Forgotten FireBased on the true story of an Armenian boy who survives the near-extermination of his race. It is 1915 and Vahan Kendarian, the pampered youngest son of one of the most influential Armenian families in Turkey, is confident that his privileged world will always include the house he loves, the laughter of his brothers and sisters, a sense of belonging. But when his uncle disappears and his father is taken away, when two brothers are shot before his eyes in the family garden, Vahan's world shatters. "Be steel," his father had always said when something tested his son's character. "Steel is made strong by fire." What is about to occur is Vahan's fire. In the next three weeks he will lose his home and know hunger and thirst for the first time. In the next three years he will become an orphan, a prisoner, a beggar, a servant, a stowaway in order to survive. He will meet and be befriended by the Horseshoer of Baskale, a Turkish governor famous for his practice of nailing horseshoes to the feet of his Armenian victims. He will live in a Turkish village, posing as a deaf mute and falling in love with the daughter of the only man in the village who guesses he is Armenian- and who is determined to kill him because of it. He will witness the murder and deportation of his neighbors and friends. And he will discover inside himself reserves of strength and courage he did not know existed. Based on the experiences of the author's great-uncle during the Armenian Holocaust, Forgotten Fire is the story of one boy's search for the survivor inside himself. It is the story of a lost nation-a powerful celebration of the resilience of the human spirit during the darkest of times. |
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ADAM BAGDASARIAN Adana afraid Altoonian Ara Sarkisian Armenian Armenians in Turkey Armenouhi arms asked began beside Bitlis blanket body bread Charents closed my eyes cold Constantinople consul dark dead Diarbekir dirt Djemal Pasha empty Enver Pasha Erzerum face father Fauld feel feet felt floor Forgotten Fire front door Gagik gendarmes grandmother hair hand head heard heart horses inside killed kissed knew lavosh listened looked morning mother mouth Mumpreh Mustafa never night nodded Oskina Pattoo prison pulled reins river road Sait Samsun scream seemed seen Selim Bey Serop Seta Shirin shook shot side silence Sisak sitting Sivas sleep smell smiled soldiers sound stable stared stepped stood stopped street talk Tashian tell told took tried Turkish Turks turned Vahan Kenderian village voice wagon waiting walked wall watched window woman