«Ինչպես եղել է…» - Ալֆորվիլի բնակիչների հուշերի ժողովածուից

Diana Stepanyan's article is devoted to the analysis of a collection of memoirs by residents of Alfortville, "Comme c'était…" [As It Was…], in which, drawing on family chronicles, the history of the formation of the Armenian diaspora in this Parisian suburb is reconstructed — from the arrival of the first refugees after the genocide to the establishment of a stable community structure by the mid-twentieth century.

Introduction and Methodology
The author structures the narrative as a series of successive "chronicles," each based on personal recollections and family legends. This approach makes it possible to trace the evolution of the community from the individual fates of survivors to the formation of a full-fledged social and religious infrastructure.

Origins of the Community: The Fate of the First Settlers
The first chronicle is devoted to the story of Gabriel Nedilian and his sister Vart-khatun, who survived the deportation from Chengiler via Konya and Mosul. The refugees' path is traced through Baghdad, Polis, and Marseille to their final settlement in Alfortville in 1923. Particular attention is given to:

the conditions under which the six first settlers survived in the basement of a house on the Quai de la Révolution;
their employment at the Papeterie de France paper factory;
the gradual improvement of living conditions and the reunification of families.

Institutional Formation of the Community
The second and third chronicles cover the process of the diaspora's organizational development:

the transformation of a shack into a chapel in 1925 as the first step toward religious self-organization;
the creation of a Dashnaktsutyun party section and the charitable organizations "Karmir Khach" [Red Cross] and "Sanots Miutyun";
the founding of the Armenian club "Hay Akumb," nicknamed "Teneke Palace";
the establishment of the "Homenetmen" scouting movement and the construction of the Armenian church on Rue Brochet (1929–1930).

Everyday Life and Economic Activity
The sixth chronicle documents the community's labor occupations — work at the paper and metallurgical factories, the development of home-based garment sewing, and the gradual transition from renting basements to acquiring land, despite the unfavorable natural conditions of the southern district of Alfortville.

Rue Nouvelle as a Model of the Diasporic Microcosm
The fifteenth chronicle offers a detailed ethnographic description of the street community of the 1945–1950s: the preservation of the Armenian language, ritual culture (wedding and funeral customs, the "making the bride cry" ritual), culinary traditions (the preparation of tarhana), as well as mechanisms of mutual aid and collective identity, conveyed through the author's childhood experience.

Conclusion
The article's key conclusion is that the history of the Armenian community of Alfortville demonstrates a model of recreating "a corner of the native village" in a foreign land: through the sequential formation of religious, cultural, and economic institutions, the diaspora not only ensured physical survival but also preserved the integrity of ethnic identity, passing it on through everyday practices and collective memory up to the mid-twentieth century.