Mediamax presents 100 Seconds project devoted to Armenian Genocide Centennial. The project is based on testimonies of Genocide survivors published by the National Archive of Armenia.

Levon Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster.

For 100 seconds project he reads an extract from Armenian Genocide survivor Satenik Parunakian's testimony.

National Archives of Armenia

Collection of Documents

Testimony of survivor Satenik Parunakian on the massacre at the village of Kharakonis of Archak in Van district of Van Province

[1916]

Baku

They forced everybody to get into the river and cross it. The stream was strong and the water took my mother-in-law away. I had my two little children in my arms and my older daughter, 12-year-old Varsenik, was holding on to my skirt; the river took her away too.

Many women and children got drowned in the river on that day. There were corpses everywhere, on the banks or in the river floating away.

Our neighbor’s wife was trying to cross the river with her three children. One of them was drowning and grasped her mother. The situation was hopeless: the desperate mother was with her own hands pouring water into the drowning girl’s mouth to get her drowned so she could save her two other children.

We somehow made it to the other bank, frozen and turned blue. My children were wet and frozen. I couldn’t warm them up. Aghvard died on the way, on my hands. I buried her by the road. I reached Archak with only one of my children saved.

Producer: Ara Tadevosyan

Filming: Lena Gevorgyan, Mariam Loretsyan

Post Production: Tumo LLC

The source of Satenik Parunakian's testimony: National Archives of Armenia, Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turkey, 1915, Testimony of survivors, Collection of documents, Yerevan-2013.

VivaCell-MTS is the general partner of 100 seconds project.