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"How I loved
the snow-clad mountains.
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00:01:04,379 --> 00:01:06,827
"Clear, cool streams.
3
00:01:06,931 --> 00:01:08,482
"The river,
an unbridled monster
4
00:01:08,586 --> 00:01:10,689
"in the spring
pulverizing rocks
5
00:01:10,793 --> 00:01:12,758
in the swift flow."
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00:01:12,862 --> 00:01:15,379
Khoren Davidson, survivor.
7
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"At the water's edge,
some Armenian women,
8
00:01:27,103 --> 00:01:29,517
"watching the slaughter,
pleaded,
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00:01:29,620 --> 00:01:33,103
"'Please shoot us and not cut
our throats with the knife!'
10
00:01:33,206 --> 00:01:36,413
"and the kind Turk answered,
'Don't be afraid.
11
00:01:36,517 --> 00:01:38,103
"The knives have
been sharpened well,
12
00:01:38,206 --> 00:01:42,517
and you will not suffer much.'"Abraham Hartunian, survivor.
13
00:01:44,724 --> 00:01:46,206
I was born on the banks
14
00:01:46,310 --> 00:01:47,620
of the Euphrates River,
15
00:01:47,724 --> 00:01:50,172
but my people
have long since vanished
16
00:01:50,275 --> 00:01:52,344
from their historic homeland
17
00:01:52,448 --> 00:01:56,172
in a genocide
that occurred in 1915.
18
00:01:56,275 --> 00:02:00,413
The waters of the Euphrates
were clogged with bodies.
19
00:02:00,517 --> 00:02:04,655
A nation bled to death.
The water turned red.
20
00:02:04,758 --> 00:02:08,551
I knew that I had to make
a journey of discovery.
21
00:02:08,655 --> 00:02:11,517
I would seek
the lost memory of my youth.
22
00:02:11,620 --> 00:02:15,965
I would search for a missing part of my heritage.
23
00:02:16,068 --> 00:02:18,793
So decades ago I started
to look for footprints
24
00:02:18,896 --> 00:02:22,241
of witnesses who had walked
along the Euphrates,
25
00:02:22,344 --> 00:02:25,689
searching for the faces
of those who survived.
26
00:02:41,448 --> 00:02:44,896
I traveled to five continents
to discover Armenians
27
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,931
who would tell me
about the death marches
28
00:02:47,034 --> 00:02:51,172
in the deserts through which
the Euphrates flows.
29
00:02:51,275 --> 00:02:53,379
I knocked on many doors,
30
00:02:53,482 --> 00:02:55,206
climbed many hills,
31
00:02:55,310 --> 00:02:58,655
walked across hot desert sands.
32
00:02:58,758 --> 00:03:01,758
This is the story
of the survivors I found.
33
00:03:01,862 --> 00:03:03,931
It is the story of eyewitnesses
34
00:03:04,034 --> 00:03:07,344
whose nightmares
have become my own.
35
00:03:07,448 --> 00:03:09,620
It is the unvarnished,
horrendous,
36
00:03:09,724 --> 00:03:13,068
incomprehensible story
of the Armenian Genocide
37
00:03:13,172 --> 00:03:16,448
perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government
38
00:03:16,551 --> 00:03:18,482
in 1915.
39
00:03:20,517 --> 00:03:21,724
The Euphrates,
40
00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:25,034
a legendary river
from the mists of history
41
00:03:25,137 --> 00:03:29,310
flows past the supposed sites
of the Garden of Eden.
42
00:03:29,413 --> 00:03:32,206
Civilizations and empires
have sought to dominate
43
00:03:32,310 --> 00:03:35,000
this region from antiquity.
44
00:03:35,103 --> 00:03:37,586
Many nations have struggled
for mastery
45
00:03:37,689 --> 00:03:40,620
of these
Middle Eastern highlands.
46
00:03:40,724 --> 00:03:43,724
Millenniums ago the Armenians
established kingdoms
47
00:03:43,827 --> 00:03:46,758
around the source
of the Euphrates River.
48
00:03:46,862 --> 00:03:49,482
They accepted Christianity
a thousand years
49
00:03:49,586 --> 00:03:52,137
before the Turks
conquered their land.
50
00:03:52,241 --> 00:03:54,620
At the start
of the First World War,
51
00:03:54,724 --> 00:03:57,896
two million Christian Armenians lived in the area
52
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,137
that is now known
as the Republic of Turkey.
53
00:04:01,241 --> 00:04:04,931
By the end of the war
only half a million remained.
54
00:04:05,034 --> 00:04:08,103
The rest were swept down
this mighty river.
55
00:04:09,724 --> 00:04:12,551
Michael Hagopian was determined to find Armenians
56
00:04:12,655 --> 00:04:14,275
who had survived.
57
00:04:19,724 --> 00:04:22,206
His odyssey led him down
the Euphrates
58
00:04:22,310 --> 00:04:23,896
to the Syrian Desert,
59
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,172
the final graveyard
of the Armenian people.
60
00:04:27,275 --> 00:04:31,137
The voices of the tortured,
their songs, beckoned him
61
00:04:31,241 --> 00:04:33,586
all the way
to the Deir Zor desert
62
00:04:33,689 --> 00:04:36,275
where the largest massacres
took place.
63
00:05:07,034 --> 00:05:10,758
And then the next morning they started to take us
64
00:05:10,862 --> 00:05:14,344
to the desert to Deir Zor,
65
00:05:14,448 --> 00:05:18,172
where it was the point
of no return.
66
00:05:18,275 --> 00:05:21,000
We knew that we would
never come back.
67
00:05:21,103 --> 00:05:24,379
So when people got to Deir Zor with no clothing on,
68
00:05:24,482 --> 00:05:28,413
they even fried
in the hot sun.
69
00:05:29,793 --> 00:05:31,689
Far from these
burning deserts,
70
00:05:31,793 --> 00:05:33,034
the world was engaged
71
00:05:33,137 --> 00:05:36,448
in a gigantic struggle.
72
00:05:36,551 --> 00:05:39,896
For political, economic
and religious reasons,
73
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,310
the Ottoman Turkish Government used the cover
74
00:05:42,413 --> 00:05:44,793
of the First World War
to eliminate
75
00:05:44,896 --> 00:05:48,310
its Armenian minority.
76
00:05:48,413 --> 00:05:52,275
"A Turkish policeman said, 'In this land of Islam,
77
00:05:52,379 --> 00:05:54,551
we don't need another religion.
78
00:05:57,172 --> 00:06:00,896
That is why there is
a holy war against you.
79
00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,862
You are the agents
of European powers
80
00:06:03,965 --> 00:06:06,413
and need to be exterminated.'"
81
00:06:09,137 --> 00:06:11,000
In the Middle East, the fault line
82
00:06:11,103 --> 00:06:12,862
between cultural societies
83
00:06:12,965 --> 00:06:15,793
ran through
the Armenian plateau.
84
00:06:15,896 --> 00:06:19,896
The clash of civilization had
been simmering for centuries.
85
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,827
The final blow
was struck in April 1915.
86
00:06:25,724 --> 00:06:28,413
Wartime Turkey was ruled
by a triumvirate
87
00:06:28,517 --> 00:06:32,034
of powerful men,
including Enver Pasha,
88
00:06:32,137 --> 00:06:35,655
Talaat Pasha and Djemal Bey.
89
00:06:35,758 --> 00:06:38,724
The orders to eject the Armenians from their homes
90
00:06:38,827 --> 00:06:43,275
were given by Talaat Pasha,
Minister of Interior.
91
00:06:43,379 --> 00:06:45,896
He dispatched his orders
by telegraph
92
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:47,931
to all parts of the Empire.
93
00:06:55,793 --> 00:06:57,793
"The Turks did not use loudspeakers
94
00:06:57,896 --> 00:07:00,379
"or newspapers
to make announcements.
95
00:07:08,275 --> 00:07:11,206
"They would beat drums in the neighborhoods and yell,
96
00:07:11,310 --> 00:07:13,344
"'Tonight we will gather
all the Armenians
97
00:07:13,448 --> 00:07:15,000
"and exile them.
98
00:07:20,206 --> 00:07:22,517
"And if any Greek hides
an Armenian
99
00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:25,068
he will be shot on the spot.'"
100
00:07:32,620 --> 00:07:36,034
"All our family
was saved by a Turk,
101
00:07:36,137 --> 00:07:40,034
"Mehmet Effendi,
who was a factory owner.
102
00:07:40,137 --> 00:07:44,758
"That man saved thousands
of Armenians besides us.
103
00:07:44,862 --> 00:07:49,310
"He gathered refugees
as workers. Saved them all.
104
00:07:49,413 --> 00:07:54,965
He was a very good man.He was a Turk, yet a good man."
105
00:07:59,241 --> 00:08:02,862
The Armenians were
very industrious people,
106
00:08:02,965 --> 00:08:06,655
sure that they would be robbed
on the way-- deportation--
107
00:08:06,758 --> 00:08:09,724
so they brought a lot of
their jewelry and gold
108
00:08:09,827 --> 00:08:14,586
and so forth, to my father
to keep for them.
109
00:08:14,689 --> 00:08:16,931
And he didn't dare keep it
in the house,
110
00:08:17,034 --> 00:08:19,827
because he was afraid the Turks would come in and search.
111
00:08:19,931 --> 00:08:23,689
So one day he took us
into the chicken yard
112
00:08:23,793 --> 00:08:27,344
and took a brick out of
the mud brick wall,
113
00:08:27,448 --> 00:08:31,379
and opened a hole behind it
and put a lot of jewelry
114
00:08:31,482 --> 00:08:34,758
and gold coins
and so forth back in there,
115
00:08:34,862 --> 00:08:39,068
and put the brick back in
and cemented it up with mud.
116
00:08:39,172 --> 00:08:43,206
And I got a big thrill
out of being the watch dog,
117
00:08:43,310 --> 00:08:46,793
because I was to keep
an eye out and make sure
118
00:08:46,896 --> 00:08:50,448
that the Turkish gendarme
did not come around the corner
119
00:08:50,551 --> 00:08:52,931
and catch my father doing this.
