=====================================================
                      THE   L   I   G   H   T   H   O   U   S   E
=====================================================

              THEY CAUGHT US AT NIGHT

At midnight, there were sudden and hard knocks at our
window.  The first to respond to the knocking was my
elder sister Marta, a 10th grade student. As she moved
the shade and stared into the darkness, she recoiled
with fear and fell back into the room.  "Mommy! Mommy!,"
she cried.  "There are soldiers in the streets, they
are armed."  Hard and impatient pounding on the
window pane sounded again.  Now, one could hear
pounding on the door too.  My father walked to the door
and asked, "Who is it?"  "It's your friends, open
fast?"  Father opened it.  They came in. "The friends"
were an officer with a gun in his hand and a military
bag on his shoulder and two soldiers with rifles.
The rifles' bayonets were exposed.  The soldiers
waited at the door while the officer stormed into the
room.  "Turn on the lights!", he commanded.  My
father obeyed.  The younger children, my brother Adam,
7, my sister Sophia and my niece Valya, both 10-years-
old, and myself, 4 1/2, were still asleep.  The
officer commanded again, "Wake all people up and put
your clothes on."
 

In a few minutes, the half-dressed children and adults
were ordered into one room.  We, the younger children,
were terrified and crying.  The officer opened the
map case and took out a list.  He started checking and
comparing our names with those on the list.  Nobody
was absent from home.  "Be ready in 30 minutes.  You
have not one minute more than that.  Move! A truck for
your transportation will be here in a while.  Take all
that you want to except jewelry and alcohol." It is
very difficult to describe the commotion at that
moment.  The children were screaming and crying.  The
officer was yelling and the women were wailing and
sobbing.  They were hardly able to collect the things
we needed for emergency...
 

We knew that we were not the only family to be caught
at night by the KGB officers and special troops.  As
a matter of fact, the KGB troops surrounded and
evacuated our entire Assyrian village...Night operation
was finally over.  Officers got in the trucks' cabs
next to drivers and soldiers got up in the trucks
by two's, and the vehicles full of people started
moving.  A caravan of some 70 to 75 trucks had
formed a long chain that moved over the road...So the
column of trucks with Assyrians, sons of Mesopotamia,
moved in unknown direction with unknown purpose.  This
tragedy occured in the dark night of June 13, 1949.
Special troops were given the orders to "clean" the
whole of Azerbaijan of Assyrians, so this order from
"the top" had been strictly fulfilled.
 

Iliya L. Vartanov
An excerpt from his newly published book:
"Assyrians in The Siberian Exile"
see Nineveh Magazine, VOl 13, No 3
 

[In 1949 Stalin charged Assyrian-Russians with
treason and ordered them to be exiled to Siberia.
Thousands of Assyrians were moved from their villages
in the Russian Azerbaijan to the cold and desolate
region of Siberia, where they continued to live as
enemies of the state.  Mr. Vartanov was released in
1976, while his sisters and hundreds of other Assyrians
perished in exile.]
 

=====================================================
               G O O D   M O R N I N G   B E T - N A H R A I N
=====================================================
 

   BERNADIT AND YOUKHANA'S OPERATIONS A SUCCESS
 

(ZN: Detroit)  Bernadit Jalal, 8, and Youkhana Nano, 6,
from northern Bet-Nahrain are both healthy and well,
after the success of their operations earlier this
month.  Bernadit had a hole in her heart and Youkhana
needed a major reconstruction of his rib cage.  The
children were brought from northern Bet-Nahrian with
the help of the Assyrian Aid Society of America and
were staying with their relatives in Detroit, Michigan.
The operations took place at the Texas Children's Hospital
in Houston.  Bernadit and Youkhana are accompanied by
their mothers with whom they will soon return to the
Assyrian homeland.  Metro Detroit has a population of
nearly 100,000 Assyrians of whom a majority are of
Chaldean faith.
 

