Marie Madeleine Salibian: we were the only ones who survived

PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 23, Los Angeles Times published the story of Marie Madeleine Salibian, a 96-year-old Armenian Genocide survivor.

Marie Madeleine was just a baby when, in 1915, her father’s Turkish friend pounded on the family’s front door in Aintab, Armenia, to warn them of advancing Turkish soldiers.

“He hid us,” Salibian said. “In the morning, he puts us on some donkeys and sent us in the opposite direction.”

The family eventually made their way to Syria, where they lived first in a rural village and then in the city of Aleppo. Salibian later studied nursing at the American University of Beirut, and went on to a nursing career in Beirut and Southern California. The Armenian Genocide survivor, now 96 years old and a resident of Glendale, was among the featured guests this week at a commemorative event at Glendale High school that marked the mass killings.

“It is very important to remember, my aunties and uncles were all gone,” Salibian said. “We were the only ones who survived.”