Sayfo; Village of Urdnas

Village of Urdnas

There were about 70 Syriac families living in this village, in addition to a few Kurdish ones. The Syriac leaders were Gergo Jaqub and Malke Gawro. The Kurdish leaders of the Dashurnaja clan also lived in this village; they were better known under the name "the Osman Tamer Family".

When the Syriac people in Salah were murdered, some of them managed to escape to Urdnas and informed the people there about the massacre. The villagers refused to believe the news until the Muslims also attacked Midyat and they could even hear the sound of shots being fired. Then they understood that the "Sayfo", the annihilation, had begun. That very same night, they took everything they could carry and left their village. The Kurds could not stop them doing so because there were far more Syriac people than them. The villagers went to ‘Ayn Wardo and reached it in peace. Those that did not want to believe the reports about the massacres and refused to leave, were about 23 men, were taken prisoners by the Kurds the next day. They were led up a mountain and murdered there. The women in the village were not killed but sent to ‘Ayn Wardo. The villagers of Urdnas stayed in ‘Ayn Wardo until the end of the massacres. They stayed away from their village for a total of six years. When peace came, they returned to their village.