Katherine , the daughter of a businessman , was born in the village of Baghin , in Palou , Western Armenia , an Armenian enclave on the Euphrates River . She was nine years old at the start of the Armenian Genocide , in April 1915 . She witnessed the invasion of Turks and the initial systematic slaying of the male population of her village , among them her father . When the massacre ensued on the women and children of the village , Katherine , her two younger sisters and mother began to run , both of Katherine 's sisters ( one of them four years old ) were captured , and her mother was hit , but able to keep running . Katherine and her mother were able to escape their village and death by fleeing on foot for three days through the mountains , to Harput , where the genocide would eventually engulf and separate them . An estimated 25 family members of Katherine 's were murdered or kidnapped
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Katherine Magarian