Page 17 - Microsoft Word

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Maybe I will not be very precise as I cannot remember dates but I suppose it could have been the1988 when the riots broke out. There were massive protests of Karabakh Armenians, people fought for independence, for freedom of their country (Karabakh is a historical Armenian region which had been taken over by Stalin and Bolsheviks in the twentieth years of the last century.) Azerbaijanis and their government successively expelled the native people from their land. The conflict in Karabakh arose not only from territorial disagreement but also, what is essential, it was and still is a war between two religions, on the side of Islam - Azerbaijanis and Christian Armenians on the opposite pole. When the protests occurred, simple people did not even imagine how terrible consequences they would have to face up to. Hundreds of innocent Armenians were slaughtered by Azerbaijanis. All the members of my family were in danger, they lived there. My father was half Polish as my dead grandmother was a Polish citizen who had fled to Azerbaijan in 1937 to rescue her life from soviet oppression. My father’s origin was a common fact but it would not have saved him and his family in confrontation with Azerbaijanis’ fanatics armed from teeth to toes.

Soviet soldiers stationed in Kirowabad were completely indifferent to the slaughter of Ormians and later other groups of Christians as well as the scenes of utter chaos and destruction; their priority was to wait for the orders from Moscow. During a few days Christian families migrated to a small Armenian district in Kirowabad, they circled around the Armenian Orthodox Church. It was their stronghold, a spiritual centre. Soon the building of the church was changed into a hospital. Wounded soldiers, raped women and children found their shelter there. The sufferers were nursed by volunteer doctors and the injured patients themselves. Men with sticks, shovels, hunting firearms in hands defended the holy place. All those people felt, some of them maybe for the first time, the close communion with God. The faith was the only hope, only He could have been our saviour.

Azerbaijani’s bandits, intoxicated by drugs, committed their disgusting crimes in other Armenian’s cities (for instance in Baku or Sumagait). Under cover of the night the degenerated Azeri monsters attacked Ormians bringing pain, death and humiliation to innocent people. All the atrocity was committed by the local authorities; Soviets turned a blind eye to this tragedy. Azerbaijanis followed in the footsteps of their Turkish ancestors who had been responsible for the genocide of 1,5 billion Ormians in 1915. It is obviously hard to believe that things like that could have taken place in the twelfth century in a civilised world in the Soviet Union - a beacon of friendship among nations.

After my father’s death we found out that there was the Polish Society “Polonia” in Armenia; it was directed by prof. Ałła Kużmińska, the wisest and charming person, talented organizer, active, intelligent and beautiful woman. Dear Ałła, all those labels are not flattery. People who knows you will admit that my words are true. Professor Kużmińska has been the president of the Society for 15 years. She created a

Page 17 - Microsoft Word - CMA BOOK_2

Page 17 - Microsoft Word - CMA BOOK_2