 KING OF BEERS TO SUPPORT ASSYRIAN CHILDREN IN B/N
 

(ZNNQ: Detroit) Anheuser Busch Company, maker of the
Bud and Bud Light beers, will donate a portion of the
proceeds from beer cans sold in the United States to the
Assyrian children in northern Bet-Nahrain.  The amount
is estimated to reach one million U.S. dollars.  The
funds will be distributed through the Assyrian Aid
Society of America.  Anheuser Busch, headquartered in
St. Louis, Missouri, has also printed the second
edition of the Budweiser Mesopotamian Calendar which
is currently being distributed to all Assyrian
organizations.  The full-color Calendar celebrates
the invention of beer in Mesopotamia and depicts
important events in the history of Bet-Nahrain.
 

[Zenda encourages its over 300 readers from 11 countries
around the world to spend the next few minutes in writing
a note of appreciation to Anheuser Busch Company for
their generous contribution.  An invention from the past
is saving the lives of today's Assyrian children. Please
write your comments to budmaster@budweiser.com]
 

      MORE CASUALTY IN THE TURKEY-PKK FIGHTING
 

(ZNRU: Turkey) Turkish security forces killed 36 Kurdish
rebels in two days of clashes in northern Bet-Nahrain.
32 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels were killed in
sporadic clashes that began Friday night and continued
into Saturday in a rugged region sandwiched between
Arcak, Dicle and Alacakaya towns in the Turkish provinces
of Bingol, Elazig and Tunceli. Reuters reports that four
Turkish soldiers were also killed in the clashes, which
broke out when troops planned to raid 70 PKK guerrillas
in the region.  The recent incidents were part of a
massive military drive against PKK rebels surrounded in
the mountainous area since early April when the Turkish
army launched an offensive.  The army has so far killed
174 rebels and lost 33 soldiers.
 

=====================================================
                                       S U R F S  U P !
=====================================================
"First I would like to thank you for a great weekly
online newsletter. It really lightens up my Mondays
and keeps up my spirit during the whole week.  I have
two questions:
 

1.  The Assyrians in Sweden have a monthly review
called Hujada, issued by the Assyrian Federation in
Sweden, and I was wondering if we may use some of your
articles in our magazine. Of course, when using an
article,  we will refer to to you and the author of the
article.
 

2.  I think it would be great if Zenda had a homepage,
where you could see and read all the newsletters issued
during the year. Is it OK for me to create such a
homepage? The purpose is to offer Assyrians in Sweden,
who do not have an E-mail account, the opportunity to
read your excellent newsletter on WWW.  My best wishes
to all of you."
 

Robil Haidari
Assyrian Youth Association in Sweden
http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/assyr.html
 

[Any article or news item in Zenda may be published for
use in an Assyrian magazine, newsletter, or radio & TV
program.  We only ask that a proper reference to ZENDA be
made in your entries (i.e. "ZN" at the beginning of each
article).  Mr. Jeanclaude Toma of Milpitas, California has
kindly offered his assistance in creating a homepage for
ZENDA.  Your organization in Sweden will be contacted in
near future for a joint cooperation in maintaining the
contents of this homepage.  Thank you in advance.]
 

"Let me begin by introducing myself.  My name is Vivian
Hammi and I live in San Deigo.  I would like also to say
that it gives me great pleasure to read Zenda every week.
It is a great thing where Assyrians/Chaldeans from all
over the world can find out about each other.  One thing
caught my eyes and that is the Assyrina Olympics of
California.  Can you please send me some more info on this
event.  I have not heard of such thing taking place here
in our beautiful city and would like to find out more about
it.  Keep up the good work and God Bless."
 

Vivian Hammi
San Diego, California
 

[The Assyrian Olympics of California is an event held
every year during the Independence Day Weekend (July 4)
and sponsored by an affiliate of the Assyrian United
Organizations of California.  This year, the 2 affiliate
organizations in San Diego and the Assyrian organization
in Los Angeles will sponsor this event from July 4 through
7th.  Last year over 400 Assyrian athletes from 5 cities
in California competed in over 10 different sporting
events.  ZENDA will publish a feature article on the
history and importance of this event in our a future issue.]
 