120
00:08:53,034 --> 00:08:57,413
In Mezreh where we were living,
the Turkish town crier came
121
00:08:57,517 --> 00:09:00,758
and said that, "Be ready,
in about couple of weeks--
122
00:09:00,862 --> 00:09:05,758
couple of days we're going
to take you to another city."
123
00:09:05,862 --> 00:09:09,206
And nobody hardly believed them,
but two days later,
124
00:09:09,310 --> 00:09:13,379
some of those gendarmes came
and with their rifle butts,
125
00:09:13,482 --> 00:09:18,275
hit the doors. "Get out over
there and get into the bunch
126
00:09:18,379 --> 00:09:20,586
and we're going to take you
to another city.
127
00:09:20,689 --> 00:09:22,862
All we're doing
is transporting you."
128
00:09:22,965 --> 00:09:26,344
Evidently, it is very difficult
129
00:09:26,448 --> 00:09:28,517
for the American people
or others
130
00:09:28,620 --> 00:09:30,275
to understand the mentality of
131
00:09:30,379 --> 00:09:31,758
the Turkish government
over there.
132
00:09:31,862 --> 00:09:34,206
You don't-- There is no question
about it.
133
00:09:34,310 --> 00:09:37,310
"You are-- Come out!
134
00:09:37,413 --> 00:09:39,655
We are taking you down
to the government building"
135
00:09:39,758 --> 00:09:41,068
or some such thing.
136
00:09:41,172 --> 00:09:42,862
They're not giving any reason.
137
00:09:42,965 --> 00:09:45,000
Any democratic country
where you know
138
00:09:45,103 --> 00:09:48,896
about the personal rights
and freedoms and so on
139
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,068
did not exist over there.
140
00:09:52,172 --> 00:09:54,620
They bang the door,
they're armed, you're not.
141
00:09:54,724 --> 00:09:56,931
And, that's it. "Out!"
142
00:09:57,034 --> 00:10:00,620
The Turks said that they are
taking us away from our homes
143
00:10:00,724 --> 00:10:02,862
for our safety sake.
144
00:10:02,965 --> 00:10:06,482
Then why didn't they take
their families?
145
00:10:06,586 --> 00:10:09,241
Why didn't they take
their kids?
146
00:10:12,448 --> 00:10:13,965
The break-up of their community
147
00:10:14,068 --> 00:10:17,000
was a time of sorrow
for the Armenians.
148
00:10:18,931 --> 00:10:22,068
For the Turks
it was a time of rejoicing.
149
00:10:22,172 --> 00:10:24,689
The upheaval
left many children homeless.
150
00:10:24,793 --> 00:10:26,724
They scattered
in the countryside.
151
00:10:26,827 --> 00:10:29,620
Some fled to the forests.
152
00:10:29,724 --> 00:10:32,758
"In the morning, I walked and walked.
153
00:10:32,862 --> 00:10:34,551
"I saw a boy.
154
00:10:34,655 --> 00:10:38,448
"Together we found a girl
and we hid in the forest.
155
00:10:38,551 --> 00:10:42,137
"We saw the Turks looking
for Armenians in the forest.
156
00:10:42,241 --> 00:10:46,000
"At night they would massacre
the men; during the day,
157
00:10:46,103 --> 00:10:47,793
"the women and the boys.
158
00:10:47,896 --> 00:10:50,310
"We were lying down
in the blood.
159
00:10:50,413 --> 00:10:52,482
We woke up among the dead."
160
00:10:52,586 --> 00:10:54,827
"How many dead did you see?"
161
00:10:54,931 --> 00:10:58,206
"I can confirm
10,000-20,000.
162
00:10:58,310 --> 00:11:00,862
We were walking
through the dead."
163
00:11:00,965 --> 00:11:03,620
"Did you see the massacres
with your eyes?"
164
00:11:03,724 --> 00:11:06,862
"Yes, I saw it with my eyes.
165
00:11:06,965 --> 00:11:08,241
"They were massacring.
166
00:11:08,344 --> 00:11:10,310
"They were yelling,
men were weeping,
167
00:11:10,413 --> 00:11:12,413
"and we were crying too.
168
00:11:12,517 --> 00:11:16,482
"We could see them with axes
and knives and clubs.
169
00:11:16,586 --> 00:11:18,827
"I fled to the forest.
170
00:11:18,931 --> 00:11:20,551
"There was a haystack there.
171
00:11:20,655 --> 00:11:23,655
"During the night
I slept there.
172
00:11:23,758 --> 00:11:25,241
"I was an orphan.
173
00:11:31,137 --> 00:11:34,068
"The dogs-- the wolf dogs
in the forest.
174
00:11:34,172 --> 00:11:38,862
I would cry. I would dig in
and bury myself."
175
00:11:42,344 --> 00:11:45,275
The government started
rounding up Armenian children
176
00:11:45,379 --> 00:11:48,275
to dispose of them
in mass drownings.
177
00:11:49,689 --> 00:11:52,620
Terrified orphans
were everywhere.
178
00:11:55,034 --> 00:11:58,655
"The Turks turned
to the city's greatest Hoca,
179
00:11:58,758 --> 00:12:03,103
"'Shall we slaughter
the small children too?
180
00:12:03,206 --> 00:12:05,689
"Does the Koran give
give us permission?'
181
00:12:09,068 --> 00:12:13,413
'Yes,' he answered, 'Slaughter them too. The Koran permits.'"
182
00:12:13,517 --> 00:12:15,344
Abraham Hartunian.
183
00:12:17,620 --> 00:12:18,965
"When the Turks entered,
184
00:12:19,068 --> 00:12:21,586
"the two fearful children
ran away.
185
00:12:21,689 --> 00:12:23,862
"The other one saw that
I was being beaten,
186
00:12:23,965 --> 00:12:25,965
"and started to yell,
'Auntie, Auntie!'
187
00:12:26,068 --> 00:12:27,344
"'Get lost!', they said.
188
00:12:27,448 --> 00:12:29,620
"They grabbed him
and sliced off his head,
189
00:12:29,724 --> 00:12:32,000
"because the child loved me
a great deal, and didn't want
190
00:12:32,103 --> 00:12:36,689
"the Turks to beat me up.
191
00:12:36,793 --> 00:12:40,103
"So they cut off his head,
and cast it aside.
192
00:12:42,517 --> 00:12:45,344
"We took his head and tried
to stick it back to his body.
193
00:12:45,448 --> 00:12:46,862
"But it was impossible.
194
00:12:46,965 --> 00:12:49,689
"I didn't know if I could
glue it on to save him.
195
00:12:49,793 --> 00:12:52,551
"My sister was crying,
all my relatives were crying.
196
00:12:57,517 --> 00:13:00,034
"The child was in the center,
like a chicken,
197
00:13:00,137 --> 00:13:02,413
"his head fluttering
from side to side,
198
00:13:02,517 --> 00:13:04,655
"his body jumping
to the other side.
199
00:13:04,758 --> 00:13:06,482
We didn't know what to do."
200
00:13:08,206 --> 00:13:10,137
"The lone voice
of one Moslem priest
201
00:13:10,241 --> 00:13:12,137
"was heard pleading,
202
00:13:12,241 --> 00:13:17,000
"'Moslems, it is a sin
to kill innocent Armenians.
203
00:13:17,103 --> 00:13:22,724
It is against the law of Allah.'" Ephraim Jernazian.
204
00:13:26,379 --> 00:13:28,379
"The evening before being deported,
205
00:13:28,482 --> 00:13:31,862
"a crier from the minaret
called, saying,
206
00:13:31,965 --> 00:13:34,206
"'All those who want
to change their religion,
207
00:13:34,310 --> 00:13:39,241
"can stay and register
at city hall tomorrow.'
208
00:13:39,344 --> 00:13:42,758
"Quite a few stayed back--
rich people who didn't want
209
00:13:42,862 --> 00:13:46,275
"to leave behind
their land and wealth.
210
00:13:46,379 --> 00:13:50,655
"The next day they changed
their religion.
211
00:13:50,758 --> 00:13:52,827
They became Moslems."
212
00:13:54,758 --> 00:13:56,206
The Armenians were considered
213
00:13:56,310 --> 00:13:58,793
a troublesome
national minority,
214
00:13:58,896 --> 00:14:03,586
with a different religion,
language and ethnicity.
215
00:14:03,689 --> 00:14:06,655
For the Ottoman Turks,
religion was a key factor
216
00:14:06,758 --> 00:14:08,965
in the Armenian Genocide.
217
00:14:09,068 --> 00:14:11,620
The choice was clear--
218
00:14:11,724 --> 00:14:15,344
Conversion or death
in the desert.
219
00:14:15,448 --> 00:14:19,206
Some estimates
claim over 200,000--
220
00:14:19,310 --> 00:14:22,655
10 to 15 percent
of the Christian population--
221
00:14:22,758 --> 00:14:24,758
converted.
222
00:14:24,862 --> 00:14:26,137
We changed our names.
223
00:14:26,241 --> 00:14:30,310
We disguised ourselves as Turks,
and we went to Konya
224
00:14:30,413 --> 00:14:35,758
and we lived in a Turkish town,
Turkish neighborhood as Turks.
225
00:14:35,862 --> 00:14:38,965
And my father used to go
to mosque, and so forth.
226
00:14:39,068 --> 00:14:40,517
That's how we survived.
227
00:14:40,620 --> 00:14:46,172
Turkish people put me
into Turkish orphanage
228
00:14:46,275 --> 00:14:51,000
and since they put me there,
229
00:14:51,103 --> 00:14:57,068
they give all about
300 orphans with us
230
00:14:57,172 --> 00:15:01,344
test of who can call Turks
231
00:15:01,448 --> 00:15:03,655
to the prayer.
232
00:15:03,758 --> 00:15:06,827
They picked me out because
I could sing better,
233
00:15:06,931 --> 00:15:09,034
I-- they told me.
