Sophie Mekhitarian emigrated to the United States in 1949; one of thousands of displaced Armenians resettled after World War II thanks to the efforts of the American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians, or ANCHA as it later became known.
Her family had fled Soviet Russia and spent time in a military camp in Germany in a kind of limbo, she says, “a hopeless state.” Eventually, with the help of ANCHA, her family made it to New York, then Los Angeles, and finally settled in Fresno.
“My parents were very grateful for that life,” says Mekhitarian, who has spent the past three years honoring the work of ANCHA and its founders, with a memorial to be dedicated in a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in downtown Fresno.
American National Committee to Aid the Homeless Armenians (ANCHA) chairwoman Sophia Matewosian Mekhitarian, left, and co-chairman Varoujan Der Simonian, right, seen alongside the 13-foot memorial that will honor profiles in Armenian history and will be inaugurated in a ceremony on Sunday. April 16 at the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church. The public is invited to the ceremony, which will be followed by a reception. Photographed on Wednesday April 12, 2023 in downtown Fresno.
The memorial is a black granite slab more than 4 meters high, adorned with images of “Ancha’s triumphant trio”: founders George Mardikian, Suren Saroyan and Brigadier General Haig Shekerjian.
These men were true humanists, Mekhitarian says, and hold a special place in the community of displaced Armenians in Fresno and across the country.
Most notably, Mardikian gained national notoriety for his humanitarian work with the US government. In 1953 President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Freedom.
Mardikian is particularly revered, says Mekhitarian.
She recalls her father seriously discussing donating a kidney to Mardikian, who once in his life needed a transplant. Ultimately, her father didn’t have to make that choice.
There has already been a large influx of volunteers from the community, she says.
“He did so much good”
In addition to his philanthropic and humanitarian work, Mardikian was a restaurateur who popularized Armenian food in America at Omar Khayyam’s, a fairly famous restaurant on Powell Street in San Francisco. Before that, he ran the restaurant on Van Ness Avenue in Fresno and served on the board of Holy Trinity Church in Fresno, which became a meeting place for Armenians as they settled in the community.
“We all belong to the same church,” says Mekhitarian.
“The Church that took care of us.”
The parish has taken in complete strangers, she says, “one family after the other.” It helped them find places to work and live.
The church and others like it are also honored with a special plaque on the monument, as well as several unsung heroes who prevented the deaths of Armenians, particularly their prisoners of war, during WWII.
The memorial is intended to serve as both a reminder and an inspiration, Varoujan tells The Simonian of Fresno’s Armenian Museum, which facilitated its installation and dedication. Certainly, it aims to educate the wider public about ANCHA and the role it has played in relocating Armenian communities to the United States.
But beyond that, “it’s a calling to serve,” he says.
“It’s a great example of serving humanity.”
Archivist of the American National Committee to Aid the Homeless Armenians Rosie Megrdichian Bedrosian (left), Chair Sophie Mekhitarian (center) and Co-Chair Varoujan Der Simonian (right) pose in front of a model of the 13-foot-tall monument in Armenian on Wednesday -Holy Trinity Apostolic Church, April 12, 2023 in downtown Fresno.
Originally published Apr 15, 2023 at 7:30 am
