty-two years in the city of Hrazdan in the region of Micro Rayon. She worked for the “Radio Zavod” or (Radio Building) for most of her life. She was a hard worker with a lot of energy. Now she is a woman who has grown old, but still has her ever-lasting energy. Currently, she lives with her daughter and loves to garden in her immense back yard where she has grown many flowes, plants and herbs. She waits patiently in her dinning room to be interviewed about her life living in two non-democratic countries. She expresses her opinions on how she viewed the life back then and remembers her past experiences.

The king of Iran, Mohammad Shah, was a very good man; he did not bother Armenians or Iranians in any way. We did not go through any hard times under his ruling. Yes, we had Armenian churches, schools, and my children had classes where they read and wrote in both Armenian and Persian. One person would work [my husband] and he would take care of our six children; I lived a very good life in Iran. No, not when so ever did the king bother us about our religion or restrict us to attend our church in any way. There were no laws that forced women to wear shawls around their heads; there were not any laws of that sort. It did not matter; one was free to do what he or she pleased. We came out of the country when the King was in rule in 1969.

Yes, there were newspapers at the time of the monarchy, for example there was Aleek. I did not go to school to receive an education, so I could not read well, but my husband read newspapers daily. [Back then it was not a custom for girls and women to attend school, only some with rich backgrounds did (my father was the chief of our village but he died young so I did not receive much education)]. There was music on the radio as well. Well, the monarchy controlled it, but it was not so repressive. People did have voice but it had to be approved by Shah’s people in order for it to be a part of the newspaper the same was also true for the radio. Radio was free, but there was censoring.

If the monarchy really knew for sure that the man was guilty of murder, he committed it, and it was he for sure, then they would take him in the town center (in the presence of people) and they would hang him. The reason was because the king believed in law and justice and because of that there were very few killings and murder cases. They would take one to the town center “heraparak” and would hang the person; the other people would not do the same act mostly because of the fright of getting hung. Since the community saw the hangings, murder was not an issue we worried about.

In Iran, there was not a voting process, because the country was controlled by a monarchy. When the king died, beforehand he chose his follower to take his place on the throne. In this case, Mohammad Shah, took his father Reza Shah’s position in the throne. The king never put a difference between cultures. Armenians and Persians were treated the same. Although most people liked the king, yes there were some groups against him.
Yes anyone who could afford it had the opportunity to own a business. There was not a “Black Market,” because the king was respected and there were not many people wanting to sell illegal items; but yes there probably were but I do not know much about that. As far as I am know there was not a “Black Market” for food because people were paid good money and they enjoyed working and earning a living the right way. The monarchy treated its people well. We did not feel the need to buy food illegally.

Yes, women had equal rights as men; we were allowed to go out and felt very free. We were also allowed to work, there were not any constraints against women. There was not the type of thing against women that there is now in the country. We were not forced to cover out hair and we were not supposed to have pity for not having our hair uncovered.

Yes my children went to Armenian schools and learned Persian as well being it is the language of the country. The libraries were close by; there were libraries in the schools as well. The circumstances at the schools were very well and I felt calm for my children to go off to school. The schools were very strict, if the teachers did not be strict towards the children they would not learn to the extent they did. The mandatory of attending school was a total of twelve years.
Yes many would pursue higher education, who ever learned well, just like here in the (U.S.) the government would give the students scholarships and whom ever did not have the grades they would have to pay. If they did not pursue higher education, military was another option for men, actually it was mandatory; one had to be eighteen and served for 2 years.

We moved in to Armenian from Iran in 1969, when Armenian was under was under communist rule. Yes, the changes were difficult but we managed. We were new, and not used to the laws of the country and way of life, but we got used to them. Leonid Brezhnev was the communist leader at the time. We lived in the city of Hrazdan, in the Micro Rayon area.

When we moved to Armenia I worked. My brother who came to Armenia in 1946, told me in order for me to live a good life and take care of my children, I had to work alongside my husband. I worked in a grocery store, Radio Building, and in our building. I had to work in order to survive and make a good living. At work, we were not allowed to do whatever we pleased, our bosses controlled the work we did, but it wasn’t like they were on our backs every moment. The working environment was the way it would be in any company at that time. It was not “high tech” and we did work hard. I worked for seventeen years with my family; our work was appreciated in the Soviet Union.

Whichever city you lived in you would go and vote in that city. We would go to the building, enter the booth behind the curtain and fill out the ballet and throw it in the box. The voting process was very private and calm. I did vote for Yuri Andrapov and it was calm.

Yes, if one had the money, they would open a corporation or business and they would work in their own property and make money. Not many owned businesses though in the USSR because there were big corporations and it as much easier for the people to just work for a company or corporation.

Women did have equal as men did; for example they would drive cars; work in high positions. There were women engineers, architects, professors, teachers, etc.

Yes it was mandatory for men to attend the military. The soldiers did not complain, they were happy serving for their country. Although they did go through tough times with the discipline and getting used to the ways of the Soviet military, both of my sons told me it was a long life lesson.

Yes, if someone did something against the law they could be bailed depending on the seriousness of the situation. As I said before, people’s voice was not paid attention to and did not matter and punishments were very serious and harsh. Yes there were newspapers such as Sovetakan Hayastan, Pioner, and Avangard, (Armenian) Pravda (Russian). Newspapers and the radio were censored at that time. Strikes against the government could not take place. There probably was a Black Market in Armenia at that time, if caught the suspect would have a court day and be sent to jail. I don’t think that many would be a part of a Black Market because of the serious punishments: such as severe jail sentences.

Those years when I lived in Iran and Armenia were the best years of my life and I would not change it for the world, they were memorable and unforgettable years.

Interviewed by Yelina Karapetyan