THE ARMENIANS OF ROMANIA: COMMUNITY WITH A PROUD PAST IS DWINDLING
Grisha Balasanyan

2010/03/22 | 16:12

Mixed marriages and cultural assimilation are today’s norms

It was a Sunday, exactly 10 in the morning. From one of the streets
in Bucharest, the Rumanian capital, one could hear the lilting strains
of a church liturgy being performed.

A few older women wearing head coverings walked towards the music. In
tow were a few youngsters. They hastened to their destination
Hreshdagabedats Mayr Yegeghetsi -"the Holy Archangel Armenian Church.

Strada ArmeneascÄ~C ("Armenian Street")

Ten people were in the church as the priest said mass. I tried to speak
to a few of them. I couldn’t make out what the women were saying in
their emotional Rumanian response after I told them I had come from
Armenia. Only one of them could manage to say, in halting Armenian
that she too was of the same race. I later found out that while all
the people in the church that Sunday were Armenian, none could speak
the language. The woman, who with great difficulty answered "Yes Hye
em", began to weep and quickly left the church.

Only 2,000 Armenians remain

Outside, in the church yard, a few youngsters were talking. Their main
spot to meet is the church. Today, there are about 2,000 Armenians
left in Rumania. Their numbers are decreasing since the young people
leave for Western Europe.

The Armenian Church in Bucharest is quite imposing and the history
of its construction is interesting as well. In the spring of 1910
the architect Dimitri Maimarolu came to Armenia.

For three months he studied the architecture and sculptures of the
Etchmiadzin Cathedral. On the advice of Toros Toromanyan, the Rumanian
architect built the Holy Archangel Church in Bucharest on an exact
replica of the Etchmiadzin blueprint, only smaller. The church grounds
remind one of a small Armenian enclave, replete with cultural annexes.

On the grounds you’ll find the 7th Grade Misakian-Kesimian School,
the Dudian Cultural Center, a fountain I memory of the Shahim Family,
a bust of General Antranik Ozanian and a stone-cross dedicated on
the 90th anniversary of the 1915 Genocide.

There are two Armenian publications: "Ararat" (in Romanian) and
"Nor Ghiank" (in Armenian), both subsidized by the government.

The Dudian Cultural Center in the church yard houses a library and
museum with valuable artifacts. The library was founded in 1927 and
was originally housed in the Armenian school. A separate building
was constructed in 1942 and all the books and display items were
relocated there. The cultural center was built later on.

Valuable library in need of funding

Arshaluys Baronian, who manages the Dudian House, told Hetq that many
Armenian books and manuscripts were destroyed during the communist
reign. In 1963, the cultural center was closed, falling victim to a
"nationalist" bout of the local communist regime. All the books and
materials were transferred elsewhere. The center was reopened in 1987.

Baronian assumed the job of managing the museum in 2002 and has been
directing operations at the library for the past 18 months. None of
the books had ever been catalogued. She says that job has finally been
completed. Many of the old books had been warehoused in the basement
for years.

Many have been damaged from moisture and frequent moving."I can’t
give an exact figure of the damaged books because the levels of needed
repair differ. We’ve already catalogued 1,000 of the old texts. These
were printed during the years 1512-1850. Cataloguing them proved
to be a difficult tasks since many no longer had face pages and we
couldn’t tell when or where they had been printed," Baronian said.

The library has entered into an agreement with the Romanian
Metropolitan Library to digitalize the oldest and most valuable
Armenian books.

Communist rule forced many to flee

By 1940 there were about 40,000 Armenians in Romania. It was a rather
heterogeneous, but very much alive community, with a long history and a
rich heritage. The Second World War brought a new, communist regime to
Romania. In 1945 some Armenians from Romania moved to Soviet Armenia.

"Tragically, there is little left of the Armenian community of Romania,
regarded as one of the oldest with a rich cultural legacy. I say it’s
tragic because Armenians never moved back to Armenia but to other
countries throughout the world," Baronian said.

She told us there were only 2,000-3,000 Armenian left in the country
and that most were getting on in years. This is one of the reasons
why so few go to church on Sundays. But they make a point to attend
services on the major holidays, Christmas and Easter and for April
24th memorial services.

You won’t find many young Romanian-Armenians. Most have left for
greener pastures in Western Europe. Only a few scattered Armenians
remain in the outlying regions. The community, what’s left of it,
is concentrated in Bucharest.

Arshaluys Baronian assured us that the Romanian people are very fond
of Armenians since the community is quite law-abiding. You’ll never
hear of an Armenian being arrested for a crime, she claimed.

Armenian language steadily losing ground

Mixed marriages are now the norm within the community. While there is
no outright pressure on Armenians to conform to the majority culture,
Armenian is gradually being spoken less and less. The seniors still
can speak in the mother tongue but not the younger generations. In an
attempt to stem the tide of assimilation, Armenian language classes
are conducted at the cultural house.

In Romania, it’s mainly those from the RoA who maintain the Armenian
language. Baronian doesn’t see the situation as catastrophic but
confesses that the threat that Armenian will be forgotten all together
is quite real.

"Armenian is preserved much better in Muslim countries. Where there
are perceived external threats, people unite and an internal defense
mechanism kicks in. Here, Armenians saw themselves as far removed
from such threats. No one created problems for Armenians. Thus,
the language is slowly dying out," Baronian said.

The Armenian library, according to the will of Hovsep Dudian, belongs
to the Armenian Church and is financed by the local Diocesan Council.

The church receives financial assistance from the Romanian government
and a certain portion of the funds is allocated towards cultural
activities.

"The Armenian union is also financed by the government, but it’s
not enough. I’d like to redesign the museum and the library, but I
just don’t have the means. Even though funds are allocated for book
restoration and for certain projects, we’re not getting the amount
we’d like to," says the center’s manager.

Baronian says that if the necessary funding comes through, the book
displays will be improved to present the valuable texts correctly.

"Some funding has been made available for refurnishing the library,
but the display cases need changing. You can’t continue to store
books on 60 year-old cases. We restore a book but then it eventually
reverts back to its damaged state after sitting on those old shelves."

Regarding the socio-economic situation of Armenian in Romania,
Baronian said that you won’t find an Armenian without a job and in
need of a handout.