Sara Anderson
Sara Anderson's great-grandmother, Natalie Israelian, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. As a descendant, Sara learned most information about the genocide through the stories she was told from Natalie.
Sara has always known about the Armenian Genocide and as she grew up she would learn more details. Sara does not have a specific memory of first being exposed to the Armenian Genocide or first learning it.
"It feels like it was in my bones, and it feels like something I always knew."
Two generations after the Armenian genocide, Sara Anderson knew about the genocide like it was her own identity. She has carried this with her even at a young age. At a very young age, at around 10 years old, Sara could talk about the genocide clearly and how the Armenian land had shrunk.
Although Sara cannot pinpoint a specific time or age she was first exposed to Armenian Genocide, she clearly remembers the day her great-grandmother, Natalie, told her and her twin sister about the time she escaped the genocide.
This picture portrays the day that Sara learned about her great-grandmother's journey. Natalie had never really told anyone her stories about the genocide and this day specifically, was special for Sara as she learned the reasons why.
"When [Natalie] was five, they left in the dark of night from their family orchard. She talked about going and standing in the orchard; it was dark and she couldn't see. And her aunt was there with her. I don't remember now the Armenian word for aunt, but great grandma said to us, "my aunt," in her Armenian accent: she was five when she came here, but it got thick. And she said, "my beloved aunt, my favorite aunt, I hugged her one last time and then we crept away in the dark... never to go back and never to see her again".
While recounting the story, Sara expressed her desire for narratives like these to be preserved and passed on to future generations. However, Sara observed how distressing it was for Natalie to retell these stories and did not want to pressure her into sharing more stories.