MEMORIES OF TOMARZA

by Toros M. Madaghjian and Translated into English by Reverend Father Arten Ashjian

"Memories of Tomarza is the summary or the totality of huge volumes of noted historians, of choice materials on the history of Tomarza and of the memoirs and biographies of erudite compatriots. This book is being consigned to the present and next generations as a remembrance of our beloved birthplace, nine centuries old Tomarza, of our brave ancestors, of its self-sacrificing heroes, its magnificent churches and the numerous deportees of 1915 who became martyrs." Toros Madaghjian, 1959

This book is a compilation of first hand, personal stories and memories collected sixty years ago from survivors who left Tomarza and settled in Wisconsin. Madaghjian gives interesting ethnographic information about the origin and development of the village of Tomarza, its historical ups and downs, its heroic episodes, the superior patriotic spirit of its children, its revolutionary, active struggles and the founding of New Tomarza inside of Armenia.

It is also a history of St. Mesrob Church in Racine, Wisconsin, the people from Armenia who settled in Racine, Wisconsin, and the first Sunday School established at an Armenian Church in the USA.The book contains the personal memories of the 1915 deportation of Mr. Madaghjian's brother, Hagop, who was martyred in 1920. The book is lovingly dedicated to his memory. "So many times a historical account of everyday life can overlook the small, interesting details. However, it is exactly that attention to detail which makes this history come alive. Toros Madaghjian's memoir gives me a sense of actually being there." Rev. Father Yeprem Kelegian, St. Mesrob Armenian Church, Pastor