Vahe Danielyan (; born 14 January 1920) first served in the Fifth Army infantry in Ukraine during World War II and was captured no less than five times. After surviving in German and Italian prisoner of war camps, Danielyan was charged with treason by the Soviet government in 1947 and was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a Soviet concentration camp. He was awarded the Prisoner of War medal (6 times) and a Victory Medal from the Soviet Union.

Early life

Vahe Danielyan was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

on 14 January 1920. His father, Daniel Danielyan, who was born in Constantinople and a graduate of the French Medical Academy, was a doctor and a therapist. His mother, Eliza Ohanyan, was a housewife who was born in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

. The family would move to

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

in 1924 because his father wanted to "serve his people" and not the Turks. Danielyan attended the local Armenian school for three years. At the age of 20 in 1940, Danielyan was recruited and sent to

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

for Officer's School. He graduated with high honors. Danielyan speaks Armenian, English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, Turkish, French and Spanish.

World War II

After his graduation,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out. He was sent to the front and assigned to the Fifth Army. When Danielyan arrived, fighting soon commenced between German and Soviet forces near

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Danielyan describes the event as follows: Danielyan managed to escape from that camp the very next day with the help of some of his friends who lifted up the barbed wire. He "snaked" his way through and escaped. Danielyan would later remark, "However, the guards were shooting at me, but I was able to get away. So I made my way east with the intention of joining my army." While walking on foot, Danielyan was captured five times by the German and Italian troops and sent to five POW camps. Danielyan managed to survive and escape from the other camps he had joined. He found that escaping the Italian camps were easier since they were less strict. When German troops arrived in

Rostov on Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of th ...

, Danielyan lost hope of reaching the Soviet frontier. He turned back and went to a town called

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

, hoping to find food, water and shelter: Famine was widespread throughout the town and Danielyan had no other choice but to go to Germany. While in Germany, he worked in a pipe manufacturing plant and lived in a camp in the Saar region on the bank of the

Rhine River The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Cons ...

Post-war period

In the summer of 1945, after the defeat of the Germans, Danieyan returned home to Armenia and worked as an electrical technician. In 1947 he was charged by the Soviet government for being a traitor and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a Soviet prison camp: Danielyan was sent north of Siberia to

Ukhta Ukhta (; , ''Ukva'') is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Chibyu'' (until 1939). History Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known in the 17th century. In the mid- ...

where he would build factories, towns, buildings, mines and power stations. After working in Ukhta for 5 years, he and other prisoners were transferred to another camp. From there he was transferred still farther north to the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

, 2,000 kilometers north of

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, to build the town of

Norilsk Norilsk ( rus, Нори́льск, p=nɐˈrʲilʲsk) is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula, around 90 km east of the Yenisei, Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Norilsk is 300 ...

. He was in the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

near the North Ocean. When Stalin died in 1953, Danielyan was released from the camps and head back to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, Armenia. He married Nyna Khoetsyan in 1959. They have one daughter, Gohar. In 2015, Danielyan was interviewed, at the age of 94, about his adherence to a

raw food diet Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include ...

, which he attributes to his longevity. His diet is composed of mainly raw fruit and vegetables, and he refrains from eating meat.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danielyan, Vahe 1920 births Living people Military personnel from Istanbul Armenian people of World War II Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet prisoners of war Soviet Armenians Turkish emigrants to the Soviet Union Armenian men centenarians