Customer Reviews

Not Even My Name: A True Story

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Not Even My Name" is an extraordinarily powerful book that forced me to understand the Pontic, Assyrian, and Armenian genocides it describes in individual, human terms. After all, it's much easier to distance oneself from a holocaust than from the individuals who are its victims. In addition, the book has provided me with an important analog to the history of my own family, Greek Jews, many of whom suffered their own holocaust.

I intend to read this book with one of my classes, not only because it is a fine piece of literature, but also because it will remind us in a very compelling way how foolish it is to try to prove that one holocaust was bigger or more important than another. We all suffer from the "It's my dead rat" syndrome, a foolishness this book exposes fearlessly.

Equally important, the structure of the book, framed by a double odyssey and complex exodus, provides the experiences of the author, Thea Halo, and her mother, Sano, nee Themia, with just the right context to make the journey very worthwhile for the reader as well as for its two main characters. Halo's descriptions are beautifully drawn, and her inferences are understated, which is what makes them so powerful. This is a universal story "writ large" and passionately. It took me almost no time to see that it is also my story, placed in a different context, but one that I could recognize easily, in small ways as well as large. How fascinating, for instance, to discover that the Pontic Christians celebrated Easter with egg-breaking contests almost identical to the Greek-Jewish tradition during the Passover Seders.

The book is extremely well written and incredibly moving. I broke down and wept quite often as it drew me into the lives, the joys and tragedies, the incredible bravery of people we shamefully know almost nothing about; yet the cause of my tears was never the result of mere sentimentality or sensationalism. The bare facts themselves, powerfully recounted, are enough to make any reader weep for "Man's inhumanity to man," even as Sano, a character with her own imperfections, whose very name has been obliterated, triumphs over adversity, little by little; and reminds us that we can overcome even senseless acts of mass violence and our own dark side by following the example she sets of unending kindnesses and care for the "Family of People."

A must-read for all those interested in the history of modern Turkey. The genocide inflicted against the Christian inhabitants of Turkey -- Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians -- have had long-term ramifications that exist to this day. Reading Thea's story of her courageous mother reminded me of similar experiences that my Assyrian grandmothers and Armenian mother-in-law endured. Many thanks to Thea Halo for sharing her mother Sano's story of survival and providing the rest of the world with a true account of life under Ataturk.

Following the First World War, the government of Turkey, under the leadership of Gamel Ataturk, established a campaign of, which we in our modern usage call, ethnic cleansing. The goal of this government was "Turkey for the Turks." They set out to rid Turkey of non-Turkish ethnic groups which included the Armenians, Greeks (which included the Pontians, Ionians, and Kappadokians), and Assyrians. This campaign succeeded in eliminating, by means of death marches, massacre, murder -- genocide -- 1.5 million Armenians, 750,000 Assyrians, 360,000 Pontian Greeks. Many more survivors of this genocide went into exile in Syria, Russia, and some in the United States.Changing time and place, Thea Halo successfully tells the story of one individual who lived through and survived the uprooting of her family and people who were forced on a death march from their homes in the north of the country, eventually into Syria. This survivor, through a series of serendipitous events, wound up in New York City, finally safe from the persecutions of the Turkish leadership. She gave birth to 10 children, one of whom is the author of "Not Even My Name."Ms. Halo has accomplished one of the great values of life. She has honored her ancestors and kept their spirits and history alive. She has honored her mother Sano (Themia) even during her lifetime. Thea's mother, never forgot her family and her life in their Turkish home. Very quietly she would say their names over and over to herself. These memories are her treasure. Sano can have peace and pride that her story, and the stories of her people, have been added to the volumes of our human history. Honor is given, as well, to the tragedy and barbarity of Themia's early life and the success achieved by hard work, dedication and love given with the freedom and opportunity Sano found in her new life and home.Recently, during a book signing at a local Barnes & Noble, the senior Ms. Halo was asked why, after such pain and misery inflicted on her via the death march and the deprivation she suffered after her escape from the march she held no anger, no resentment, that could have damaged her later in her life Her response was that she believed in the beauty of life. That she never forgot her family. Although living in New York and raising a family with 10 children, was by no means easy she could pass on to her children her beliefin life's goodnessThea Halo has also claimed her own self. She now knows where her spirit comes from. She has publicly announced who she is and what she is founded on. Her life experience is one of the first generation New World Americans. Like many of us we have wondered w life was like in our parent's "old world" societies. What are we a continuity of? Thea has found these things for herself, and we as new Americans can learn from what she experiences in her found self. We learn that our New World experience is part of a continuity. Most importantly we learn that we don't have to make the same "old world" mistakes. We too can believe in the goodness of life, and making the most of the opportunities we create.I strongly recommend that this book be on one's priority reading list.

