Echoes Of My Life

About the Book

About the Author

Ezegiel Dedeyan Keochekian was born at the turn of the century in Soyutli, Turkey, to a warm, extended Armenian family. In this memoir, he relates in amazing detail his almost idyllic childhood, the social and cultural life of his community and the constant oppressive pressure exerted by the ruling Turkish officials. In 1915, Keochekian’s tranquil world turned upside down. His family, as all Armenians in the Turkish Empire, became victims of the first genocide of the 20th century. The author recalls, in harrowing eyewitness accounts, the inhumane deportation of his family and friends, and of his grief and helplessness as he watched most of them die from cruelty, starvation, illness and overwork. After much hardship, sustained throughout by his unwavering faith, the author makes his way to America. He describes the challenges faced by a new immigrant trying to work and raise a family during the depression. His story is representative of the struggle of many immigrants escaping totalitarian governments around the globe for a better life in America. The memoir was meticulously and lovingly translated from the original handwritten Armenian script by the author’s son Sarkis Keochekian.