234
00:15:09,137 --> 00:15:14,310
Naturally, I had to accept it
because that was a force,
235
00:15:14,413 --> 00:15:19,413
and I did that while I was
in Turkish orphanage.
236
00:15:19,517 --> 00:15:21,344
I show you what I mean.
237
00:15:44,551 --> 00:15:47,103
They had circumcised me.
238
00:15:48,827 --> 00:15:50,724
Because they knew that
my father
239
00:15:50,827 --> 00:15:55,103
was quite religious man,
Armenian.
240
00:15:55,206 --> 00:16:00,034
And they made me dig up
some of the famous celebrities
241
00:16:00,137 --> 00:16:06,137
who were buried
in the church yard--
242
00:16:06,241 --> 00:16:10,482
dig them up and made me
urinate on them.
243
00:16:10,586 --> 00:16:12,448
Made me urinate on them.
244
00:16:12,551 --> 00:16:17,310
Horrible stories
kept coming to my office.
245
00:16:17,413 --> 00:16:20,000
Unspeakable, unbelievable.
246
00:16:20,103 --> 00:16:24,275
The eyewitness testimonies
of survivors overwhelmed me.
247
00:16:24,379 --> 00:16:26,413
And made me urinate on them.
248
00:16:26,517 --> 00:16:29,034
"Dig them up and made me--"
249
00:16:30,586 --> 00:16:33,413
For 40 years
I've been filming survivors
250
00:16:33,517 --> 00:16:35,620
of the Armenian Genocide.
251
00:16:35,724 --> 00:16:38,862
As a survivor myself
I often wondered,
252
00:16:38,965 --> 00:16:40,103
"Why did it happen?"
253
00:16:40,206 --> 00:16:42,482
"How come it happened
to the Armenians?"
254
00:16:42,586 --> 00:16:44,689
I have finally come
to the conclusion
255
00:16:44,793 --> 00:16:47,103
that it was a clash
of civilizations,
256
00:16:47,206 --> 00:16:51,379
a clash of nationalities
defined by religion.
257
00:16:51,482 --> 00:16:55,689
The Turks conquered Armenia
some 700 years ago,
258
00:16:55,793 --> 00:16:59,241
yet the Armenians
continued to occupy
259
00:16:59,344 --> 00:17:04,655
a strategic geographical part
of the Ottoman Empire.
260
00:17:04,758 --> 00:17:08,034
In the 19th Century,
the Armenians were influenced
261
00:17:08,137 --> 00:17:12,586
by European ideas,
Westernization, equality,
262
00:17:12,689 --> 00:17:15,896
freedom, justice and democracy.
263
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,172
The Turkish ruling class feared
264
00:17:18,275 --> 00:17:20,689
the Armenians would break up
their empire.
265
00:17:20,793 --> 00:17:23,793
So they inflamed
religious fanaticism
266
00:17:23,896 --> 00:17:26,965
to slaughter, deport,
exterminate
267
00:17:27,068 --> 00:17:30,482
and wipe the Armenians
off the face of the map.
268
00:17:32,137 --> 00:17:34,586
From the capital
in Constantinople,
269
00:17:34,689 --> 00:17:37,344
telegraphs were being
sent to all the provinces
270
00:17:37,448 --> 00:17:40,724
to coordinate
the deportation plan.
271
00:17:40,827 --> 00:17:44,448
Local lists were prepared
and posted in public places
272
00:17:44,551 --> 00:17:48,379
and on doors of Armenian homes.
273
00:17:48,482 --> 00:17:52,275
One group from Yozgat passed
through the town of Sivas
274
00:17:52,379 --> 00:17:54,068
where there was
a Christian mission
275
00:17:54,172 --> 00:17:56,586
and a brave American woman.
276
00:17:59,379 --> 00:18:01,103
My Aunt Polly,
277
00:18:01,206 --> 00:18:02,931
Mary Louise Graffam,
278
00:18:03,034 --> 00:18:06,551
was quite noted because she went
out with these people
279
00:18:06,655 --> 00:18:10,689
on the trek when they were
walking-- deported.
280
00:18:10,793 --> 00:18:14,068
She said to the Governor,"I'm going with these people."
281
00:18:14,172 --> 00:18:17,689
And he said, "You can't go
with them. I forbid you."
282
00:18:17,793 --> 00:18:20,896
She said, "Well, I'm going
anyhow," and she did.
283
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:21,724
It took the Turks three days
to figure out
284
00:18:21,827 --> 00:18:26,275
how to force her to turn back.
285
00:18:26,379 --> 00:18:27,586
They were afraid of America.
286
00:18:27,689 --> 00:18:32,034
They didn't dare threaten her
or do anything to her.
287
00:18:32,137 --> 00:18:35,931
But they finally put a pistol
to the head of her driver
288
00:18:36,034 --> 00:18:39,103
who was also a personal friend,
and told her they would shoot
289
00:18:39,206 --> 00:18:41,206
this man if she didn't
turn back.
290
00:18:41,310 --> 00:18:44,827
Well, she realized that she got
as far as she could.
291
00:18:44,931 --> 00:18:46,413
She turned back.
292
00:18:46,517 --> 00:18:48,793
While on
the deportation caravan,
293
00:18:48,896 --> 00:18:51,517
Polly Graffam reported
from Malatya ,
294
00:18:51,620 --> 00:18:57,275
a town of eastern Turkey,
125 miles southeast of Sivas.
295
00:18:57,379 --> 00:19:00,482
Later she sent a dispatch
to the U.S. State Department,
296
00:19:00,586 --> 00:19:05,137
saying, "I have tried to write only what I have seen and know
297
00:19:05,241 --> 00:19:09,862
to be true, the valley was
full of corpses."
298
00:19:12,413 --> 00:19:15,310
It was a common sight,
everywhere we were passing by,
299
00:19:15,413 --> 00:19:16,344
there were bodies.
300
00:19:20,275 --> 00:19:22,724
"A woman was seven months pregnant.
301
00:19:26,172 --> 00:19:29,931
"Two policemen bet
about the sex of her child.
302
00:19:30,034 --> 00:19:33,586
"If it was a girl, the winner
would get two coins.
303
00:19:33,689 --> 00:19:38,103
"If a boy,
he would get five coins.
304
00:19:38,206 --> 00:19:40,793
"They slit her belly.
305
00:19:40,896 --> 00:19:45,689
"The policeman who won the bet got five coins.
306
00:19:45,793 --> 00:19:48,379
"After three hours
on the road,
307
00:19:48,482 --> 00:19:50,931
"the woman and child died.
308
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,448
I saw this
with my own eyes."
309
00:19:56,551 --> 00:20:00,000
I saw it with my own eyes,
310
00:20:00,103 --> 00:20:02,965
a woman didn't have no milk
in her breast,
311
00:20:03,068 --> 00:20:05,068
so her baby was crying.
312
00:20:05,172 --> 00:20:09,172
One of these Turkish soldiers
grabbed the baby with--
313
00:20:09,275 --> 00:20:13,379
by the arm, tossed
the little thing up into the air
314
00:20:13,482 --> 00:20:16,724
and another Turkish soldier
caught it with his bayonet
315
00:20:16,827 --> 00:20:18,172
on his rifle.
316
00:20:18,275 --> 00:20:22,206
She made a little squeak,
and she was gone.
317
00:20:22,310 --> 00:20:25,586
I suppose I should hate
the Turks, but as a Christian
318
00:20:25,689 --> 00:20:29,620
I must learn to forgive them,
but I will never forget
319
00:20:29,724 --> 00:20:33,068
the horrible tragedy that
the government and some Turks
320
00:20:33,172 --> 00:20:38,241
imposed on the 1 and 1/2 million
Armenians who perished.
321
00:20:38,344 --> 00:20:41,413
First of all, as we
came down the hills, into--
322
00:20:41,517 --> 00:20:44,827
they came around a lot
of Turkish men and women
323
00:20:44,931 --> 00:20:47,620
and they were grabbing
Armenian children.
324
00:20:47,724 --> 00:20:52,137
A Turkish sergeant
in the Turkish army grabbed me
325
00:20:52,241 --> 00:20:54,724
by the arm, by the hand,
and pulled it away
326
00:20:54,827 --> 00:20:57,448
from my mother and took me away.
327
00:20:57,551 --> 00:21:02,241
And weeks later, evidently
the Turkish government
328
00:21:02,344 --> 00:21:05,379
had changed their mind
and a proclamation came around
329
00:21:05,482 --> 00:21:09,379
that they must-- they should not
save the Armenian children.
330
00:21:09,482 --> 00:21:13,896
So they came and the policemen,
the Turkish police,
331
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,310
knocked the door
and took me away.
332
00:21:16,413 --> 00:21:19,137
They took me away
to a vacant Armenian home.
333
00:21:19,241 --> 00:21:20,965
There were a lot of
empty houses
334
00:21:21,068 --> 00:21:22,655
that were made into a prison.
335
00:21:22,758 --> 00:21:25,586
So there I met my sister,
and there were a lot of,
336
00:21:25,689 --> 00:21:28,413
at least about,
close to about 100 children.
337
00:21:28,517 --> 00:21:30,793
The very next day
they lined us up.
338
00:21:30,896 --> 00:21:34,310
They were going to take us
toward the Euphrates River.
339
00:21:34,413 --> 00:21:37,689
Now, I found out later
what they had done.
340
00:21:37,793 --> 00:21:41,482
What happened was
a Turkish woman that had got--
341
00:21:41,586 --> 00:21:45,655
had come to like me very much
had realized what was going
342
00:21:45,758 --> 00:21:48,206
to happen to the children,
had come there
343
00:21:48,310 --> 00:21:50,137
and he bribed
one of the gendarmes,
344
00:21:50,241 --> 00:21:54,172
Turkish soldiers,
with two pieces of silver,
345
00:21:54,275 --> 00:21:57,137
and grabbed my arm and took me away from the group.
346
00:21:57,241 --> 00:21:59,724
Later we learned
from the stories,
347
00:21:59,827 --> 00:22:03,551
these soldiers came and told
the people how they took them
348
00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:06,551
to Kemakh Boghazi, a spot
near the Euphrates River
349
00:22:06,655 --> 00:22:09,586
which is very treacherous
and dumped them there,
350
00:22:09,689 --> 00:22:11,896
because they weren't going
to waste their bullets.
