Village of Bayaze

Village of Bayaze

In this village, lived about 50 Syriac families and not a single Muslim family. The village belonged to the village leader, Malke Sowar family, from Zaz and the Rohom family from Hbob. At the time of the murders, a Kurdish leader, Ahmed Yousif, head of the Haskan clan, and a village leader Sihah came to the vil­lage of Laylan; he called for Malke and the notables of the village, to apparently discuss some important matters with them. He also swore that there really was not any danger at all for them. He ordered his men near Laylan to set a trap and when the Syriac men arrived, the Kurds opened fire and killed them. There were six victims: Malke, his son, his two brothers, Isa Rohom and Gauriye.

After the evil Ahmed Yousif had killed these men, he assembled the Kurds from Arkah, Laylan, Gutba, Griswar and other villages, raided the village of Bayaze and started killing ruthlessly and sacking the village. Ahmed Yousif's nephew, Rackis, a merciless fellow, drew his sword and started to kill the people. He shouted to his friends: "Bring them all to me, so that I can kill them." They searched the houses, the barns and the dark corners of the houses for any Syriac person. Anyone they found, they killed. They only left when it grew dark. Of the whole village, only thirty people survived who had hidden in subterranean cavities. When the murderers left, they emerged again and fled into the mountains.