Today's date February 11, 2020
Zabel was born in 1895 in Mersin, a port town on the Mediterranean Sea in southeast Turkey. Mersin was part of historic Armenia in the region of Cilicia prior to the Ottoman Empire, and the region had a very large Armenian population. She met her husband (our grandfather), Khatchadour Krakirian, the son of a scribe at the Armenian convent in the old city of Jerusalem. Khatchadour was a self-made successful banker, taught himself 7 languages, started working in banking at a young age and had risen the ranks and had become the General Manager of the Ottoman Bank, which was effectively the central bank of the Ottoman empire. He was stationed in Adana, Turkey, but he travelled regularly to European countries, as the bank was associated and worked with British and French banks. Adana was a major town 20 miles inland from Mersin, also with a large Armenian population. Khatachadour knew Zabel's parents and met her in Mersin, where she was living with her family. He took her as his bride around 1915. Khatchadour was 40 years old, 20 years older than Zabel. Zabel’s parents wanted to make sure Zabel was in good hands and safe from the atrocities that the Turks were committing against the Armenian population as part of their religious-ethnic cleansing pogrom. Unfortunately, the situation turned for the worse for the newlyweds with the start of World War I, as the Turkish government decided to go after all the prominent and successful Armenians in the country, including financiers, imprisoning them under the pretense that they were the enemy of the state, imposing the death penalty and hanging them in public. Khatchadour was a victim of this sinister Turkish plan and he was jailed in Adana. Zabel was left alone and distraught. Her family moved to Adana to be with her in these very trying times. Luckily, Khatchadour was able to escape the death penalty, because of his connections with high ranking officials in European countries, who had enough clout (a French General in particular) to convince the Turkish government to spare him from execution. With the proper amount of bribes, he was released from jail but was asked to stay in Adana. (We’re told the order for his release from jail came the day he was to be hanged). They lived in Adana with the Kalpakian family and had their first child, their son Varoujan in 1917. They lived there until 1921, at which point, Khatchadour was able to transfer to Haifa in Palestine, and take his family with him. There in Haifa, they had their daughter Anahid, born in 1922 and then Sirarpi in 1924. In 1925 (or thereabout), Khatchadour retired from the Ottoman bank and they moved to Jerusalem where they bought a nice house in the Armenian quarters. Their fourth child, their son Hagop was born in that house in 1929. Zabel and Khatchadour lived and raised their family in Jerusalem. Khatchadour’s sister Dirouhi also lived with them in that house.
Zabel was a doting mother and dedicated her life to raising her family. She was also well educated and a talented woman. She had a very good command of the french language (not sure where she learned or received her education). She also painted and did embroidery, played the piano and had a beautiful voice. Khatchadour, though retired from the Ottoman bank, continued working in banking and helped establish the Arab Bank, which became one of the major banks in the Arab world. As an Armenian Christian, he was highly regarded in the Arab and muslim community. He had studied and was very well versed in the Koran, and he regularly advised the muslim community leaders on how to manage finances and adhere to their strict rules laid out in the Koran on financial matters. Their house was full of books and encyclopedias, and it was open to the whole community to come and receive advice.
Grandfather Khatchadour passed away in Sept 1944 at age 70 from complications after falling and breaking his leg.
Sirarpi got married in 1944 to Noubar Arsenian (a radiologist and a pharmacist) in Jerusalem.
Anahid got married in 1945 to Yervant Krikorian (an MIT graduate in mechanical engineering) and moved to Damascus, Syria and lived with the Krikorian family.
In 1948, when the Palestinian-Israeli war started, Zabel sent her son Hagop away to stay with his sister Anahid in Syria. She stayed behind with her son Varoujan. Varoujan had an ailment which made him fall ill at the age of 17 and never fully recovered. Zabel stayed with him and took care of him all his life. Unfortunately, as the war raged, they were forced to evacuate their home in Jerusalem, as it was in a strategic location that both the Jews and Palestinians were fighting to occupy. When the jewish rebels occupied the house, the Palestinian fighters bombed it and the house was completely demolished. Zabel was left homeless, having lost all her belongings, her artwork, books and all their valuables. (Eye witnesses had later seen some of her paintings, embroidery and cushions in homes in the neighborhood, and the pages of the encyclopedias were used by street vendors to wrap their goods.) With the fighting in the war continuing, she and her son Varoujan also fled the country and went to stay with her daughter Anahid. Sirarpi stayed behind in Jerusalem with her newly formed family (though they too fled and temporarily stayed in Allepo, Syria until the war was over). Initially Zabel, Varoujan and Hagop lived with Anahid and Yervant in their home then eventually rented a place of their own. Zabel received a menial pension from the Ottoman bank as a surviving widow, but it was barely enough to pay the rent for a one bedroom apartment and put some food on the table. Hagop started working at age 18 to support his mother Zabel and older brother Varoujan. Through her hardship, during these years as a widow living in exile, Zabel suffered a heart attack in the late 50s. Even though her doctor gave her very little chance of surviving, by being surrounded by her loved ones, she made it through! She lived many more years and had the blessing to spend time with her kids and grandkids.