351
00:22:20,310 --> 00:22:23,034
Well, the Turkish government
had evidently realized that
352
00:22:23,137 --> 00:22:25,275
these children were going
to grow up and remember
353
00:22:25,379 --> 00:22:27,586
all the things that had
happened to their parents,
354
00:22:27,689 --> 00:22:32,965
and their families,
and so they decided to kill,
355
00:22:33,068 --> 00:22:36,724
not save the children.
356
00:22:36,827 --> 00:22:39,172
This gentleman--
he was a lawyer, by the way,
357
00:22:39,275 --> 00:22:43,620
Turkish lawyer-- he gave me
a present to the local Turks.
358
00:22:43,724 --> 00:22:46,689
He'd become to be friend
with them.
359
00:22:46,793 --> 00:22:49,241
And he gave me
a present to them.
360
00:22:49,344 --> 00:22:50,689
You were given as a present?
361
00:22:50,793 --> 00:22:53,241
As a present.
He said, "You like this boy?
362
00:22:53,344 --> 00:22:54,655
Okay, you can have him."
363
00:22:54,758 --> 00:22:58,931
And they took. In those days
Armenian children had no value.
364
00:22:59,034 --> 00:23:00,689
I mean,
you could give them away.
365
00:23:00,793 --> 00:23:04,724
You could kill them, you could
do anything you want.
366
00:23:04,827 --> 00:23:08,965
If you would ask me
who I am, I couldn't tell you
367
00:23:09,068 --> 00:23:12,862
because I don't know
what's my real name.
368
00:23:12,965 --> 00:23:15,310
I don't know when I was born.
369
00:23:15,413 --> 00:23:18,655
I don't know when I was born.
370
00:23:18,758 --> 00:23:22,965
I don't know
who my parents they were.
371
00:23:23,068 --> 00:23:27,379
When I was little,
about four years maybe,
372
00:23:27,482 --> 00:23:31,793
I remember I was living
in a Turkish family.
373
00:23:31,896 --> 00:23:35,344
There were a lot of people
over there-- kids too.
374
00:23:35,448 --> 00:23:39,068
But I was not allowed
to mix with them.
375
00:23:39,172 --> 00:23:42,000
I was eating separately.
376
00:23:42,103 --> 00:23:46,793
I was not allowed to go
in the garden or outside,
377
00:23:46,896 --> 00:23:51,241
so I was watching
from the window in the garden.
378
00:23:51,344 --> 00:23:54,724
Eventually I was adopted
from an orphanage
379
00:23:54,827 --> 00:23:58,758
by an Armenian family,
and they gave me the name
380
00:23:58,862 --> 00:24:02,103
of Jirair Suchiasian.
381
00:24:02,206 --> 00:24:06,586
Still, I don't know
what's my name,
382
00:24:06,689 --> 00:24:11,137
where I was born,
who was my parents.
383
00:24:11,241 --> 00:24:16,724
Now here I am. I am somebody,
but I am nobody.
384
00:24:22,034 --> 00:24:24,344
Father Guerguerian,retired priest
385
00:24:24,448 --> 00:24:26,413
of the Roman Catholic Church,
386
00:24:26,517 --> 00:24:28,379
also has pondered long
over the issue
387
00:24:28,482 --> 00:24:31,931
of his lost family,
his lost heritage.
388
00:24:33,827 --> 00:24:36,896
Thirty-eight years after his
parents had been massacred,
389
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,034
he returned to the land
of his birth
390
00:24:39,137 --> 00:24:42,103
and made
an outstanding discovery.
391
00:24:42,206 --> 00:24:45,689
1953,
392
00:24:45,793 --> 00:24:49,620
I went to the town Gurun
393
00:24:49,724 --> 00:24:54,655
where I am born in 1911.
394
00:24:54,758 --> 00:24:57,379
Mehmet Zeidan,
395
00:24:57,482 --> 00:25:01,344
who spoke Armenian and Turkish,
396
00:25:01,448 --> 00:25:05,620
came to see me with other Turks
397
00:25:05,724 --> 00:25:07,586
in my hotel room.
398
00:25:09,413 --> 00:25:13,000
And he asked me many,
many questions.
399
00:25:14,655 --> 00:25:18,344
And this gentleman came
400
00:25:18,448 --> 00:25:21,379
and put before my feet
401
00:25:21,482 --> 00:25:26,000
a basket of fruit,
and in Turkish language
402
00:25:26,103 --> 00:25:30,241
he told me,
"This is from your garden."
403
00:25:34,241 --> 00:25:36,965
And I told him
in Turkish language,
404
00:25:37,068 --> 00:25:39,103
"Thank you,
thank you very much."
405
00:25:41,482 --> 00:25:43,172
The man
406
00:25:44,517 --> 00:25:48,068
lifted up his arms,
407
00:25:48,172 --> 00:25:50,827
and he asked me forgiveness.
408
00:25:52,379 --> 00:25:58,310
And I told him, "God bless you,
God forgive you,
409
00:25:58,413 --> 00:26:01,793
but I don't know who you are."
410
00:26:01,896 --> 00:26:07,379
He told me that he killed
father, three brothers;
411
00:26:07,482 --> 00:26:12,137
and he confiscated
our home and our garden.
412
00:26:19,344 --> 00:26:21,586
As
Father Guerguerian before me,
413
00:26:21,689 --> 00:26:24,620
I also wanted to know the truth of what happened
414
00:26:24,724 --> 00:26:28,448
during those dark days of 1915.
415
00:26:28,551 --> 00:26:30,758
I would go
to the Syrian Desert,
416
00:26:30,862 --> 00:26:33,172
to the banks
of the Euphrates River,
417
00:26:33,275 --> 00:26:35,068
all the way to Deir Zor,
418
00:26:35,172 --> 00:26:39,517
to the final graveyard
of the Armenian people.
419
00:26:39,620 --> 00:26:42,379
My journey passed through
Aleppo in northern Syria,
420
00:26:42,482 --> 00:26:45,931
once a part of the former
Turkish Ottoman Empire.
421
00:26:46,034 --> 00:26:49,000
During the genocide,
refugees had tried to escape
422
00:26:49,103 --> 00:26:51,655
the death marches
by hiding in Aleppo
423
00:26:51,758 --> 00:26:54,827
where they had found
friendly Arabs.
424
00:26:56,275 --> 00:26:58,965
U.S. Consul
Jesse B. Jackson,
425
00:26:59,068 --> 00:27:01,862
in a special report
to the Secretary of State
426
00:27:01,965 --> 00:27:06,137
on March 4, 1918, wrote:
427
00:27:06,241 --> 00:27:07,827
"One of the most terrible sights ever seen
428
00:27:07,931 --> 00:27:13,034
"in Aleppo was the arrival
in August of 1915
429
00:27:13,137 --> 00:27:17,896
"from the province of Sivas
some 5,000 emaciated,
430
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,586
"dirty, ragged women
and children
431
00:27:21,689 --> 00:27:24,586
"traveling perhaps
a thousand miles
432
00:27:24,689 --> 00:27:28,931
and reaching Aleppo about four months afterwards."
433
00:27:29,034 --> 00:27:30,896
A portion of Polly Graffam's group
434
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,655
of deportees from Sivas
had survived.
435
00:27:36,413 --> 00:27:39,827
In Aleppo, Michael Hagopian
interviewed many Arabs
436
00:27:39,931 --> 00:27:42,931
who remembered the arrival
of these Armenians from Sivas
437
00:27:43,034 --> 00:27:47,068
and elsewhere fleeing
from Turkish atrocities.
438
00:27:50,620 --> 00:27:53,344
I wanted only eyewitness testimonies--
439
00:27:53,448 --> 00:27:56,482
what people had seen
with their own eyes--
440
00:27:56,586 --> 00:27:58,827
not hearsay.
441
00:27:58,931 --> 00:28:01,448
Arab chieftains told me
how Armenians had been
442
00:28:01,551 --> 00:28:04,413
on forced marches
to the desert.
443
00:28:04,517 --> 00:28:08,241
And how they had been driven to Deir Zor to be finished off.
444
00:28:14,344 --> 00:28:16,896
"Do you know why
the Armenians came here?"
445
00:28:18,758 --> 00:28:21,000
"They came from Turkey,
because they were massacred
446
00:28:21,103 --> 00:28:23,344
by the Turkish people."
447
00:28:23,448 --> 00:28:26,344
"And when did they come?"
448
00:28:26,448 --> 00:28:29,103
"I don't know exactly,
but we used to say that
449
00:28:29,206 --> 00:28:32,310
this child was born during
the Armenian massacre year."
450
00:28:33,689 --> 00:28:35,896
"And how did they come?"
451
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,517
"They came walking, barefoot,
452
00:28:37,620 --> 00:28:38,620
"their clothes were torn;
453
00:28:38,724 --> 00:28:41,931
"and their physical condition
was very poor.
454
00:28:42,034 --> 00:28:45,068
They settled in towns
like Aleppo."
455
00:28:47,344 --> 00:28:49,689
From ancient times
the city of Aleppo
456
00:28:49,793 --> 00:28:52,413
has been situated
on a major trade route
457
00:28:52,517 --> 00:28:54,655
between East and West.
458
00:28:54,758 --> 00:28:57,206
Aleppo has thrived
as a commercial center
459
00:28:57,310 --> 00:28:59,034
for centuries.
460
00:28:59,137 --> 00:29:03,448
Hotel Baron in Aleppo, owned
and operated by Armenians,
461
00:29:03,551 --> 00:29:05,379
has been the legendary
gathering place
462
00:29:05,482 --> 00:29:08,689
for such notables
as Prince Hussein of Iraq
463
00:29:08,793 --> 00:29:10,379
and Lawrence of Arabia.
