Haigazian University Press Publishes its 54th volume: Hagop Der Balian’s How My Days Passed

BEIRUT — Haigazian University Press published the bilingual memoirs of an Armenian Genocide Survivor, Hagop Der Balian, How My Days Passed.

The account narrates the story of Hagop, an 18-year-old from Aintab, whose family settled in Adana for a short while, before being uprooted and exiled to the desert. After losing his parents, Hagop realizes that there is a huge responsibility on his shoulders, namely the survival of his two brothers and two sisters. Eventually he succeeds in this life and death challenge partly as he salvages only one of his brothers and one of his sisters by the time the remnant of the family reaches Mosoul.

The story is interesting particularly in the unending intriguing descriptions of the tug of war that is fought between the victim who puts all his wits in order to survive, and his master(s) who enslave him and maintain a line of mercy not because of care but simply because Hagop’s services are so important for them.

This bilingual book includes both the Armenian original version as well as its translation into English by Dr. Vatche Ghazarian. The book is co-edited by professor Ken Seigneurie (Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada) and Dr. Antranik Dakessian (Haigazian University). Together they have authored an introduction, naming the book as a Christian Armenian Picaresque. The book also includes the English translation of the Foreword, written by Dr. Raymond Kevorkian for the French translation of the book published in 2019.