                --------------------
"There is not a single Monday that goes by and I don't
think: Zenda has done it again. I don't know how you do
it... I just wanted to mention to you the fact that we
use the word 'Olympics' in our summer games, is a clear
violation of the copyright laws, and I've heard stories
about organizations being taken to court for that, and
actually loosing. Please advise our friends whom are
involved with these games against using this copyrighted
term, and suggest another term such as 'Games' or 'Sports
Convention'.  Thanks for your efforts, and keep in touch."
 

Emil Bebla
San Jose, California
 

[We contacted the officials of the Assyrian United
Organizations of California, and Mr. Carlo Ganjeh replied:
"We hope that one day the attention of the International
Olympics Committee will turn to us (Assyrians) and with
a lawsuit such as the one your reader has mentioned in his
remarks we will gain the recognition our nation deserves
in athletic competitions."  Mr. Ganjeh is the president of
the AUOC, the official sponsor of the Assyrian Olympics
Games in California.]
 

                --------------------
"...I am an Assyrian/American living in Chicago and have
read some of your newsletters and find them timely and
interesting. Thanks for any reply."
 

Paul Newey, Esq.
Chicago, Illinois
 

                --------------------
"I want to thank you for sending me ZENDA. It was a pleasant
surprise to find my message in it! My father couldn't quite
figure out where those sheets of printed paper (because I
printed it out for him to read at home) had come from. He was
very pleased with it, especially since he was mentioned there!"
 

Gladys Warda
Uruguay (South America)
 

=====================================================
                            S U R F E R S   C O R N E R
=====================================================
 

Any readers of Syriac (Assyrian) text interested in
assisting a university research project? Please contact
Professor Christopher Buck at the Carleton University's
Dept of Religion:    CBuck@CCS.Carleton.CA.
P.O. Box 77077  Ottawa, Ontario  K1S 5N2  Canada
 
=====================================================
                                N E W S    D I G E S T
=====================================================

POPE SEEKS DIALOGUE AMONG MAJOR RELIGIONS IN MID-EAST

(ZNRU: Vatican) Pope John Paul II has called on all
Roman Catholics in the Middle East to forge a dialogue
among the region's three religions. In a speech to a
group of bishops from the Middle East, Pope John Paul II
urged them to "cultivate mutual respect and nurture
constant attention especially toward...dialogue among
the great monotheistic religions" of Christianity,
Judaism, and Islam. The Vatican Friday angrily condemned
the killing of over 100 refugees in Lebanon by Israeli
shelling Thursday and demanded an immediate end to the
fighting. Israel's offensive against Muslim Hizbollah
guerrillas there has killed nearly 200 people, mostly
civilians. In Iraq, the Assyrian-Chaldeans belong to
the Chaldean Rite of the Roman Catholic Church.
 

 A BOOK ON THE THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH OF THE EAST
 

(ZNNQ: Chicago)  Pro Oriente, an Academic organization
in Vienna, has released SYRIAC DIALOGUE: FIRST NON-OFFICIAL
CONSULTATION ON DIALOGUE WITHIN THE SYRIAC TRADITION
(WITH FOCUS ON THE THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH OF THE EAST).
This volume is a collection of essays on the theology
and history of the Church of the East. Topics include:
Mar Aprem Mooken's "The Vienna Christological Formula
in an Assyrian Perspective"; Prof. Luis Abramowski's
"The History of Research into Nestorius"; Prof. S. Brock's
"The Church of the East in the Sasanian Empire up
to the 6TH Century and its Absence from the Councils
in the Roman Empire"; Rev. Sarhad Jammo's (of the Chaldean
Church) "Three Synods, Two Ecclesiologies of the Church
of the East"; Mar Bawai Soro & J.M. Birnie's commentary
"On the Vienna Formula."  This volume includes other
essays and discussions on the Church of the East's
theology by scholars and various members of the Eastern
(Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Maronite, Chaldean,
Church of the East) and the Western (Roman) churches.
His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Patriarch of the Church of
the East comments: "It is my great good pleasure to welcome
the fruit of this most important and historic contribution
to dialogue and understanding among the various fractured
elements of the Apostolic Church...The rich and valuable
studies contained in this compendium will provide the
reader with new insights into the long and glorious history
of Eastern Christianity." To order a copy write to:
 Nabu Books   PO Box 59422   Chicago, IL. 60659
 or Contact Robert Dekalaita at rdekela@orion.it.luc.edu
 

