Sixty years after calamity ... wound is still bleeding

Sixty years have passed since the massacre which left more than 280 children from Amouda as victims, and generations are still telling the story of the tragedy caused by the security forces of the Syrian government when they burned Amuda cinema in 1960.

NEWS

12 November, 2020 22:58

QAMISHLO- LILAV DIWANI

A black cloud camped on the sky of Amuda on the night of November 13, 1960, after an arson broke out in Scheherazade cinema located in Amuda district in Qamishlo canton in north and east Syria, and more than 280 children, most of them from the Kurdish component, were martyred in one of the biggest calamities inflicted to Rojava people.

Despite more than sixty years passed since this tragedy, the people of the district still remember the details of the fire and the smell of burnt bodies that continued to reek in the city after the accident that ended the life of their children, and the popular memory still bears multiple accounts of the events and circumstances of the fire.

In a special interview, Mohamed Amin Abdel Salam, in the seventh decade, a survivor of the fire, tells us the details of the terrible accident at the site of the fire, which in 1961 turned into a park in memory of the martyrs, as it was called "The Martyrs Park," and became a landmark of Amuda cinema fire tragedy.

Half an hour after the film was shown, fire broke out

Mohamed Amin Abdel Salam said: "At the time, I was twelve years old, and I remember when the school principal asked all students to buy tickets to attend the film "Midnight Ghost" in solidarity with the Algerian revolution. The holiday was set for screening the film at the Scheherazade cinema. The cinema was old, built of mud and straw, and surrounded by a curtain of dyed burlap, meaning that the reasons were integrated for the spread of the fire, and the cinema hall did not accommodate everyone, so many students were forced to sit on the ground."

Regarding the details of the outbreak of the fire, Abdel Salam noted that it ignited half an hour after the film was played, as it started from the movie player, and then extended to the cinema stage. He said: "Meanwhile, the children pushed in, causing the cinema door to close on them, which led to the suffocation of many children."

Well of life and death

Abdel Salam continued: "As a result of the panic and fear that the children lived among the fires, some of them threw themselves from a hole that was in the cinema wall to die in a well next to the cinema, as some of them died and some others survived."

After that, the well became a symbol of life and death for the people of Amuda, and to commemorate its memory, a well was established in the Martyrs Park, along with the presence of statues of three children in black which indicate the effects of burning in the middle of the Martyrs' Park, surrounded by the names and pictures of the martyrs of the fire.

Abdel Salam added: "Crowds of parents gathered around the cinema, the cries of children were getting louder in the place asking for help, and the parents could not help them since the fire was enormous, and there were no fire engines to put out the fire. I was injured during the fire in my feet and hand, and I managed after suffering to reach the outside door, then a person called Sheikhmos Koy rescued me."

Our children's souls have become victims of the Algerian revolution

Abdel Salam described the incident as a calamity because it claimed the life of a whole generation, most of them from the Kurdish component, and it was a great loss. He said: "Our children became victims, so nothing was left of them except for the remains, and some of them were unable to be recognized due to the great deformation in their bodies."

Abdel Salam clarified that no investigations opened by the government, and no international body requested to reveal the circumstances of the incident at that time. It has remained forgotten until now.

The fire was massive

Ibrahim Sheikho who is also a survivor of the fire described the fire as hell, and said: "My feet and hands were injured during the fire and my face lightly injured. Fortunately, I managed to get out miraculously, my companions and I sheltered in a small buffet that was located in the cinema hall."

Sheikho continued while his eyes were full of sadness: "The fire had a sad effect on the souls of the people. After the end of the tragedy, and our return to schools, the atmosphere was no longer what it was because the seats were empty and the martyrdom of many our comrades affected us greatly."

With his heroism and courage, he became a symbol of redemption and humanity

During the conversation, Sheikho touched upon the heroism of Mohamed Saeed Agha al-Dakouri whose sacrifice has remained eternal in the memory of generations. He said: "During the fire, al-Dakouri threw himself in the fires to help the stranded children saying (Come to your uncle), and he managed to rescue many children. While he was bursting into the flames to continue saving them, the wall fell on him to lock him in the flames with the children on his lap."

It is said that people used to tell him that his son had escaped from the fire, but he refused to back down and did not differentiate between his son and the children of the rest, rather he said loudly (All of them are our children).

In commemoration of the heroic martyr Mohamed Saeed Agha al-Dakouri, a statue of him was also erected in the Martyrs Park, as he became a symbol of humanity and sacrifice, and his name was linked to that calamity.

The government is preventing ... the bleeding continues in the hearts of Amuda people

The people of Amuda district continued to commemorate the martyrs of the fire for two years after the disaster by lighting candles and visiting their tombs; however, after the emergence of the Baath government, the people were prevented from commemorating the martyrs, but the bleeding continued in the hearts of bereaved families and mothers.

The tragedy of Amuda cinema fire has remained immortal in the memory of generations, as many Kurdish and Arab writers and poets wrote poems and books about their details, including the Kurdish lawyer and writer Hassen Derei who is one of the survivors of the fire, and kept collecting documents and evidence about the fire to write a book entitled "Amuda Is Burning."

The Kurdish poet Tîrêj also composed a lament poem on the students of Amuda, and recommended to be buried next to the martyrs of Amuda cinema if he died. The Iraqi poet Mohamed Mehdi al-Jawahiri also wrote a poem about Amoda cinema fire, and Professor Bashir Awaf wrote an influential poem about that massacre.

D.H

ANHA