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There he was in black-and-white. Michael Zarbatany. My great-grandfather.I went to my mother's house with a fire lit under my ass, and before the door had even closed behind me, I blurted out, "Who is Emile Zarbatany?"My mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table, looked up at me, paused for the length it would take to read the Bible, and then replied, "Why?"Right then and there, I knew there were family secrets not meant for my ears. Stories and lies, foibles and follies, murder and trials had all been kept from me. I was completely in the dark about where I came from, who my ancestors were, and exactly what kind of blood was running through my veins.Finally my mother admitted, "All right. He was your great-uncle, and we don't speak of him."Is this why I sometimes have a violent streak? I thought. Why I used to steal candy from the dépanneurs as a child? Why I can fly into a rage at the drop of a hat? Why my temper scares even me? Is it all in my blood?The last article on Emile Zarbatany that I found was stuck behind a paywall, but the Google preview of the Ottawa Citizen indicated that he was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in jail. In 1941, Canada still had the death penalty. He could have swung for that.Accompanied by his father, Very Rev. Michael Zarbatany, vicar general of the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Emile Zarbatany, 30-year-old suspect in the shooting of Norbert Valcourt… surrendered early last night to Deputy Police Director Armand Brodeur, head of the Montreal Detective bureau…
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