The Knock at the Door: A Mother's Survival of the Armenian Genocide - Softcover

Ahnert, Margaret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0825306833 ISBN 13: 9780825306839

Publisher: Beaufort Books, 2012

Synopsis

In 1915, Armenian Christians in Turkey were forced to convert to Islam, barred from speaking their language, and often driven out of their homes as the Turkish army embarked on a widespread campaign of intimidation and murder. In this riveting book, Margaret Ajemian Ahnert relates her mother Ester's terrifying experiences as a young woman during this period of hatred and brutality. At age 15, Ester was separated from her family during a forced march away from her birth town of Amasia. Though she faced unspeakable horrors at the hands of many she met, and was forced into an abusive marriage against her will, she never lost her faith, quick wit, or ability to see the good in people. Eventually she escaped and emigrated to America. Ahnert's compelling account of her mother's suffering is framed by an intimate portrait of her relationship with her 98-year-old mother. Ester's inspiring stories, told lovingly by her daughter, will give you a window into the harrowing struggle of Armenians during a terrible period in human history.

About this title

From the Publisher

From Library Journal

Ahnert writes of her relationship with her mother, Ester, as she approaches 99 in an Armenian nursing home in New York, integrating the experience of an adult daughter connecting with her elderly mother into the story of her mother's early years in Armenia. In the pre-World War I Ottoman Empire, Armenians, like other ethnic and religious minorities, lived a stable life defined by family, community, and religious ties. Ester's childhood in a rural town was characterized by hard work and enriched by traditional and seasonal customs and celebrations. That life was destroyed in 1915 when the Ottoman government expelled Armenians from their homes and confiscated their property. Once-friendly Turkish neighbors watched as thousands of Armenians were killed by soldiers or died of exhaustion or starvation during the forced evacuations. Ester survived by "marriage" to a Turk that included harsh treatment and heavy labor. She eventually escaped and emigrated to the United States. This memoir puts the tragic Armenian experience in personal terms and reminds us Americans of one early genocide as we try to respond to repeated global disasters. Recommended for its deft balance between personal story and historic tragedy.-Elizabeth R. Hayford

From the Author

Margaret Ahnert was born in New York City in 1938. Growing up, she loved to hear her mother's stories about her own childhood during the Armenian genocide in Turkey. She has a BA from Goddard College, and an MA from Goucher College. She has pursued a variety of careers: producing television documentaries, co-owning a hotel in Pennsylvania, acting as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and teaching art appreciation in high schools and elementary schools.

About this edition

• Publisher: Beaufort Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0825306833
• ISBN 13: 9780825306839
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 209