Haroutyoun Sherbetdjian
"He was born on May 8, 1922, in the village of Khdr Bek, Musa Dagh.
His parents were Serop and
Eva Sherbetdjian. His grandfather was the priest of Khdr Bek and his father was the regional
representative, or Mudur, of Musa Dagh. Sherbetdjian went to kindergarden
in his birthplace, Khodr Bek, and attended elementary schools in Khdr Bek
and Yoghun Oluk. In
1932, at the age of 10, he went to school in Antioch, the biggest city of the district of
Sanjak in Eastern Turkey. It was a Catholic school of the Capucin Fathers, a Latin
order. Sherbetdjian graduated from the Capucin school in 1937 and then
moved to Aleppo, Syria, to continue his education."
"One year before the final deportation of the Musa Daghians from Musa
Dagh to Anjar, he travels to Beirut, Lebanon, to work in a tailor's
shop. In 1939 he joins his family and friends in Anjar."
"With the start of World War II, Sherbetdjian and 317 Armenian men from
Anjar joined the French army in Lebanon. At the time he was 18 years old
and his job was to man an anti-aircraft gun in the Bekaa valley. In 1940,
Jodan and parts of Syria were still under Turkish rule, and the French
and British were fighting against the Turkish army. The small 317-man
division, called the Division of Anjar, was fighting side by side with
the French army. Mr. Sherbetdjian was stationed near the Syrian-Lebanese
border, in a place called May-Saloon. He saw a lot of fighting, and in
1941 became a seargent in the French army."
"When the Turkish army surrendered, he returned to Anjar. He began
work as an assistant technician to civil engineers, building irrigation
canals for the village. His father was elected mayor of
Anjar."
"In 1943, at the age of 21, Mr. Sherbetdjian became the director of a
trade company that was manufacturing rugs near Anjar. During this time,
he met his future wife, Markarid. She was going to school with Mr.
Sherbetdjian's sister at the time. They got engaged in 1944, and were
married in 1946."
"In 1946-47, more than half of the population of Anjar immigrated to
Armenia, which was then part of the Soviet Union. This was due to the bad
economic conditions in Anjar, and also for patriotic reasons. However,
Mr. Sherbetdjian was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
that was against the immigration, so he and his family remained in Anjar.
He worked as a civil engineer building roads and bridges, as well as
helping to construct Beirut International Airport."
"He moved his family to Iraq in 1953, to work with a British company as a civil engineer. He moved back to Anjar in 1960. He was elected mayor of Anjar in 1963. During the early stages of the Lebanese civil war of 1975 he played an important role preserving the peace in the village". He was a trouble shooter.
"In 1989, Mr. Sherbetdjian and his wife decided to immigrate to the
United States, because of an illness. He decided to settle permanently
in Los Angeles, where his two sons resided".
"Mr. Sherbetdjian speaks five languages: Armenian, French, English,
Arabic, and Turkish. He has lived through some of the most fascinating
and tumultuous times in history."
He passed away on December 16, 2003, in Los Angeles.
Lori Panossian