464
00:29:10,482 --> 00:29:13,620
For all intents and purposes,
it was the headquarters
465
00:29:13,724 --> 00:29:16,724
of the Turkish army,
although it was run
466
00:29:16,827 --> 00:29:20,241
on the lines of
an ordinary hotel
467
00:29:20,344 --> 00:29:23,586
with the staff mostly Armenian.
468
00:29:23,689 --> 00:29:25,965
Djemal Pasha,
the third member
469
00:29:26,068 --> 00:29:27,586
of the ruling triumvirate
470
00:29:27,689 --> 00:29:30,034
used this hotel
as his headquarters
471
00:29:30,137 --> 00:29:31,551
during the war.
472
00:29:31,655 --> 00:29:35,000
Seven decades later
Michael Hagopian occupied
473
00:29:35,103 --> 00:29:39,344
the same second floor room
in his search for survivors.
474
00:29:39,448 --> 00:29:42,793
In the basement of the hotel
was a secret chamber.
475
00:29:42,896 --> 00:29:44,827
During the massacres
and deportations
476
00:29:44,931 --> 00:29:47,482
of the Armenians,
a young intellectual
477
00:29:47,586 --> 00:29:50,310
from Constantinople
was hiding there.
478
00:29:50,413 --> 00:29:53,896
His name was Aram Andonian.
479
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,517
He had become a friend
of an Armenian chambermaid
480
00:29:56,620 --> 00:29:59,000
who took care of
Djemal Pasha's room.
481
00:29:59,103 --> 00:30:01,655
In this way he monitored
the activities
482
00:30:01,758 --> 00:30:04,862
and communications
of the Turkish Government.
483
00:30:04,965 --> 00:30:07,758
Andonian's revelation
of Turkish orders
484
00:30:07,862 --> 00:30:11,103
for deportation and massacre
were confirmed
485
00:30:11,206 --> 00:30:13,965
by Western consular agents.
486
00:30:14,068 --> 00:30:19,275
In a letter dated June 5,
1915, United States Consul
487
00:30:19,379 --> 00:30:21,896
Jessie Jackson
of Aleppo reported
488
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,793
to U.S. Ambassador
Henry Morgenthau:
489
00:30:24,896 --> 00:30:26,655
"There is a living stream of Armenians
490
00:30:26,758 --> 00:30:28,620
"pouring into Aleppo,
491
00:30:28,724 --> 00:30:31,655
"they all come
under heavy armed escort,
492
00:30:31,758 --> 00:30:35,275
"usually from 300 to 500
at a time,
493
00:30:35,379 --> 00:30:39,517
"and consist of old men,
women, and children.
494
00:30:39,620 --> 00:30:41,379
"They are being scattered
over the desert
495
00:30:41,482 --> 00:30:45,551
"to starve or die of disease
in the burning heat.
496
00:30:45,655 --> 00:30:49,931
"It is without doubt
a carefully planned scheme
497
00:30:50,034 --> 00:30:53,862
to thoroughly extinguish
the Armenian race."
498
00:30:55,965 --> 00:30:59,379
Far below in the
rugged mountains of Anatolia
499
00:30:59,482 --> 00:31:02,931
a family was on a death march
to the desert.
500
00:31:03,034 --> 00:31:05,689
Their son was desperately
trying to save them,
501
00:31:05,793 --> 00:31:09,068
if he could only get them
to hide out in Aleppo.
502
00:31:09,172 --> 00:31:11,551
Dr. Navasart Deirmendjian
was a major
503
00:31:11,655 --> 00:31:14,206
in the Turkish medical corps.
504
00:31:14,310 --> 00:31:16,827
As a medical student
in Constantinople,
505
00:31:16,931 --> 00:31:20,448
he had played backgammon
with Talaat Pasha.
506
00:31:20,551 --> 00:31:22,689
Now he rushed to Constantinople
507
00:31:22,793 --> 00:31:24,827
and with the help
of a German officer,
508
00:31:24,931 --> 00:31:27,620
received an audience
with Talaat Pasha
509
00:31:27,724 --> 00:31:31,310
who was in charge
of the deportation.
510
00:31:31,413 --> 00:31:33,931
"He came to me and said,
511
00:31:34,034 --> 00:31:37,034
"'Do you know
how to play backgammon?'
512
00:31:37,137 --> 00:31:39,275
"'Yes, I know a little.
513
00:31:39,379 --> 00:31:42,137
I know enough to beat you!'"
514
00:31:42,241 --> 00:31:46,275
Dr. Deirmendjian approached
his old friend, Talaat.
515
00:31:46,379 --> 00:31:50,344
He reminded Talaat of when they had played backgammon together.
516
00:31:58,206 --> 00:31:59,551
"He grabbed me
and shook my hand.
517
00:31:59,655 --> 00:32:02,931
"And he said,
'I am very thankful.
518
00:32:03,034 --> 00:32:07,068
"I've missed you a lot.
Now, what do you want?'
519
00:32:07,172 --> 00:32:11,655
"My family. I don't want
them to be driven further.
520
00:32:11,758 --> 00:32:15,793
"Could they come back
to Aleppo or to Konya?'
521
00:32:15,896 --> 00:32:18,517
"He sent a telegram
to the governor of Aleppo.
522
00:32:26,517 --> 00:32:28,241
"The telegram read,
523
00:32:28,344 --> 00:32:31,172
"'These people have to be found within 24 hours,
524
00:32:31,275 --> 00:32:33,896
"and sent to Aleppo,
and to stay in Aleppo
525
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,068
"to the end of the war.'
526
00:32:37,172 --> 00:32:42,551
"These people in 24 hours
they have to be in Aleppo.
527
00:32:42,655 --> 00:32:46,586
They found them.
They came back."
528
00:32:46,689 --> 00:32:49,344
Talaat's control and knowledge of the caravans'
529
00:32:49,448 --> 00:32:53,103
exact whereabouts
was astonishing.
530
00:32:53,206 --> 00:32:56,000
He could pick a single family
out of thousands
531
00:32:56,103 --> 00:32:58,241
on the deportation routes.
532
00:32:58,344 --> 00:33:00,931
The next year
Dr. Deirmendjian's parents
533
00:33:01,034 --> 00:33:03,275
were deported again.
534
00:33:03,379 --> 00:33:05,517
This time
they were slaughtered.
535
00:33:08,206 --> 00:33:12,000
Armin Wegner, a German,
photographed the devastation
536
00:33:12,103 --> 00:33:13,724
in the Aleppo region.
537
00:33:16,758 --> 00:33:20,896
I came in Turkey
in April 1915.
538
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,517
I came as a member
of the Red Cross,
539
00:33:24,620 --> 00:33:27,931
of the German Red Cross.
540
00:33:28,034 --> 00:33:34,241
I was always willing to speak
of this terrible thing.
541
00:33:34,344 --> 00:33:37,586
Wegner, together
with many other Germans,
542
00:33:37,689 --> 00:33:40,724
condemned the Turks for their premeditated genocide
543
00:33:40,827 --> 00:33:42,827
of the Armenians.
544
00:33:42,931 --> 00:33:47,310
They denounced the complicity
of their own government.
545
00:33:47,413 --> 00:33:50,896
Wegner's photographs cover the horrors of the deportations
546
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,103
to the Syrian Desert.
547
00:33:53,206 --> 00:33:56,206
He moved from one concentration camp to another,
548
00:33:56,310 --> 00:33:57,758
east of Aleppo.
549
00:33:57,862 --> 00:34:01,310
He noticed how slowly
the caravans moved,
550
00:34:01,413 --> 00:34:06,689
accompanied by decimated,
bedraggled refugees on foot.
551
00:34:06,793 --> 00:34:09,931
U.S. Consul Jackson sent
Agent August Bernan
552
00:34:10,034 --> 00:34:13,655
to investigate the caravans
along the Euphrates.
553
00:34:13,758 --> 00:34:18,241
On September 10, 1916
he reported:
554
00:34:18,344 --> 00:34:19,931
"On the right bank of the Euphrates
555
00:34:20,034 --> 00:34:22,586
"between Meskene and Deir Zor,
556
00:34:22,689 --> 00:34:25,241
"Armenians are penned up
in the open like cattle
557
00:34:25,344 --> 00:34:28,482
"without shelter,
almost no clothing,
558
00:34:28,586 --> 00:34:32,758
"fed barely by food
altogether insufficient.
559
00:34:32,862 --> 00:34:38,241
"As far as the eye can reach,
mounds of 200-300 corpses
560
00:34:38,344 --> 00:34:40,517
"are buried pell-mell .
561
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:45,827
Nearly 60,000 Armenians
are buried there."
562
00:34:45,931 --> 00:34:48,793
On his search for witnesses, Michael Hagopian
563
00:34:48,896 --> 00:34:51,551
moved southward
along the Euphrates.
564
00:34:51,655 --> 00:34:54,241
He passed through
Meskene and Rakka
565
00:34:54,344 --> 00:34:58,482
identifying the locations
of the concentration camps.
566
00:34:58,586 --> 00:35:02,310
Recently discovered pictures in the German Military Archives
567
00:35:02,413 --> 00:35:05,896
support the already
existing evidence:
568
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,482
Lt. Captain Hellmuth von MuĆ¼cke ,of the German Imperial Navy,
569
00:35:10,586 --> 00:35:13,827
photographed the death camps
along the Euphrates.
570
00:35:30,448 --> 00:35:32,655
"Wherever there was no water,
571
00:35:32,758 --> 00:35:35,172
"wherever it was thorny, rocky,
572
00:35:35,275 --> 00:35:37,793
"they made us walk
in those areas.
573
00:35:37,896 --> 00:35:41,034
Thirsty, hungry,
our money gone.
574
00:35:41,137 --> 00:35:43,448
"Three months later,my mother who had no more milk
575
00:35:43,551 --> 00:35:47,103
"to give to the baby,
the baby died.
576
00:35:47,206 --> 00:35:49,862
"She couldn't tie her
to my back any longer,
577
00:35:49,965 --> 00:35:52,310
so she gave it into my arms.
578
00:35:52,413 --> 00:35:55,689
"'It's too heavy.
I can't carry it.' I said.
