Tashchiyan Grigori & Pran ; Son: Tigran ; Daughter: Mkhikyan Asmik (Tashchiyan)

Tashchiyan, Grigori Tashchiyan, Pran Mkhikyan-Tashchiyan, Asmik Tashchiyan, Tigran Grigori and Pran Taschiyan lived in Turkey and each had survived the Turkish persecutions and mass murder of Armenians during World War I. The victims included Pran's first husband, her two children and most of her family. The tragedy left an indelible mark on the consciousness and memories of both. The circumstances of renewed war led each to Simferopol in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of the Russian Federation (today, Ukraine). They met there and founded a new family. Their neighbors were families of various nationalities: Russian, Ukrainian, Tatar, Jewish, Armenian, Greek, Bulgarian and others. Among them was the family of Stepan Kucherenko with its numerous children, one of whom, Evgenia, was married to David Golberg. Evgenia and David had two children: Anatoly, born in 1935, and Rita, born in 1938. When Germany invaded Russia, David was drafted into the Red Army, while Evgenia remained at home with the children. The Germans seized Simferopol on November 1, 1941. In the second week of December they began murdering all the Jews in the area, including the parents of David. Evgenia returned to the home of her parents. The Kucherenko family was well aware that Evgenia’s children were in danger, and during four months, they were hidden in the homes of various family members and friends. At the beginning of 1942, Pran, a neighbor of Evgenia, proposed to hide the children in her house, which was enclosed by a high wall, had a gate that was always locked and was guarded by a dog. Thus from February 1942 onwards, young Anatoly and Rita grew up together with the children of Grigori and Pran Tashchiyan, Asmik, b.1925 and Tigran, b.1929. During the hunt for hidden Jews, the Tashchiyan children would sound the alarm and the family would hide Anatoly and Rita in various places in the house: in the cellar, in the attic, in the storeroom and even in the doghouse. They survived in this manner for more than two years, until the city was liberated on April 13, 1944. After then, Anatoly and Rita were reunited with their parents. Following the Liberation in June, the Soviet authorities deported the Tashchiyan family to a collective farm (kolkhoz) in the distant district of Kemerovo. In 1947, Grigori, and his children Tigran and Asmik, escaped to Armenia, but two years later they were arrested and sent back to Kemerovo. In 1956, they were forced to go to Armenia, but not to their home in Crimea. During those hard times, and for many years afterwards, the survivors remained in contact with their rescuers. Asmik Mkhikyan-Tashchiyan told Yad Vashem that her mother had told her that she had been motivated by her personal experience and the persecution of her people: "Having witnessed the Armenian Genocide, we decided to save them”, she said. On November 21, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Grigori and Pran Tashchiyan and their children Asmik Tashchiyan-Mkhikyan and Tigran Tashchiyan, as Righteous Among the Nations.