“I didn’t go for the money or to plunder. Nothing really happened to me. I went to defend my children,” he notes. When I asked what dreams he had at the time, he sighs and says, “All that should stay within us. We won and finished. But that should stay within us. We should have gone forward to shed blood. It was shed. We should have taken this too (pointing to Nakhijevan).”
45,000 soldiers from Artsakh fought in the Great Patriotic War. Only 22,000 returned. Starting last year, I’ve photographed those Great Patriotic War vets whose children, and sometimes even grandchildren, fought in the Artsakh War. These are two and even three generations who fought in the name of the homeland and freedom.
Nairit, the beleaguered chemical plant in Yerevan, owes the Zakharyan family 5.5 million AMD ($11,436) in back wages. Anastas Zakharyan worked there for 41 years as a locksmith. His wife Alina worked at Nairit as a bookkeeper for 38. Lastly, their son Karen worked at the Soviet-era behemoth as a machine operator for 14. As of February 6 of his year all three are jobless.
I had the privilege of spending the eve of the Armenian Genocide centennial on the Nagorno- Karabakh (Artsakh) frontline with young soldiers who are completing their two-years of mandatory military service. Part of me wished to be in Yerevan's Republic Square, with the tens of thousands rocking out with Serj Tankian & System of a Down. Another part of me wished to be with my family in Los Angeles, preparing for the "March for Justice" which...
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