GENOCIDE SURVIVORS, COMMUNITY BUILDERS: The Family of John and Artemis Mirak

by Robert Mirak

Genocide Survivors, Community Builders: The Family of John and Artemis Mirak is the story of two Armenian orphans uprooted from their homes in the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide and their life in the New World, where they became an example of courage and achievement in both their Armenian and non-Armenian communities. The book is also a study in acculturation, tracing the evolution of the family from its immigrant origins to the middle class and upper middle class communities. It highlights the tensions of the second generation caught between the cultures of the Old World on the one hand, and the New World on the other. It also shows how the children and grandchildren of the founders carried on the family traditions of service, especially to the Armenian community in the U.S. and in Armenia.