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included a guide and a person knowledgeable of the area, an Arme-

nian from Guba Aruyn Ayrapetov nicknamed Deyirmanchi (the Miller).

On May 1 in the morning, the unit entered the town from three

sides. The troops numbered no less than 3000 with four cannons and

eight machineguns. The manslaughter and plunder commenced. 715

Muslims were slaughtered on the very first day in the downtown, ma-

jority of them women and children. Bolshaya Shosseynaya and Ba-

zarnaya streets were totally looted. The squad divided the town into

four parts with headquarters in each of them. The first was located

near the Leontyev Garden, the second within the fence of the Ar-

manian church, the third uphill near the Muslim cemetery and the

forth, the main one, at the hillside of the Jewish settlement. Arme-

nian atrocities were in full swing: 1012 persons were massacred in the

town’s 1

and 2

sections, mainly low-income men and Persian na-

tionals. Neither did pillage ever stop. As an envoy I went to see Ama-

zasp asking permission to bury the dead ones. He refused. However,

mounted, he rode around the town with me. Here, in my presence, he

addressed the troops to stop murder and pillage. However hardly was

this admonishment anyhow candid, so the soldiers had to accept this

as contrary. Then he walked to the square near the mosque where he

addressed the Muslims in the following manner:

“I am originally from

Erzerum. I’ve been fighting the Turks for a long time. I am the hero of

the Armenian nation and the advocate of its interests. I was sent here

with this punitive force to avenge for the death of those Armenians who

were killed here a couple of weeks ago. Woe to you all when tomor-

row I climb this mountain (pointing to the hill with cannons installed)

and start bombarding the town that I will level to the ground. Now I’m

engaged in a battle with Digah and Alpan villages. Uchgun and Gymyl

are the next, and leaving you ablaze I will break my way to Shah-Dagh,

and then you will realize what it means to kill Armenians. I am not here

to restore any law and order or to establish the Soviet power, but I am

here to avenge you for the Armenians murdered.”

Rapes, slaughter and loot lasted 9 days. I applied to Amazasp

again to allow burying the dead bodies. I saw Amazasp at the mo-

ment when the abovementioned Arutyun Ayrapetov was reporting

him. Since I speak Armenian, I understood the report. According to

Ayrapetov, about three million rubles in old currency of Czar Nicho-

las II were collected in town together with gold and golden works

Documents on the Devastation of Guba

Witness Testimonies of Residents of the Town of Guba