Century-Old Rug Recalls U.S. Help During Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Massacre of 1915 was one of the most gruesome events in world history, with its death toll approaching 1.5 million. As the world remembers the start of the tragic event exactly 100 years ago on April 24, a news report from BBC revealed how an ancient rug found in a San Diego house has its roots tied to the Armenian Genocide.

Elibet Kunzler resides in a home where an exquisite rug was found by Maggie Mangassarian-Goschin, who works as director of the Ararat-Eskijian Museum in Mission Hills, CA. The rug was described to have around 800,000 hand-tied knots with unique rug patterns such as leopards, deer and plants. Instantly, the museum director thought it was something special. “I had a feeling, that there was something with this rug, because I had never seen anything like this in my entire life,” Mangassarian-Goschin said. The rug was later identified as a piece of remembrance from the survivors of the genocide in Armenia.

According to history, U.S. aid from the The American Committee for Syrian and Armenian Relief allowed for Armenians to be evacuated away from the deadly situation and hosted in Ghazir, Lebanon. It was in this place where Armenian orphans were taught rug weaving in order to give them financial supply. The Swiss missionary behind this cause was Jacob Kunzler, the father of the San Diego home’s owner who now owns the historic rug.

The Kunzler rug is just one of the various creations of the Armenian refugees. Then U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was also given a similar rug in 1925 as a gesture of thanksgiving.

[ Image from BBC / Keegam Shamlian ]