(Photo courtesy Zartarian family)

Roy Zartarian’s father, Charles Zartarian, is seen at center left in a family photograph taken sometime before the genocide in 1915. Charles’ father, Zakar Zartarian, is seen behind him. The two other children in the photograph are Charles’ sisters, both of whom were said to have died of starvation. Their names have been lost. The woman next to Zakar is his wife, Takoohi, who died after the family fled to Russia. The man seated to the left of Zakar is Roy’s great grandfather, Mushegh. Next to Mushegh is his wife, Roy’s great grandmother. Her name is lost. They are also assumed to have died in the genocide. The identity of the woman at far right is unknown.(Photo courtesy Zartarian family)

NEWINGTON — Roy Zartarian always knew his father and grandfather were survivors of the Armenian genocide during World War I, the 100th anniversary of which was marked last month.

His father Charles Zartarian bore the scars of his flight from the Turks: he had just one finger on one hand and two on the other — the result of amputations from frostbite, Zartarian was told. Report courant.com

But the story of their escape remained shrouded in mystery. Neither Zartarian’s father nor his grandfather ever spoke of it.

“I would ask my mother, and she would say he wouldn’t talk about what he experienced,” Zartarian, 68, said.

With his father’s early death of a heart attack in 1955, the tale seemed lost forever.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s. Zartarian’s interest in the Armenian genocide was growing. A database of of Hartford Courant stories had just been put online. On a whim, Zartarian searched his family name.

To his amazement, a Courant story from 1922 came up recounting in agonizing detail his father and grandfather’s horrific ordeal. Headlined “Armenian Boy, Minus Fingers, After Turkish Atrocity, Living Here,” it included a photograph of his father, then about 11.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Zartarian said, struggling to control his emotions. “I was in tears. It answered a lot of questions. I now know how my father and grandfather made it to this country.”

Zartarian’s grandfather was a successful blacksmith in Harput, today Elazig, in central Turkey, part of the Ottoman Empire, according to the article. Then came World War I.

The Ottoman Empire sided with Germany and found itself at war with Russia on its eastern border.

Fearing Armenians, who were Christians rather than Muslims, would side with the Russians, the Turks ordered their deportation and eventual slaughter. An estimated 1.5 million died.

For the Zartarian family, the nightmare began one day in 1915 when a crier went through their town ordering all Armenians to prepare to leave, the article says, an incident Zaratrian said he has corroborated.

The Turks forced-marched the Zartarians and their fellow Armenians to a village where Roy’s grandfather found a Kurd who agreed to hide the family for $500, the Zartarians told the Courant. Over that winter, Zartarian’s father’s two sisters died of starvation, they said.

The article goes on to describe the family’s escape to a Russian-occupied town and later capture by the Turks. Seeing his father’s frozen fingers, a Turkish soldier chopped them off, the article says.

Zartarian said he’s been unable to confirm the story independently.

“I don’t know whether that was embroidered or not for the sake of the news coverage back then,” he said.

The family escaped to Russia where Zartarian’s grandmother died. His father and grandfather, the family’s only survivors, then made their way to Istanbul. There, they learned of a relative in Hartford who sent money for passage to America.

Asked by the Courant reporter in 1922 what he wanted to do for a living, Zartarian’s father replied that he wanted to be a lawyer. He fulfilled his ambition, attending Harvard Law School and becoming an immigration lawyer.

In spite of his disability, Charles Zartarian was able to button buttons, tie his tie, play golf and write. His penmanship was superb, Roy Zartarian said. His father’s old fountain pen is among his most prized possessions.

“His handwriting with two fingers was better than mine with five,” Zartarian said.

Turkey has yet to accept responsibility for the massacre of the Armenians during World War I. Its government continues to deny the genocide.

Turkey still could and should be held responsible its crimes against the Armenians, Zartarian said.

Zartarian has joined other Armenians in Connecticut and worldwide in commemorating the 100th anniversary of the genocide this year. He attended a recent event at the state Capitol and wears a purple wristband emblazoned with a Forget-Me-Not flower and the words, “We Will Never Forget.”

Zartarian talked of the importance of remembrance and human resilience.

“For the longest time, I kept this quiet,” Zartarian said. “With the 100th anniversary, I think it’s time to bring this story out and show how people can overcome and survive and make a new life for themselves.”