The Light That Did Not Fade: Aurora’s Story

“To each mother and father, in this beautiful land of the United States, who has taught a daughter to believe in God, I dedicate my book. I saw my own mother’s body, its life ebbed out, flung onto the desert because she had taught me that Jesus Christ was my Saviour. I saw my father die in pain because he said to me, his little girl, “Trust in the Lord; His will be done.” I saw thousands upon thousands of beloved daughters of gentle mothers die under the whip, or the knife, or from the torture of hunger and thirst, or carried away into slavery because they would not renounce the glorious crown of their Christianity.

God saved me that I might bring to America a message from those of my people who are left, and every father and mother will understand that what I tell in these pages is told with love and thankfulness to Him for my escape.

Aurora Mardiganyan, New York, December, 1918”

These words are taken from the preface of “Ravished Armenia”, the memoir of Arshaluys Mardikyan, known to the world as Aurora Mardiganyan, a survivor of the Turkish yataghan who sought refuge in the United States. She was forced to change her name for her own safety, for as a witness, a survivor, and an Armenian who had lived through the genocide, she was destined to tell millions about the great crime committed against humanity—the Armenian Genocide. She would speak of the expulsion and dispossession of millions of Armenians from their homeland, turning them into refugees and leaving them impoverished and displaced.

In New York, the girl of just 14 or 15 was adopted by an Armenian family. Arshaluys began to place advertisements in the newspapers, fervently searching for her surviving brother, Vahan. Her pleas soon drew the attention of journalists. In 1918, as in every corner of the globe, The US was blissfully unaware that in 1915, in a remote corner of Asia, seizing the turmoil of World War I, the Young Turks had orchestrated a genocide against the Armenian people, believing they would remain unscathed and unpunished, that no one would care about the expulsion of millions from their own homeland or the slaughter of 1.5 million lives.

However, Arshaluys Mardikyan took it upon herself to narrate the story of this tragedy. In 1918, her testimonies were printed in the pages of New York and Los Angeles newspapers, and in December of that same year, her book, “Ravished Armenia,” was published. The cover displayed a portrait of Arshaluys in her beautiful traditional Armenian attire (taraz). Over the next two decades, the book would be republished numerous times, reaching an impressive 900,000 copies sold, including versions in Spanish, Dutch, and Polish.

“Ravished Armenia,” of course, did not become a bestseller in any country, including the United States, with the intent of achieving justice or holding Turkey accountable. As Americans read it, the genocide in Western Armenia, under the dominion of Turkey, was still unfolding. The plan to cleanse the country of its Armenian population or to convert Armenians to Islam continued unabated.

Arshaluys longed for as many people as possible to learn about the atrocities committed by genocidal Turkey. Perhaps, she hoped, a hand of justice would rise, that the Turks who had murdered and tortured her loved ones would be held accountable, that the barbarians who had sold her to harems and subjected her to unspeakable violence might one day stand before a court.

This young girl had once lived a happy and safe life in her homeland, a life that, in the blink of an eye, had been transformed into hell.

She describes, scene by scene, what happened before reaching the United States. Arshaluys was a gifted student and a promising violinist. When the nightmare of 1915 struck, her older sister was engaged, and her brother was already living in the United States. Her father and other brother were killed before her eyes, and she, along with her mother and sisters, was forcibly taken and attached to the caravans of Armenian women being deported to the deserts of Syria.

For 85 cents, Arshaluys was sold to the harem of one of the chieftains, from which she managed to escape. Her freedom was short-lived; the slave traders captured her again, yet once more she slipped from their grasp. For 18 months, walking 1,500 kilometers, crossing the Dersim (Mntzuri) mountain range, hiding in caves, and surviving on plants and seeds, she reached Erzurum, exhausted, barefoot, and half-naked, where American missionaries took her under their care. Later—a family adopting her, the futile searches for her brother.