In 1957, Hagop fled from Damascus to Lebanon in order to avoid mandatory army enlistment. In 1960, Hagop married Hasmig Melekian (from Damascus). Zabel was diagnosed with Lukemia in the early 1970s, and passed away in 1973 in Damascus, Syria. All her children and their spouses have also passed away, but she survived by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great- grandchildren.
Anahid and Yervant had 4 children:
- Mayda (born Dec 1945 in Jerusalem), married to Edgar Gross, currently living in Marseille, France.
- George (born Dec 1947, in Damascus) married to Lamia Ghabeh and currently living in Orlando, Florida. They have two children, Nadine and Danny. Nadine is married to Wissam Balaa and they have two young children (Thea, Sami), and they just moved and living in Lebanon.
- Aram (born May 1949 in Damascus). Unfortunately passed away very young (in his early 50s) from a heart attack. He was recently married and living in Athens, Greece.
- Rita (born March 1952 in Damascus), married to Jean Gennaoui, and they reside in Beirut Lebanon.
Sirarpi and Noubar had 3 children:
- Sona (born Oct 1945 in Jerusalem), moved to France and married Eddie Atamian. They live in Paris. They have two children, Karine and Arnaud. Karine is married to Pascal Chic and they have 3 teenage children (Romain, Matisse and Ella) and they live in Zurich, Switzerland. Arnaud is married to Ani Nalbandian and they have two young children (Léon and Mathevos). They live in London, England.
- Nora (born Aug 1947 in Jerusalem), stayed in Jerusalem and married George Carmi (who unfortunately passed away 10 years ago). They have two children, Ivan and Natasha. Natasha is married to Danny Hanna. They have teenage twins (Carlos and Isabella) and they recently moved to Geneva Switzerland, though they still have their home in Jerusalem and Danny has his business in Ramallah, West Bank.
- Arda (born Sept 1951 in Jerusalem). She moved to Beirut and married Jacques Ekmekji. They have one daughter Karma, who’s married to Hani Hammoud and have two young sons (Rai and Yann). They all live in Beirut, Lebanon.
Hagop and Hasmig had 3 children:
- Shahe (born Feb 1961), Haig (born June 1962) and Alain (born August 1965).
- In 1983 the Krakirian family fled Lebanon and came to the U.S., as the Lebanese civil war was raging. All 3 of the Krakirian brothers live in California.
- The eldest, Shahe is married to Leda (née Svadjian) and together they have three children: Lori, Liana and Armen and live in Palo Alto.
- The middle child, Haig, is married to Nina (née Kalaidjian) and have three children: Shahan, Natalie and Aram and live in Burbank.
- The youngest, Alain lives in Glendale and has a “better half” Nani Shirikjian.
Zabel was a very doting grandmother. She was a saint! All her grandkids loved being with her. We called her Teta Zabel. She was the favorite grandma to all!
Some memories from her grandchildren:
Haig: When we were kids, Teta Zabel would serve us Armenian coffee (sourj) and butter cookies that we would dip in the coffee. This was a special treat, something we couldn’t have at home, since our parents didn’t allow us to have coffee at that young age. To this day, I love having Armenian coffee with cookies that I dip in the coffee cup.
Arda : I remember that when I was about 3 or 4 years old, Teta Zabel taught me how to wear my underwear properly. She had told me that the label tag had to be in the back, so the numbers can be seen just like you could see the license plate numbers on the back of a car.
Nora: Teta Zabel was a petite beautiful person, much stronger than her appearance would suggest. We, the Arsenian grandchildren were blessed to spend time with her during the summers in her humble but generously warm home, where the Jerusalem and Damascus cousins met. She used to take us children with sandwiches to the nearby park and get us home before dark. She always made sure she was home in the evening when Uncle Varoujan would be back from the bookstore where he worked, so she could give him her full attention.
Mayda : Teta Zabel told me her story of remembering when she was lying in bed after her heart attack and having all four of her children by her bedside. They were all sobbing as they thought she was dying. She was very weak and unable to speak, but she wanted to tell them that she was not going to leave them. She was very religious, and she said she had seen Christ come down and tell her that she was not going to die. Her children needed her, and she would be staying and taking care of them.