Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
120
File No.46
Record of Examination
On this 12th day of December, 1918, in Guba
Novatski, the member of the Ad Hoc Investigation Commission
established by the Government of Azerbaijan, examined the following
person as a witness, pursuant to the Criminal Court Regulations:
Witness: Hajji Ismayil Orujev, aged 55, a Guba resident, li-
terate.
I am a Guba resident. As far as the devastation of Guba is con-
cerned, I can provide the following information. This year in spring
time, not quite sure about the exact time, Ghelovani a Georgian de-
legate of the Bolsheviks deployed at Khachmaz station arrived in Guba
and demanded that we recognize the Bolshevik rule giving 2 hours
for consideration. We asked to extend the time period at least to 24
hours, so that we could meet with peasants and discuss this require-
ment. However the request was denied. Then the residents of Guba
and adjacent villages had no other choice than recognizing the Soviet
power since delegate Ghelovani threatened to destroy the town and
villages should we fail to comply with the Bolsheviks.
Two days later, a Bolshevik squad numbering 200-300 arrived
in town. There were 2 Lezghins, a handful of Russians and Georgians
among them, and the Armenians were the majority. So they occu-
pied the town. The Armenians used to hurt the Muslims, however
no murders or loot were committed at that moment. Some 10 days
later, a Lezghin unit approached the town from the side of the Jewish
Settlement and opened fire to get the invaders out. The Bolsheviks
returned the fire. The fire exchange lasted for three days. Ultimately,
the Bolsheviks left the town and under the cover of a large unit rushing
to their help retreated to Khachmaz station. The Lezghins left too.
About two weeks later, we were informed about a 3-thousand
strong troops advancing towards Guba from Khachmaz. About a tenth
of the townsfolk fled to the mountains and surrounding villages. The
rest remained in town. I fled too. So the information I got about what
happened here was by hearsay. They said the unit was manned by
the Armenians only. They surrounded the town, bombarded it and
advanced. They faced no resistance. Only one young man resisted but