Born and raised in the village of Golpashan, east of Urmia, my father, Mishael Shumon Enviya, was a published poet, a writer, and most of all, a voracious reader. His native language was vernacular Sureth (spoken by Assyrians), in which he put down his memoir poems, his sermons, and his letters.

My grandmother, Susan (or Shooshan), was Assyrian. My grandfather, Vartan, was born to an Armenian father and an Assyrian mother. Susan’s father died young, leaving behind his wife, Daya, and five daughters.

My name is June Ishtar Jako. I am a mother and a grandmother living with my family in Sydney, Australia. I migrated to Australia in 1984 under the humanitarian program, after living in France for nearly three years. Before that, I left my birthplace, Baghdad, where I spent the first twenty years of my life. Australia became my second home—a place where I was finally able to complete my higher education and rebuild a future.

Iniar Saoul, also known as Ino Jajoo, was born in 1902 in the village of Birijeh in the district of Tkhuma in what is known today as southern Turkey. She was born to her father, Sawa, and mother, Dora. Sawa was well-versed in herbal and naturopathic remedies.

When the supplies from the British and the Russians dried out the Assyrian armed men retreated to their villages to protect their homes and families. The reaction from Kurds and Turks was so overwhelming that the armed Assyrians had to fight off attacks on their villages, and help their families flee south alongside the Iraq/Iran border.

I’m Rose Sargis. I was born in Iran in 1914. War had just begun.

Matilda Kachachi was born in 1918 and passed away in 2013. After arriving in Sydney, Australia, at the age of 80, she shared her experience of the Simele Massacre of 1933 during a heartfelt two-hour family gathering. Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, she recounted the events that had shaped her early life.