by M. Salpi

A collection of autobiographical short stories from survivors of the 1915 Genocide of the Armenians, Our Cross was written by Aram Sahakian under the pen name M. Salpi. Sahakian, a medical officer in the Turkish army during the First World War, met many Armenian soldiers and officers who recounted to him the plight of their families following the Turkish deportations and massacres of their communities. After his capture by the British, Sahakian was appointed resident doctor at an Armenian refugee camp in Port Said, Egypt. There, as well as during his sojourns in Syria and Lebanon, he met numerous Armenian Genocide survivors struggling to rebuild their lives. Finding their experiences at turns heartbreaking and inspiring, he went on to portray them in his writings. Complementing the laser-sharp observations of a man of science with the compassion and sensitivity of someone who himself had walked the path of devastation, Sahakian’s stories pulsate with unforgettable images and characters, each a microcosm of a nation’s cataclysm but also its irrepressible will to endure.