As a Pontian-Greek-American, reading this great book was like having my grandmother tell me her life's stories all over again. Couldn't put it down. Very infomative, touching and most of all a real treasure for my daughters. Now they can read this ideal book and learn about their great-grandparents history. Another very important point in this book is that the Pontian, Armenian and Assyrian Genocide, which is not written anywhere is revealed for everyone to be aware. The author wrote this book out of love for her mother, therefore there is no hatred involved. Even though the most important years of Sano's life were tragic, she still has nothing awful to say and is a very very lovely lady. I highly recommend reading this book, because its a true story and very well written. THANKS A MILLION THEA HALO.

I am John Halo the brother of Thea Halo. I am very proud of my sister for writing such a wonderful book, NOT EVEN MY NAME, that depicts such an accurate account of my mothers life, that discribeds the pain that my wonderful mother endured in her childhood and throughout her life. Thea Halo is a champion and a woman with a beautiful hart and a loving sole that deserves the recognition of a grate author, and I hope someone will relize the value of this true story and make a movie and documentary so to educate our generation and future generation from repeating this horror. I would also like to let everyone know that my mother was so grateful and proud that Thea wrote this book and is also grateful to all of the wonderful people that came to see her speak. And last I would like to say how proud and thankful I am of my sister Thea Halo for being my sister.
Sincerely
John Halo

This is a book of survival, tragedy and triumph. It is the story of one young girl's survival of one of the most brutal episodes in 20th century history - the ethnic cleansing committed by the Turkish authorities during and after World War 1 which claimed the lives of about two million citizens of the Ottoman Empire because they were of Greek,Armenian or Assyrian stock.

Yet, this book neither condemns, nor judges, nor impugns the Turkish people. Quite the contrary, the book is utterly devoid of bitterness. These awful things happened and they are not a judgment upon the Turkish people of today. Those times were those times:difficult and tragic for all.They were also tragic for the Turkish people who, as a result of these benighted policies, lost millions of its citizens - Greek, Armenian and Assyrian - who could and would have helped shape the future of Turkey in a more positive,productive manner. Instead, Turkey remained plunged in an isolated backwardness and darkness that it is just beginning to shed with difficulty.

As an aside, I find it troubling that...[some]...point to the bias of the author and mention "other" books that "correctly" paint the picture of that terrible time without actually citing one, single, solitary title. Well, here are two titles from two Americans who witnessed these "fictional genocides" first hand:

1) Henry Morgenthau's.."Ambassador Morgenthau Remembers"; and 2) American Consul George Horton's...."The Blight of Asia"(Don't forget my Turkish brothers......these are the writings of Americans - your loyal friends ).

To me, it seems high time that the Turkish people face the truth about their past as they move forward into a bright, open, progressive, just, honorable and peaceful future. If Germany can face the past directly and honestly...........so can Turkey. It is the young people of Turkey - the hope of Turkey's future - who should read this book.

This is a story so vividly told I felt I was there with Sano as she played in the fields in the country she called home. Her daughter Thea Halo captured the love she shared with her loving family, then heartbreak & sorrow that followed. Sano, by the grace of God, lived through the devastation and death of her family on The Death March out of Turkey. Her survival, being sold into marriage and her journey to America is so beautifully written it was difficult to put this book down. It was hard to hold back tears when you think of how Sano, her family and all the people of this land suffered so needlessly. Thea Halo should feel so proud that she wrote a book that needed to be written, and a story that needed to be told so that Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians as well as other nationalties will finally learn what happened to their ancestors. Sano was brave enough to recall this part of her life for her daughter to put in writing. This is truly an unforgettable account of history. A splendid narrative so well written.