579
00:35:55,793 --> 00:36:00,379
"She said, 'Daughter, place her under a bush. Let's go.
580
00:36:00,482 --> 00:36:04,172
"I replied, 'I won't place
my sister on the ground.'
581
00:36:04,275 --> 00:36:06,206
"Meantime,
the Turks were pressing us,
582
00:36:06,310 --> 00:36:09,724
"'Walk, keep going,
don't sit down.'
583
00:36:09,827 --> 00:36:13,689
"The child was going to fall
under our feet from my arms.
584
00:36:13,793 --> 00:36:18,620
"She said, 'Put her
under that bush. Let's go.'
585
00:36:18,724 --> 00:36:21,758
"I won't put my sister
under a bush and leave.
586
00:36:21,862 --> 00:36:23,620
"'You put her there,' I said.
587
00:36:23,724 --> 00:36:26,620
"She said, 'Daughter,
you are the sister.
588
00:36:26,724 --> 00:36:29,482
"You will forget,' she said.
589
00:36:29,586 --> 00:36:33,379
"'Mother, I won't forget.
Don't force me to do this.'
590
00:36:33,482 --> 00:36:37,689
"She made me do it.
We put her under the bush.
591
00:36:37,793 --> 00:36:41,000
The soldiers
were poking us to move on.
592
00:36:41,103 --> 00:36:44,517
"That night there was
a very heavy rain.
593
00:36:44,620 --> 00:36:47,896
"I said, 'Mother, I want to go and bring my sister.
594
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,620
"I know the way. Do you think
they would let me go?'
595
00:36:52,896 --> 00:36:56,206
I cried and cried,
and I fell asleep."
596
00:36:58,137 --> 00:36:59,413
"One night I was awakened
597
00:36:59,517 --> 00:37:02,620
"by the sound
of my father crying.
598
00:37:02,724 --> 00:37:05,655
"He was sobbing
just like a child.
599
00:37:05,758 --> 00:37:08,034
"I reached out to him
and wiped his tears away
600
00:37:08,137 --> 00:37:12,689
"with my fingers, and curled upon my mat to sleep.
601
00:37:12,793 --> 00:37:16,000
"Then I heard
someone singing, far away
602
00:37:16,103 --> 00:37:18,344
"in another section
of the camp.
603
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,517
"I can hear, to this day,
that unrehearsed duet
604
00:37:32,620 --> 00:37:36,931
"the sound of my father crying and the melancholy lamentation
605
00:37:37,034 --> 00:37:41,517
"of the song, his voice
drifting with the wind
606
00:37:41,620 --> 00:37:44,344
"through the gorges
of the Euphrates,
607
00:37:44,448 --> 00:37:48,172
over the waters,
on to the desert beyond."
608
00:37:52,655 --> 00:37:55,448
Night before Turks
were going to kill
609
00:37:55,551 --> 00:37:57,620
the Armenians,
610
00:37:57,724 --> 00:38:01,000
I woke up middle of the night.
611
00:38:01,103 --> 00:38:03,344
I heard
612
00:38:03,448 --> 00:38:08,310
all Armenians hollering
613
00:38:10,172 --> 00:38:12,517
in Turkish language,
614
00:38:12,620 --> 00:38:16,310
'Allah, Allah, nerdasin'
615
00:38:23,413 --> 00:38:26,241
This is, in English,
I will explain.
616
00:38:26,344 --> 00:38:30,413
They were asking God,
"Where are you, God?"
617
00:38:30,517 --> 00:38:33,758
"Why are we being punished
so much this way?"
618
00:38:33,862 --> 00:38:36,448
"Why don't you save us,
dear God?"
619
00:38:38,793 --> 00:38:42,655
Another day,it was probably mid-afternoon,
620
00:38:42,758 --> 00:38:45,517
a woman utterly exhausted,
621
00:38:45,620 --> 00:38:49,103
looking up
into the heavens, said:
622
00:38:54,413 --> 00:38:55,413
"God, we are suffering.
623
00:38:55,517 --> 00:38:57,827
Let this child not suffer
any more."
624
00:38:57,931 --> 00:38:59,931
And with that, she hurled
625
00:39:00,034 --> 00:39:03,344
her young child down the creek,30-40 feet below.
626
00:39:08,517 --> 00:39:10,344
"I could see the Euphrates River.
627
00:39:10,448 --> 00:39:13,241
"I thought I saw bodies
of people I knew.
628
00:39:13,344 --> 00:39:15,482
"I would get close to the bank.
629
00:39:15,586 --> 00:39:19,448
"I would see hundreds of naked human bodies passing by.
630
00:39:21,620 --> 00:39:26,931
In a half an hour, you would
see more hundreds pass by."
631
00:39:27,034 --> 00:39:30,172
We lived close
to river, the Euphrates.
632
00:39:30,275 --> 00:39:32,068
My brother and I
and some of the kids
633
00:39:32,172 --> 00:39:34,551
would go swimming in the river.
634
00:39:34,655 --> 00:39:38,448
And, lo and behold,
we used to see
635
00:39:38,551 --> 00:39:40,965
bodies floating
down the river, you know.
636
00:39:41,068 --> 00:39:45,551
And as we tried to swim to them,
but the current was so,
637
00:39:45,655 --> 00:39:49,931
so fast that we couldn't
catch up with them.
638
00:39:50,034 --> 00:39:52,862
Hundreds and thousands of them.
639
00:39:52,965 --> 00:39:57,275
Not far from the river
a drama was unfolding.
640
00:39:57,379 --> 00:39:59,620
Children buried in the sands,
641
00:39:59,724 --> 00:40:03,482
little girls wandering
aimlessly in the wilderness.
642
00:40:07,206 --> 00:40:10,103
"My mother said to me, 'Azad, run away.
643
00:40:10,206 --> 00:40:12,862
"I'll also run after you.'
644
00:40:12,965 --> 00:40:17,068
"She knew the way-- I did not
see where she ran.
645
00:40:17,172 --> 00:40:20,655
"We walked-- we walked
for a month.
646
00:40:22,965 --> 00:40:26,034
"We're passing through
a large wilderness.
647
00:40:26,137 --> 00:40:28,379
"We are walking
through the desert,
648
00:40:28,482 --> 00:40:32,551
"two children,
my brother on my back.
649
00:40:32,655 --> 00:40:34,241
"Suddenly we heard a voice.
650
00:40:35,724 --> 00:40:39,965
"The sky blue,
the ground sandy
651
00:40:40,068 --> 00:40:42,517
"'Water, water.'
652
00:40:42,620 --> 00:40:44,310
"A voice was calling.
653
00:40:48,448 --> 00:40:53,517
"We ran toward the voice.
We saw that it was a girl.
654
00:40:53,620 --> 00:40:55,758
"We found a girl buried.
655
00:40:55,862 --> 00:40:59,241
"Only her head
was above the sand.
656
00:40:59,344 --> 00:41:02,103
"'Water, water',
she's yelling.
657
00:41:02,206 --> 00:41:04,586
"We ran to where
the voice was coming from.
658
00:41:09,655 --> 00:41:12,724
"We started to dig down
to her shoulders
659
00:41:12,827 --> 00:41:14,172
"where she was buried.
660
00:41:14,275 --> 00:41:17,689
"The Turk soldier had done
all kinds of tortures.
661
00:41:17,793 --> 00:41:20,551
"After torturing her,
after raping her,
662
00:41:20,655 --> 00:41:22,931
"he buried her in the sand.
663
00:41:23,034 --> 00:41:26,758
"'You might as well
die here like a dog.
664
00:41:26,862 --> 00:41:30,344
"Hundreds, thousands
died a dog's death.
665
00:41:30,448 --> 00:41:33,310
"You might
as well expire here.'
666
00:41:33,413 --> 00:41:36,137
He left her, and went away."
667
00:41:37,965 --> 00:41:40,586
"Suddenly we heard
many babies crying.
668
00:41:40,689 --> 00:41:44,103
"We ran towards the sound,
and saw many babies buried,
669
00:41:44,206 --> 00:41:45,931
"only their heads
above the ground.
670
00:41:48,172 --> 00:41:50,586
"Our guards got on their horses and charged towards
671
00:41:50,689 --> 00:41:53,689
"the buried children
and trampled them to death.
672
00:41:53,793 --> 00:41:57,068
The crying voices stopped."
John Yervant.
673
00:42:01,758 --> 00:42:04,172
As people heard of my mission, they wrote to me
674
00:42:04,275 --> 00:42:06,655
from Canada, Australia,
675
00:42:06,758 --> 00:42:09,137
Europe, South America,
the Middle East
676
00:42:09,241 --> 00:42:12,241
and from every part
of the United States.
677
00:42:12,344 --> 00:42:14,206
My files expanded.
678
00:42:14,310 --> 00:42:17,310
Year after year
I continued my research.
679
00:42:19,103 --> 00:42:21,758
I wondered,
'Were there any survivors
680
00:42:21,862 --> 00:42:24,551
who still lived on the banks of the Euphrates,
681
00:42:24,655 --> 00:42:26,965
in the wilderness of Deir Zor?'
682
00:42:29,206 --> 00:42:32,275
During the summer
and autumn of 1915,
683
00:42:32,379 --> 00:42:37,758
some 870,000 Armenians
arrived in Syria.
684
00:42:37,862 --> 00:42:40,862
They were spread out
in three lines:
685
00:42:40,965 --> 00:42:44,517
one moving toward
what now is Northern Iraq
686
00:42:44,620 --> 00:42:49,344
another moving southward
from Aleppo to Damascus.
687
00:42:49,448 --> 00:42:54,103
The largest group of 590,000
moved along the Euphrates
688
00:42:54,206 --> 00:42:56,965
toward Deir Zor.
689
00:42:57,068 --> 00:43:00,448
Along the path
between Aleppo and Deir Zor
690
00:43:00,551 --> 00:43:05,482
deportees were dying
at the rate of 500-600 a day.
691
00:43:06,724 --> 00:43:09,689
The banks of the Euphrates
were clogged
692
00:43:09,793 --> 00:43:12,379
with slow moving multitudes.
