
In Memory of Yevnige Salibian
The memorial service for Yevnige Salibian, one of the last remaining survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, was held today in Mission HIlls, Calif. Salibian died August 29, 2015, at 101 years old.
A force of nature well into her hundreds, Salibian gave testimony about her childhood experiences to USC Shoah Foundation in 2014.
She spent her final years in a home for elderly Armenians in Los Angeles, but her mind remained clear and the tears still welled up in her eyes when she talked about the events that happened when she was a little girl. She was just a baby when the atrocities began, but the she was able to recall things that happened a few years later by the Turkish government.
“I didn’t see everything,” she said last year. “But I know my story.”
Born Jan. 14, 1914, Salibian was one of five children in a middle-class family in the town of Aintab. Her family was among the last to leave. It was during this trip that she received a scar on her leg when she became trapped in the reins of a horse. She nearly bled to death and the scar has become a lifelong reminder of her early miseries.
A deeply religious woman, she learned to speak English by comparing versions of the bible. After fleeing their home, her family lived in Lebanon until 1976, when she came to the United States.
“Despite the trauma of her childhood, Yevnige had an unbreakable spirit,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of USC Shoah Foundation. “We are grateful that she had a long, healthy life and that she was able to share her story with so many others. Her testimony in the Visual History Archive will be a lasting legacy that will help teach people long into the future.”