The book “Ravished Armenia” also caught the attention of filmmakers. They saw a new, intense, emotionally charged plot that would grip the audience, and naturally, they couldn’t let the opportunity to make a film slip away.

In late 1918, the Selig Polyscope Company began making a film based on Martikyan’s book. For the company, it was merely another production, and the creators had no idea they were embarking on a historical and unprecedented endeavor. It became the first-ever film about the Armenian Genocide, a film that, even after 100 years, has not lost its relevance. What’s more, the lead actress played herself, embodying her real-life character, and as the cameras rolled, she relived the hell she had once endured.

Perhaps it was the act of reliving that led Arshaluys to experience mental breakdowns at the film’s conclusion—right during the triumphal march. The images of the genocide haunted her, distorting her inner world until the end of her days. Even at 93, on the verge of death, she could never free herself from the memories of the nightmare.

When Selig Polyscope Company signs a contract with Arshaluys Martikyan, as mentioned earlier, for personal safety reasons, Arshaluys changes her name to Aurora Mardiganyan. The filmed footage was reviewed by Viscount James Bryce, the president of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, the former British ambassador to the United States, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, all of whom praised it highly (zarkfoundation.com).

“Ravished Armenia” or “The Auction of Souls”, the silent film, was first screened in January 1919 in Washington, D.C. Its public premiere followed in February at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The film was later shown in major cities across 23 U.S. states, as well as in Great Britain and some Latin American countries.

It is also known that during the film’s early private screenings, tickets were sold for $10, equivalent to about $700 at present (kinoashkharh.am).

The proceeds from the screening of “Ravished Armenia” amounted to $30 million, which, by the decision of the film’s creators, was directed to the Near East Relief Fund to help 60,000 Armenian orphans.

The film created such a stir that the audience always longed to see the emerging actress who embodied and played her own character. After each premiere, Aurora would muster all her strength to step onto the stage and face the audience. Yet, this relentless strain on her nerves eventually took its toll. After a screening in Buffalo in 1920, she fainted and withdrew from public life for good.

Events seemed to be moving in favor of Aurora becoming a renowned film actress, a Hollywood star. Without any formal acting education, having never studied anywhere, and not having taken any lessons, she was able to brilliantly embody the character of the real-life tragic heroine the first time she stood before the camera.

Hollywood’s plans to turn her into a movie star never came to fruition, and the political shifts of the time caused the attention given to “Ravished Armenia” –both the book and the film-to gradually fade in the 1920s. Eventually, the complete version of the film disappeared without a trace.

Later, Aurora “bought” hundreds of Armenian orphans from Muslim families. She then returned to New York and, in 1929, married the Armenian immigrant Martin Hoveyan. In 1931, their son, Mikayel, was born. However, happiness was not meant for Aurora. The weight of the past wouldn’t release her, driving her to attempt suicide. After her husband’s death, she lost touch with her son.

Like the others who miraculously survived the Armenian Genocide, she too, in the vast world, felt mentally ravaged and tormented. Her final years were spent in a California senior care facility.

Arshaluys lived her life trying to overcome the horrifying memories and sufferings of her childhood, and helped the children who survived the genocide.

Fragments of the film “Ravished Armenia” were first shown in Armenia at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. It was through the efforts of the museum’s former director, Hayk Demoyan, that the Armenian public first learned about the film, the book, and Arshaluys Martikyan-Aurora Mardiganyan. He succeeded in bringing fragments of the film “Ravished Armenia” from the United States to Armenia, which are still shown at the museum today. In 2015, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute published Aurora Mardiganyan’s book “Ravished Armenia” in Armenian.

The fact that a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, who lost her family and homeland, made it to the United States, turned her personal story into a book, and then portrayed herself in a film based on that story-repeatedly traversing the hellish path she had once endured-already multiplies the significance and role of Aurora Mardiganyan’s work as a unique phenomenon in the history of world cinema and acting.

Autor` Ruzanna Bagratunyan

From the book “Resounding women of silent cinema”