PRESIOUS DOCUMENTS OF THE VICTORY

Old books and photographs, postcards and certificates are, of course, priceless fragments of some other world that have brought with them the scent and breath of the past century. Ms. Rosalia finds it difficult to find photos from her 97-year-old personal archive, saying there has been no shortage of memorable episodes in her life, but not so often. However, the most expensive episodes of a century-old biography have soon been immortalized in frontline photos.

“I don’t have many pictures from the front because we didn’t have the opportunity to take pictures,” says Ms. Rosalia.

From Tbilisi to Stalingrad, from Novorossiysk to Czechoslovakia, and the last stop was Armenia. She met her husband, Sen. Lt. Nalbandian, in Czechoslovakia, then married and decided to settle in their homeland. She says that her love for the homeland is a feeling that has accompanied her throughout her life. She still remembers the meeting with great Georgian artists Khorava and Vasadze, which was one of the turning points in his life.

“They said that we must find our way in life, that the greatest virtue of a person is patriotism, the homeland is the only one for which everything can be sacrificed. We had a warm conversation until late in the evening and returned home, and in the morning we learned that a war had broken out.”

In the morning, the radio said that the country was at war. The father, who was from Kars, who lost his homeland, family and home, did not resist his daughter’s decision to voluntary join the army. In the morning, a new page of life was opened for Rosalia Abgaryan.

“Now that I remember, I am amazed, an 18-year-old girl, with a backpack and overcoat, I got into the train car in the cold and reached Voroshilovgrad. My legs were so swollen that it was impossible to take off my shoes. War does not pity anyone, it equates everyone.”

Only now that he looks at some of her photos from the war years, she realizes that they are photos taken in the intervals between heavy fighting and great victories. One is in Voroshilovgrad, the other in Hungary.

 By NAIRA HAMBARUMYAN