693
00:43:15,172 --> 00:43:16,965
I was finally approaching Deir Zor
694
00:43:17,068 --> 00:43:18,758
on the lower Euphrates.
695
00:43:21,655 --> 00:43:25,758
In 1915 this was
an isolated desert village;
696
00:43:25,862 --> 00:43:29,310
and a wilderness,
a place of extinction,
697
00:43:29,413 --> 00:43:31,655
a place of no return.
698
00:43:31,758 --> 00:43:34,517
To this day,
in the 21st Century,
699
00:43:34,620 --> 00:43:38,413
Deir Zor is still branded
on the Armenian soul
700
00:43:38,517 --> 00:43:39,896
as "hell on Earth".
701
00:43:44,275 --> 00:43:46,758
The dreaded outpost of the Ottoman Empire,
702
00:43:46,862 --> 00:43:50,034
Deir Zor,
has become in our day,
703
00:43:50,137 --> 00:43:52,000
a thriving Syrian town.
704
00:43:55,482 --> 00:43:57,551
Michael Hagopian
found a few Armenians
705
00:43:57,655 --> 00:44:00,448
still remained in Deir Zor.
706
00:44:00,551 --> 00:44:02,724
He had to be cautious
in seeking evidence
707
00:44:02,827 --> 00:44:06,206
of the genocide of 1915.
708
00:44:06,310 --> 00:44:09,137
Officials told Hagopian
that they feared the Turks
709
00:44:09,241 --> 00:44:11,758
could stop the flow of water
to Syria
710
00:44:11,862 --> 00:44:15,310
if the Syrians assisted him
in the search for witnesses.
711
00:44:19,931 --> 00:44:22,413
"You say events took place."
712
00:44:26,482 --> 00:44:29,586
"Those events that occurred they came from Turkey,
713
00:44:29,689 --> 00:44:30,965
"through the wilderness.
714
00:44:34,482 --> 00:44:36,793
"But the Turk soldiers did not allow the Armenians
715
00:44:36,896 --> 00:44:39,448
"to reach the Euphrates.
716
00:44:39,551 --> 00:44:42,034
"Because they wanted to kill
and starve them.
717
00:44:47,965 --> 00:44:51,034
"Between the Euphrates
and Khabour Rivers,
718
00:44:52,206 --> 00:44:54,482
"is the wilderness of Deir Zor.
719
00:44:57,034 --> 00:45:01,758
"The massacre took place there,the massacre of Deir Zor.
720
00:45:01,862 --> 00:45:05,551
"10 kilometers from Deir Zor
there is a small hill,
721
00:45:05,655 --> 00:45:09,482
and beyond that
is all a wilderness".
722
00:45:10,931 --> 00:45:13,827
In 1916, Armenians who had survived
723
00:45:13,931 --> 00:45:15,206
the death marches,
724
00:45:15,310 --> 00:45:18,448
were forced into this
forsaken desert prison.
725
00:45:19,586 --> 00:45:21,896
This region became
the dumping ground
726
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,758
of unwanted Armenians.
727
00:45:24,862 --> 00:45:27,551
The largest massacres
of the Armenian Genocide
728
00:45:27,655 --> 00:45:30,000
took place
in the concentration camps
729
00:45:30,103 --> 00:45:33,172
of this desert triangle
between the Euphrates
730
00:45:33,275 --> 00:45:35,896
and Khabour rivers.
731
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,310
This hell hole region
is commonly referred to
732
00:45:39,413 --> 00:45:42,137
as the Deir Zor Desert.
733
00:45:42,241 --> 00:45:46,448
192,000 were slaughtered
out right
734
00:45:46,551 --> 00:45:48,793
in the vicinity of Deir Zor.
735
00:45:50,206 --> 00:45:53,965
At Sheddeh another
200,000 were killed
736
00:45:54,068 --> 00:45:57,724
by sword and by fire
in burning caves.
737
00:45:58,965 --> 00:46:02,068
At Ras ul Ain convicts
were let out of prison
738
00:46:02,172 --> 00:46:06,344
to butcher 300,000
defenseless deportees,
739
00:46:06,448 --> 00:46:09,413
old men, women and children.
740
00:46:10,620 --> 00:46:13,758
German Consul Rossler reported:
741
00:46:13,862 --> 00:46:16,241
"300 to 500 deportees are taken out
742
00:46:16,344 --> 00:46:20,482
"of the concentration camp
each day and butchered
743
00:46:20,586 --> 00:46:24,206
"at a distance often kilometers from Ras ul Ain.
744
00:46:26,275 --> 00:46:30,344
The corpses are then
thrown into the river."
745
00:46:30,448 --> 00:46:33,068
Nium Sukkar was an Arab boy
746
00:46:33,172 --> 00:46:36,137
who witnessed the same events.
747
00:46:36,241 --> 00:46:39,034
They were putting
all the sick people
748
00:46:39,137 --> 00:46:41,137
that couldn't walk
or couldn't eat.
749
00:46:41,241 --> 00:46:44,310
They were pouring
gasoline on them
750
00:46:44,413 --> 00:46:46,689
and burning them to death.
751
00:46:46,793 --> 00:46:50,310
Not only this one ditch
but I saw three, four
752
00:46:50,413 --> 00:46:53,931
other ditches, all the same way.
753
00:46:54,034 --> 00:46:56,724
Before hiding out in the basement of Hotel Baron,
754
00:46:56,827 --> 00:47:01,448
in Aleppo, Aram Andonian
had been a runaway refugee
755
00:47:01,551 --> 00:47:04,206
in the Deir Zor region.
756
00:47:04,310 --> 00:47:07,137
His greatest fear
was that the Turks would deny
757
00:47:07,241 --> 00:47:09,793
their crimes after the war.
758
00:47:11,344 --> 00:47:15,241
Andonian's exhaustive research and field investigations
759
00:47:15,344 --> 00:47:18,793
help us to understand
the final horrific events
760
00:47:18,896 --> 00:47:20,310
of the genocide.
761
00:47:20,413 --> 00:47:22,344
He interviewed survivors.
762
00:47:22,448 --> 00:47:26,172
He sketched in great
detail the places of torture,
763
00:47:26,275 --> 00:47:30,551
burning and death on the banks of the Euphrates River.
764
00:47:30,655 --> 00:47:32,517
Others followed
the documentation
765
00:47:32,620 --> 00:47:35,344
started by Andonian.
766
00:47:35,448 --> 00:47:37,241
They searched
the deserts for bones
767
00:47:37,344 --> 00:47:39,689
and surviving Armenians.
768
00:47:39,793 --> 00:47:41,000
"The Armenians
769
00:47:41,103 --> 00:47:44,241
"among them my father
and other friends
770
00:47:44,344 --> 00:47:47,241
"took some small trucks
and went to gather the bones
771
00:47:47,344 --> 00:47:49,000
in the desert."
772
00:47:53,310 --> 00:47:54,931
They found the desert full of
773
00:47:55,034 --> 00:47:58,379
bleached bones
as far as the eye could see
774
00:47:58,482 --> 00:48:01,310
on either side,
strewn on the ground,
775
00:48:01,413 --> 00:48:03,379
thousands of skeletons.
776
00:48:09,448 --> 00:48:11,620
"I saw the bones
with my own eyes,
777
00:48:11,724 --> 00:48:14,103
and gathered them
with the others."
778
00:48:14,206 --> 00:48:16,344
"You also gathered them?"
779
00:48:16,448 --> 00:48:19,344
"Yes, I also gathered them."
780
00:48:19,448 --> 00:48:22,172
"How do we know
these were Armenian bones?"
781
00:48:23,310 --> 00:48:24,965
"There were
no human bones there
782
00:48:25,068 --> 00:48:27,517
because there are
no Arabs there."
783
00:48:27,620 --> 00:48:30,551
"Maybe they were
animal bones."
784
00:48:30,655 --> 00:48:33,000
"No, no, no, no,
animal bones
785
00:48:33,103 --> 00:48:35,551
are different
from those of humans."
786
00:48:35,655 --> 00:48:37,689
"Maybe they were
the bones of Arabs?"
787
00:48:39,413 --> 00:48:41,724
"There were
no Arab bones there.
788
00:48:41,827 --> 00:48:45,103
On this side of the river,
there were no Arabs."
789
00:48:48,068 --> 00:48:51,172
"Maybe the Armenians
killed the Turks?"
790
00:48:51,275 --> 00:48:53,137
"The Armenians
killed the Turks?"
791
00:48:53,241 --> 00:48:56,724
"Yes, maybe these
were Turkish bones."
792
00:48:56,827 --> 00:49:01,482
"Good question,
but the Turkish soldiers
793
00:49:01,586 --> 00:49:05,172
did not come here,
nor was there a battle here,
794
00:49:05,275 --> 00:49:07,275
to give the Armenians
the opportunity
795
00:49:07,379 --> 00:49:08,620
to massacre the Turks.
796
00:49:15,758 --> 00:49:19,896
"When the caravans arrived,
the Armenians were naked.
797
00:49:25,551 --> 00:49:28,275
"Many men
without anything to wear
798
00:49:28,379 --> 00:49:32,931
"and the women barely able
to conceal themselves.
799
00:49:33,034 --> 00:49:38,689
People in that condition
are not able to wage war."
800
00:49:38,793 --> 00:49:40,620
Michael Hagopian
was determined
801
00:49:40,724 --> 00:49:42,103
to find survivors
802
00:49:42,206 --> 00:49:44,827
who might still live
in the remote deserts.
803
00:49:45,965 --> 00:49:48,758
His film crew explored
the region of Deir Zor
804
00:49:48,862 --> 00:49:51,137
seeking evidence
of the footprints
805
00:49:51,241 --> 00:49:56,620
destitute Armenians had left
in these alien Arab lands.
806
00:49:56,724 --> 00:49:59,379
"Talk to us about the arrival of the Armenians
807
00:49:59,482 --> 00:50:00,793
to Syria."
808
00:50:00,896 --> 00:50:03,827
"They came the year
of the genocide.