  ASSYRIAN ORGANIZATIONS HOST CONGRESSMAN FLANAGAN
 

(ZNNQ: Chicago)  Last month, The Assyrian Academic
Society, the Assyrian National Council of Illinois,
and the Northbrook Institute for Research and
Development hosted a dinner in honor of the Republican
Congressman Michael Flanagan, who unseated Democratic
Congressman Dan Rostenkowski from the 5th Congressional
District in Illinois.  The Congressman was congratulated
on his victory and was informed about the Assyrian
community in Chicago and the United States.  Congressman
Flanagan commented that "the Assyrian people are
unique because while virtually all other immigrant
grops have a homeland which would preserve their
language, culture, and identity, the Assyrian do not."
Over 70,000 Assyrians live in and around the city of
Chicago.

              SETON LLOYD DEAD AT 93

(ZNNQ: London)  Professor Emeritus Seton Lloyd of the
Institute of Archeology, University of London, died
in Farington, England.  Prof. Lloyd discovered the
great aqueduct of King Sennacherib in the 1930's in
Iraq.
 
 
=====================================================
  D I R E C T O R Y  OF THE  N E W S  S O U R C E S
=====================================================
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNRU (Reuters):  ClariNet Communications Corp.
ZNSC (soc.culture.assyrian) newsgroup
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
 

=====================================================
       C A L E N D A R    OF     E V E N T S
=====================================================

April 27        Two Plays by William Daniel
                "The Meeting" & "Tdalaboota"
                Santa Clara University
                Santa Clara, California
 

May 24-27       Assyrian State Convention of California
                Fairmont Hotel
                San Jose, U.S.A.
 
May 24-25       Memorial Weekend Games
                Chicago, U.S.A.
 

May 25-26       2nd Assyrian Community Networking Conference
                Fairmont Hotel
                San Jose, U.S.A.
 

June 1          Nineveh Choral Concert
                Conducted by Maestro Nebu Issabey
                Santa Teresa High School Auditorium
                San Jose, U.S.A.
                8:00 pm
 

June 9-11       The ARAM Conference
                Harvard University
                Cambridge, Massachusetts,  U.S.A
 

July 1-5        RENCONTRE ASSYRIOLOGIQUE INTERNATIONALE
                Praque, Czech Republic
 

July 4-7        Assyrian Olympics of California
                San Diego, California
 

Thru Aug 15     "Beirut:  Uncovering the Past"
                Profiles recent UNESCO archeology efforts
                The British Museum
                London, England
 

August 12-14    SyrCOM-96: Second International Forum
                           on Syrian Computing
                Symposium Syriacum
                Uppsala University
                Dept of Asian and African Studies
                Box 513
                S-751 20 Uppsala
                Sweden
                Fax: +46 18 181094
                Witold.Witakowski@afro.uu.se
 
Aug 29-Sept 2   AANF National Convention
                Red Lion Inn Hotel
                Modesto, U.S.A.

-----------------------------------------------------
               REGULAR MEETINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Fridays       Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
              Modesto Junior College
              1:00 pm
              Founders Hall 108
              Modesto, U.S.A.
 

