Sarabian/Torigian

Sarop Sarabian and Badaskan Torigian were born in the town of Parchanj, Kharpert in Western Armenia and wed in 1921 in California where they raised their son Sarkis and built a farm business in Sanger, California that is still run by the family in 2022.

Badaskan’s recorded story came to the Armenians of Whitinsville project in the Fall of 2020 from the Shoah Foundation’s collection at the University of Southern California in response to the project’s request to share any recordings with a link to Whitinsville. The tape had been partially translated but needed some work before it could be subtitled and included on the website. When project team member Lisa Misakian volunteered to work on the translation, she had no idea that listening to and translating this tape would connect Badaskan’s mother to her own family as well as Badaskan’s sister to the Der Torosian family. While Badaskan stayed in Whitinsville for only a few months before leaving for California to join her surviving brothers, her sister Nonik remained in Whitinsville with her husband Kirkor Der Torosian, eventually joining Badaskan in California. You can find photos of Badaskan and Nonik with the Parchanji’s of California group in the Village of Parchanj Houshamadyan book under the Community section of the website in addition to the photos in this family collection.

The interview was recorded in February 1979 and was conducted by Raffi Hovanessian in Sanger California. Badaskan shares her memories of village life from her childhood in the years leading up to the genocide which would take many of her family members. Her miraculous survival, along with that of her sister Nonik, is an inspiring recollection of her determination, service to others, and love of life.

Before uploading this recording to the website, the Armenians of Whitinsville project reached out to Badaskan’s grandsons and shared the subtitled recording with them. David wrote: “Thank you so much for tracking down the Sarabian Family. Our Grandmother was very instrumental in our upbringing. ,,, Thanks to all the volunteers who took the time to dedicate to this important project. Looking forward to discovering our heritage and maybe someday we will meet. “ .Michael added: “Over the years of growing up with Grandma Badaskan, we learned that she endured a lot of trials to get to where she was. But, she was never a bitter person. We were blessed to have her as our grandmother. “