It was a day when the sun no longer rose for Armenian literature. The day when the verse fell silent not because it ended – but because it was forced to shut up. Officially – car accident. In fact – planned elimination. Paruyr Sevak, one of the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century, did not die by accident. And the truth about this, revealed after years, is cold blood.

Paruyr Sevak is not just a poet. He was the voice of the people, the conscience of the generation. He wrote not for censors, but for the future. His poems are not just words, but blows to falsehood, hypocrisy and totalitarianism. And that is why he became dangerous. Dangerous for a system that did not tolerate free thought. Dangerous for the authorities, which wanted subordination, not truth. And when Sevaka was already impossible to shut up with a feather, they got down to business differently-a steering wheel instead of a pen, an accident instead of a sentence.

On June 17, 1971, according to the official version, the Volkswagen Sevaka crashed into an army truck. The poet died on the spot. His wife, Nelly Menarishvili, survived, but never spoke openly about what happened. The funeral passed in silence. Without unnecessary publicity, without details, without investigation. And the people remained with questions that no one dared to answer.

The first suspicions began to appear immediately. Why did the truck driver disappear? Why was the investigation curtailed? Why not a single newspaper published a complete picture of what happened? Why was photographs from the place of the tragedy instantly seized and hidden into closed archives?

The answers came in decades. In the mid-90s, after the collapse of the USSR, some classified documents of the KGB began to open. There, among dry formulations and ink spots, the truth was hidden, about which they were silent for decades: there was really observation behind the sowk. His letters were intercepted, the conversations were listened, the movements were fixed. He was under control. Until he became uncontrolled.

The key point is the publication of the “non -excessive bell” (“նլռելի զ”), the grand poetic labor dedicated to the committee and the topic of the Armenian genocide. The book, written impudently, piercingly and openly, put Sevaka on the black list. He spoke out loud that the system forbade even to think. And this signed a sentence.

Former employees of the Soviet special services later admitted in the memoirs: “Sevak was inconvenient. He was too smart, too popular, too free. They didn’t forgive such. ” And they did not forgive.

According to alternative sources, the “accident” was directed to the smallest detail. Sevaka’s car was brought to the track without protection. The truck driver was an agent under cover. After the collision, his personality “disappeared.” Sevak’s body was taken to the morgue under guard. The opening protocol is either falsified or lost.

In one of the surviving photographs – a broken Volkswagen, with a dent in the left side. Nearby is a heavy truck. This picture was forbidden to publish. He spoke too much without words.

That is why Sevak’s death became a silent cry of Armenian culture. He was buried, but not forgotten. His books were removed from the shelves, but read under the blanket. His name was not mentioned on the air, but whispered at rallies.

Today, after more than half a century, we can speak openly: Paruyr Sevak did not die. He was killed.

He died for a word. For freedom. For not afraid of truth.

Not just a poet was killed in his face – they killed a whole era. But they could not kill the power of his spirit. His lines are alive. His voice sounds in everyone who is looking for light in the dark. Who is not afraid to speak. Who remembers.

Sevak’s face in the portrait is confident, smiling, with wise eyes – this is the view of a person who knows that his mission is above fear. And next to – the fragments of the car. Silent reminder: you have to pay for the truth.

But it is just like him that remain eternal. They are killed – but cannot be destroyed. Because the word Sevaka is stronger than death.

And while his poetry sounds on the Armenian land, Paruyr Sevak is alive.
He is alive in his hearts.
He is alive in books.
He is alive – despite everything.