-----------------------------------------------------
                    CLASSES
-----------------------------------------------------
Thursdays     Nineveh Choir:  Maestro Nebu Issabey
              BETA:  AAA of San Jose, U.S.A.
              7:30-9:00 pm
 

=====================================================
   A S S Y R I A N   S U R F I N G   P O S T S
=====================================================

Hujada (Khuyada) Magazine in Sweden
        http://www.cs.umu.se/~dprhi/assyr/hujada.html
 

The Chaldean American Student Association.
        http://www.umd.umich.edu/~sdkjr/casa/
 

=====================================================
          P U M P  U P  T H E  V O L U M E
=====================================================
        ENGLISH                ASSYRIAN
 

        Window                bahraneeta [F]
        Ceiling               reqpa      [M]
        Roofed                rqeepa     [M]
 
Note:  pronounce "q" in reqpa and rqeepa as in
        "qedemta" (morning)
____________________________________________________
F = Feminine     M = Masculine      P = Plural
 

 
=====================================================
        B A C K    T O  T H E    F U T U R E
=====================================================
 

B.C. (783) Assyrian king Adad-Nirari III dies and the
resulting power vacuum in Babylon is filled by the
Chaldeans of southern Bet-Nahrain, who at the time
were in full control of the southern merchant routes.
 

<< Joan Oates, Babylon >>
 

A.D. (1929) An article on "The Modern Nestorians" in
Encylcopedia Britannica explains that "the Nestorians
or East Syrians (Surayi) of Turkey and Persia now
inhabit a district bounded by Lake Urmia, or Urumia,
on the east, stretching westawards into Kurdistan, to
Mosul on the south, and nearly as far as Van on the
north.  It is only of late years, under the influence
of the different missions, that education ruined by
centuries of persecution [after Mongol invasion in
1258], has revived amongst the Nestorians; and even
now the mountainseers, cut off from the outer world,
are as a rule destitute of learning, and greatly
resemble their neighboours, the wild and uncivilized
Kurds...Their theological teaching is misty and
perplexing; but systematic or even consistent
theological thinking is not their primary interest..."
 

<< Encyclopedia Britanica, 1929 >>
 

======================================================
                                   L  I  T  E  R  A  T  U  S
======================================================
 

               *** THE FLOOD ***
 

Ibbi-Sin was sitting in anguish in the palace, all alone.
In the Enamtil, the palace of his delight,
   he was crying bitterly.
The devastating flood was leveling everything,
Like a great storm it roared over the earth,
   who could escape it?
To destroy the city, to destroy the temple,
That traitors would lay on top of loyal men, and
The blood of traitors flow upon loyal men.
 
<< Michalowski, The Lamentation over the Destruction of
   Sumer & Ur. 1989 >>
 

======================================================
                       T H I S    W E E K   I N    H I S T O R Y
======================================================
 

April 24, 1844: dies, Dr. Grant, an American Missionary
in Iran.  Dr. Grant believed that the Assyrians were
one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel.
 

======================================================
                                       B   R   A   V   O
======================================================
The latest issue of Nabu Quarterly was mailed out last
week.  As always, it is filled with informative articles
and thoughtful commentaries.  ZENDA encourages all its
readers to subscribe to this fine Assyrian magazine
and support Assyrian Journalism around the world.
 

Contact Robert Dekalaita at  rdekela@orion.it.luc.edu
 

Nabu Quarterly
PO Box 59422
Chicago, IL. 60659
 

(847) 298-3037
======================================================
                          W E L C O M E   T O   Z E N D A
======================================================
Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from:
 

CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
                Dataflex
                Quantum Corp
 
UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS
                University of Michigan
                Calif State Polytechnic Univ., Pomona
 
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
                Chicago, Illinois
 
======================================================
                         A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
======================================================
Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations whose contributions appear in this issue:
 

Esha Tamraz             San Jose, California
Nabu Quarterly          P.O. Box 59422  Chicago, IL 60659
Pauline Jasim            Chicago, Illinois
Mark Tehmi              U.S.
Firas Jatou                 Chicago, ILlinois
____________________________________________________
 

ZENDA will continue to print your comments and
suggestions free of editing, as they appear in our
mailbox.  All letters will be printed in our SURFS UP!
section unless directed otherwise.
 

We urge you to submit your community events, personal
accomplishments, and meeting/school times to Zenda
no later than Sunday, 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time.
 

-----------------------------------------------------
Our Next Issue will appear on Monday, April 29, 1996.
-----------------------------------------------------