809
00:50:03,931 --> 00:50:08,517
Some were adopted by the Arabs and some by the Kurds."
810
00:50:08,620 --> 00:50:10,689
"And how did they arrive?"
811
00:50:10,793 --> 00:50:13,241
"Some were massacred
by the Turks,
812
00:50:13,344 --> 00:50:15,793
and others were driven here."
813
00:50:15,896 --> 00:50:18,586
"What was the number
of the arrivals?"
814
00:50:18,689 --> 00:50:22,137
"More than 2000, maybe 3000."
815
00:50:24,379 --> 00:50:25,862
In small villages
816
00:50:25,965 --> 00:50:29,000
I searched for
eyewitness survivors
817
00:50:29,103 --> 00:50:32,103
who had escaped
the Turkish atrocities
818
00:50:32,206 --> 00:50:35,206
and who were still living
among the Arabs.
819
00:50:36,620 --> 00:50:39,655
In the twilight I heard
a voice in the distance
820
00:50:39,758 --> 00:50:44,034
a woman singing in Armenian.
It was an old woman.
821
00:50:44,137 --> 00:50:46,000
Her name was Serpouhi.
822
00:50:46,103 --> 00:50:48,517
She led me to
the two other survivors
823
00:50:48,620 --> 00:50:51,724
who still lived on the banks
of the Euphrates.
824
00:50:51,827 --> 00:50:55,172
Serpouhi had survived
the long march to the desert.
825
00:50:55,275 --> 00:51:00,137
She married an Arab,
a Moslem man, a kind man,
826
00:51:00,241 --> 00:51:03,724
who showered her
with many gifts.
827
00:51:03,827 --> 00:51:06,724
So that she would not forget
her Armenian heritage,
828
00:51:06,827 --> 00:51:09,448
Serpouhi had tattooed
on her wrist
829
00:51:09,551 --> 00:51:15,482
her family name, "Papazian",
and the year "1915".
830
00:51:17,793 --> 00:51:20,344
Serpouhi told me
a horrible story
831
00:51:20,448 --> 00:51:23,413
of how she was rounded up
by Turkish soldiers
832
00:51:23,517 --> 00:51:27,241
and driven into a cave
at a place called Sheddeh.
833
00:51:27,344 --> 00:51:30,931
She was stuffed into a burning furnace in the earth.
834
00:51:31,034 --> 00:51:34,724
In that terrifying place
was an Armenian boy
835
00:51:34,827 --> 00:51:37,241
she had fallen in love with.
836
00:51:37,344 --> 00:51:41,000
After their rescue, he was
renamed Abdulla Garabed,
837
00:51:41,103 --> 00:51:44,103
and married off
to a Moslem girl.
838
00:51:44,206 --> 00:51:46,827
Over the years
the pain was softened;
839
00:51:46,931 --> 00:51:50,000
Abdulla Garabed had given
his daughter in marriage
840
00:51:50,103 --> 00:51:52,931
to Serpouhi's son,
hoping to carry on
841
00:51:53,034 --> 00:51:55,000
their shared heritage.
842
00:51:57,344 --> 00:51:58,551
"Were you alone when you came
843
00:51:58,655 --> 00:52:00,482
or were there many of you?"
844
00:52:01,827 --> 00:52:04,379
"We came till that bridge.
845
00:52:04,482 --> 00:52:08,655
"Some of the caravans
continued, but we stayed.
846
00:52:08,758 --> 00:52:10,793
I was crying."
847
00:52:11,758 --> 00:52:13,034
"Were you too many?"
848
00:52:13,137 --> 00:52:17,655
"Oh, many, oh so many tents."
849
00:52:23,344 --> 00:52:27,689
The final survivor
of the fire lived in Sheddeh,
850
00:52:27,793 --> 00:52:30,862
by himself in a hut
on the horizon.
851
00:52:30,965 --> 00:52:34,793
He was born in Zeitun,
on the Armenian plateau.
852
00:52:34,896 --> 00:52:38,586
He, also, had been cast
into the underground cave
853
00:52:38,689 --> 00:52:41,448
along with Serpouhi,
Abdulla Garabed
854
00:52:41,551 --> 00:52:43,827
and the other
terrified children.
855
00:52:46,689 --> 00:52:50,241
A little later Turkish women
came into the cave and began
856
00:52:50,344 --> 00:52:54,379
to shout, 'Infidels, do you
have any children to sell?'
857
00:52:54,482 --> 00:52:58,068
About 10 mothers, tears
flowing down their cheeks,
858
00:52:58,172 --> 00:53:01,724
stood up and holding
their children's hands,
859
00:53:01,827 --> 00:53:04,586
began to walk
towards the Turkish women.
860
00:53:04,689 --> 00:53:06,344
The children were sobbing.
861
00:53:08,206 --> 00:53:10,310
The Turkish woman
tried to buy the boy
862
00:53:10,413 --> 00:53:11,827
from Zeitun.
863
00:53:11,931 --> 00:53:16,000
He refused to leave
his little sisters.
864
00:53:16,103 --> 00:53:19,620
The opening to the cave was
closed and a fire started.
865
00:53:21,206 --> 00:53:23,689
Hundreds of helpless,
sun stroked,
866
00:53:23,793 --> 00:53:25,551
starving women and children
867
00:53:25,655 --> 00:53:27,931
were locked
in this dark chamber.
868
00:53:29,310 --> 00:53:31,068
Only seven survived.
869
00:53:33,448 --> 00:53:37,000
Three of them were still
living when Hagopian arrived.
870
00:53:37,103 --> 00:53:40,551
One was Serpouhi,
one was Abdulla Garabed,
871
00:53:40,655 --> 00:53:43,586
and the other was the boy
from Zeitun.
872
00:53:43,689 --> 00:53:47,103
The Arabs gave him a new
religion and a new name.
873
00:53:47,206 --> 00:53:49,758
They called him Mubarak.
874
00:53:49,862 --> 00:53:53,965
He retains the most searing
memory of the burning cave.
875
00:53:54,068 --> 00:53:55,724
"They separated the old
876
00:53:55,827 --> 00:53:57,793
"from the young,
877
00:53:57,896 --> 00:54:01,413
"and they separated the males
from the females.
878
00:54:01,517 --> 00:54:04,620
"They placed us children
in a cave, locked the opening
879
00:54:04,724 --> 00:54:07,931
"with wood and burned the wood.
880
00:54:08,034 --> 00:54:10,827
"The ones that were near the door and close to the fire
881
00:54:10,931 --> 00:54:13,655
"were killed immediately,
882
00:54:13,758 --> 00:54:17,275
"while the rest who were
far from the fire,
883
00:54:17,379 --> 00:54:20,586
"suffocated from the smoke.
884
00:54:20,689 --> 00:54:24,931
"The survivors,
I was one of them,
885
00:54:25,034 --> 00:54:29,724
"remained 15 days
without food or water.
886
00:54:29,827 --> 00:54:33,517
"The cave was cold,and the heat from our exhaling
887
00:54:33,620 --> 00:54:36,620
"and body formed moisture
on the cave wall,
888
00:54:36,724 --> 00:54:40,000
"we squeezed it to drink
the water from it.
889
00:54:40,103 --> 00:54:44,206
"After they left us,
we dug the cave wall,
890
00:54:44,310 --> 00:54:48,068
formed some type of stairs,
and escaped."
891
00:54:54,655 --> 00:54:56,862
Serpouhi had walked a 1000 miles,
892
00:54:56,965 --> 00:54:59,517
all the way
from Constantinople.
893
00:54:59,620 --> 00:55:03,310
She had seen a 1000 deaths
in the burning sands,
894
00:55:03,413 --> 00:55:06,310
and in the waters
of the Euphrates.
895
00:55:06,413 --> 00:55:09,379
In her torment she unlocked
for me the mystery
896
00:55:09,482 --> 00:55:12,413
of the final survivors
of Deir Zor.
897
00:55:12,517 --> 00:55:16,241
To fill the void in her soul,
she often sat on the banks
898
00:55:16,344 --> 00:55:18,448
of this mighty river of death,
899
00:55:18,551 --> 00:55:20,689
thinking of the old days.
900
00:55:20,793 --> 00:55:24,896
The voices of her youth,the verses of the great poets,
901
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:28,137
still lingered in her heart.
902
00:55:28,241 --> 00:55:32,379
"The ages pass,
no tidings come.
903
00:55:32,482 --> 00:55:36,413
"Eternal sorrow is my doom.
904
00:55:36,517 --> 00:55:40,586
"Tell them I die of grief
and tell how hope is dead
905
00:55:40,689 --> 00:55:43,068
"within my heart.
906
00:55:43,172 --> 00:55:45,689
"I am exiled
from my ruined nest,
907
00:55:45,793 --> 00:55:49,758
"and roam with faltering steps.
908
00:55:49,862 --> 00:55:54,862
"When shall night end this
day's last glimmering spark?
909
00:55:54,965 --> 00:55:59,586
Where shall my weary feet
tonight find rest?"
910
00:56:03,931 --> 00:56:06,103
For me this was a long journey.
911
00:56:06,206 --> 00:56:09,000
I do not know
if my search is finished,
912
00:56:09,103 --> 00:56:11,758
or if I have found
all of the footprints
913
00:56:11,862 --> 00:56:14,448
of those who survived.
914
00:56:14,551 --> 00:56:17,482
I interviewed and filmed
some 400 who had been
915
00:56:17,586 --> 00:56:21,896
on the caravan trails
along the Euphrates River.
916
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,689
I found survivors
in many lands,
917
00:56:24,793 --> 00:56:27,000
strangers to each other,
918
00:56:27,103 --> 00:56:30,379
speaking in
13 different languages.
919
00:56:30,482 --> 00:56:33,172
But they had one story
to tell the world.
920
00:56:33,275 --> 00:56:36,793
"We are all survivors
of a simple truth
921
00:56:36,896 --> 00:56:39,379
we saw a colossal genocide.
922
00:56:39,482 --> 00:56:42,517
We witnessed it
with our own eyes."
68896
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