Not Even My Name is probably one of the most powerful testiments ot the human spirit I've ever read, and one of the most powerfully written memoirs. It rates among the great classics of all time in story telling, style, visual clarity, psychological study, emotional restraint, and the sheer poetry of its language and rythmn. It grabs you by the eyeballs, the heart, and the mind, and doesn't let go, even long after you've turned the last page. It's images stay with me, and I still find myself reciting its poetry inside my head without even knowing it until I'm half-way through my cerebral recitation of a scene. It has even created in me a new awareness of my surroundings in my everyday life, and gave me a new feeling of tenderness for all living things.

The fact that it is a true story of a young Pontic Greek girl's survival of one of the most brutal and heartbreaking episodes in the 20th century, makes it even more valuable for the history it reveals to the world for the very first time. To think that a people can live in a land for 3,000 years, and then be slaughtered and driven out on long death marches in the span of a few short years, is mind boggling in itself. To be given such a first hand account of the tragedy as it unfolds, and witness the effects on the lives of victims and survivors, is a gift of great magnitude. We have been privileged here to, not only be made privy to the development of one brave survivor (the author's mother) as she leaves her ancestral lands in a remote part of the world, and finds her way to New York City where she raises 10 children, we also witness the eradiation of a culture and people from the minds of even the people of the courtry from which these historic Pontic Greeks lived for 3,000 years.

The brief historical sections, are packed with things I never knew about the international intrigues of the allies, the US, Germany and Turkey, that made it possible for Turkey to carry out its genocide of 3 million of its historic Christian populations: Greek, Assyrian, and Armenian, first by the Young Turk regime, and then by the brutal and ruthless, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, later known as Ataturk. Turkey's denial of such a genocide and it's manipulation of American Universities, keeps the shame of its past alive.

Bravo Thea Halo for your great contribution to the annuls of history, and bravo for your great gift to literature.

This is a story that needs to be told and heard. Hitler said something to the effect that no-one remembered Turkey's systematic extermination of the Armenians as a justification for Germany's attack on the Jews -- well, here is Turkey's other genocide that no one seems to know about. Enlightening and deeply personal, this is a must read for anyone remotely interested in the history of man.

Not Even My Name has engraved itself on my heart. I find myself sending it to friends, quoting it to those I love, and now, rereading it from front to back. Perhaps it is the bond of love, the sincerity, the truthfulness, and purity from which it sprang which gives it its power. Perhaps it is also, as the author's mother says, the way in which she held the memories silently in her heart for so long, distilling their essence into images and words that convey the potency of the experiences they reflect. Themia is a Pontic Greek, who, as a child, was driven from her Turkish village into a death march in which two sisters and her mother perished. It was not until recently, when her daughter fulfilled an innocent childhood promise to take her mother back to find her village, that the full story was told.

In so many ways, I feel as though they allowed me to slip quietly inside their worlds, their relationship, their lives. I can see everything ... the village, the wildflowers, the calf, the family. I can feel the first experiences, the leaving, the remembering, and the returning, with heart racing, wondering, against all logic, whether her mother might be standing there at the door of the house. I can feel the fear of touching the little calf who was there tied to a tree, lest it might vanish as all others had.

A poem tells how the family's lives unraveled during the march-many left in the dust. I am glad, so glad, that the "God's knot" in Themia's life held ... that she endured ... that she chose to share this story.

May we build a world in which our knowledge of the contents of human hearts becomes so profound that we will be incapable of injury. May we all become, as the author did, self-appointed protectors of those of pure spirit. May we come to understand, as Thea did, that true unconditional love springs not from naivete, but from wisdom and respect for the "tentative hold" we have upon those we love. May we not wait until people are gone to realize how much we love them.

I would encourage professors of literature, social work, and history to incorporate this book into their curricula. The writing is outstanding. The history we need to know. So many have come to this country, leaving behind a world of unimaginable horrors. Often, they keep their stories wrapped up within their hearts as they build a new life. This book testifies to the healing power, for both the individual and those they love, of the telling of the tale. It is only as such narratives are shared that we will truly come to know ourselves as a nation and as a world ... a "mine rich in gems of inestimable value".

I could repeat the whole book, were I to tell you every word that stirred my heart ....