Deir ez-Zor Camps
Encyclopedia
Deir ez-Zor camps were a great "killing center" in the heart of the Syria
n desert where many thousands of Armenian
refugees were forced into death march
es during the Armenian Genocide
. The US vice-consul in Aleppo
, Jesse B. Jackson, estimated that Armenian refugees, as far east as Deir ez-Zor and south of Damascus
, numbered 150,000, all of whom were virtually destitute.
in 1915-1916 were driven onwards in two directions – either towards Damascus
, or along the Euphrates
to Deir ez-Zor. During the early period of massacres 30,000 Armenians were encamped in various camps outside the town of Deir ez-Zor under the protection of the Arab governor Ali Suad Bey, for what the Ottoman authorities decided to replace him by Zeki Bey, who was known for his cruelty and barbarity. When the refugees, including women and children, reached Deir ez-Zor, they cooked grass
, ate dead bird
s, and although there was a cave near the Deir ez-Zor for prisoners to store until they starved, no "camp" seems ever to have been planned for the Armenians.
According to Minority Rights Group,
According to Christopher J. Walker
, "'Deportation' was just a euphemism for mass murder. No provision was made for their journey or exile, and unless they could bribe their guards, they were forbidden in almost all cases food and water." Those who survived landed up between Jerablus and Deir ez-Zor, "a vast and horrific open-air concentration camp".
On October 20, 2008 Australia
n Federal Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation and member of the Australian House of Representatives
Hon. Joe Hockey
marked,
Nouritza Matossian
wrote for Armenian Voice,
"For Armenians, Der Zor has come to have a meaning approximate to Auschwitz", wrote Peter Balakian
in New York Times. "Each, in different ways, an epicenter of death and a systematic process of mass-killing; each a symbolic place, an epigrammatic name on a dark map. Der Zor is a term that sticks with you, or sticks on you, like a burr or thorn: “r” “z” “or” — hard, sawing, knifelike".
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n desert where many thousands of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
refugees were forced into death march
Death march
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees. Those marching must walk over long distances for an extremely long period of time and are not supplied with food or water...
es during the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. The US vice-consul in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, Jesse B. Jackson, estimated that Armenian refugees, as far east as Deir ez-Zor and south of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, numbered 150,000, all of whom were virtually destitute.
History
Those Armenians who survived during the genocideGenocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in 1915-1916 were driven onwards in two directions – either towards Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, or along the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
to Deir ez-Zor. During the early period of massacres 30,000 Armenians were encamped in various camps outside the town of Deir ez-Zor under the protection of the Arab governor Ali Suad Bey, for what the Ottoman authorities decided to replace him by Zeki Bey, who was known for his cruelty and barbarity. When the refugees, including women and children, reached Deir ez-Zor, they cooked grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
, ate dead bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, and although there was a cave near the Deir ez-Zor for prisoners to store until they starved, no "camp" seems ever to have been planned for the Armenians.
According to Minority Rights Group,
"Those who survived the long journey south were herded into huge open-air concentration camps, the grimmest of which was Deir-ez-Zor... where they were starved and killed by sadistic guards. A small number escaped through the secret protection of friendly Arabs from villages in Northern Syria".
According to Christopher J. Walker
Christopher J. Walker
Christopher J. Walker is a British historian and author.He worked in Sotheby's department of historical and literary manuscripts. After the winning of Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship he wrote a book on Armenian history which was reissued in 1990. In 1975 with the support of "Minority...
, "'Deportation' was just a euphemism for mass murder. No provision was made for their journey or exile, and unless they could bribe their guards, they were forbidden in almost all cases food and water." Those who survived landed up between Jerablus and Deir ez-Zor, "a vast and horrific open-air concentration camp".
Memory
In the village of Margadeh (88 km from Deir ez-Zor), there is an Armenian chapel dedicated to those massacred here during the genocide, that "houses some of the bones of the dead". Lebanese and Syrians make pilgrimages to this memorial organized by the Apostolic Church of Aleppo.On October 20, 2008 Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Federal Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation and member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
Hon. Joe Hockey
Joe Hockey
Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
marked,
Over the next [to 1915] three years, the Turkish government ordered the deportation of the remaining Armenian people in the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
to concentration camps in the desert between Jerablus and Deir ez-Zor. They were marched through the country on foot in a hard and cruel journey. Women and children were forced to walk over mountains and through deserts. These people were frequently stripped naked and abused. They were given insufficient food and water, and hundreds of thousands of Armenian people died along the way.
Nouritza Matossian
Nouritza Matossian
Nouritza Matossian is a British Cypriot writer, actress, broadcaster and human rights activist. She writes on the arts, contemporary music, history and Armenia....
wrote for Armenian Voice,
Last month I visited the desert of Deir-ez-Zor in the killing fields, caves and rivers where a million Armenians perished. I was shown a piece of land that keeps subsiding. It is called the Place of the Armenians. So many thousands of bodies were buried there that the ground has been sinking for the last 80 years. Human thigh bones and ribs come to the surface.
"For Armenians, Der Zor has come to have a meaning approximate to Auschwitz", wrote Peter Balakian
Peter Balakian
Peter Balakian is a poet, writer and academic, the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities at Colgate University.- Life :...
in New York Times. "Each, in different ways, an epicenter of death and a systematic process of mass-killing; each a symbolic place, an epigrammatic name on a dark map. Der Zor is a term that sticks with you, or sticks on you, like a burr or thorn: “r” “z” “or” — hard, sawing, knifelike".