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squad arrived at Khachmaz station. We already heard that the squad
had already committed considerable violence towards the Muslim
population of adjacent villages. Anxious about the squad’s possible
arrival in Guba and reiteration of the violence, we sent our envoys to
Khachmaz, one Russian, one Jewish and one Muslim. The envoys were
instructed to negotiate with the Bolsheviks and ask their permission
to travel to Baku to get better familiar with the Bolshevik agenda with
a view to figuring out its admissibility for us. Upon their return, the
envoys notified us that the Bolsheviks had no intent to arrive in Guba
and there was no problem to travel to Baku.
Meanwhile, all of a sudden someone Georgi Ghelovani38 arrived
in Guba accompanied by a Bolshevik Mirjafar Baghirov and two Jews.
Ghelovani presented us with the demand to comply with the Soviet
rule with just two hours for reflection. We asked for a longer period as
we needed to discuss the issue with neighboring villages. Ghelovani
refused blatantly stating that in case of negative answer he will call
the squad from Hachmaz through wireless communication and the
whole town will be leveled. We had no other choice than recognizing
the Bolshevik power.
Ghelovani left to be back in several days time accompanied by
a 200-strong unit. Here they got 200 more Jews joining them. The
squad made was known for killing 27 Muslims who reportedly wel-
comed the Lezghins moving towards the town. This was just a rumor
as the Lezghins were not advancing.
The Bolsheviks started establishing their own order when seve-
ral days after, all of a sudden, the Lezghin residents of adjacent villa-
ges approached the town and got engaged in fire exchange with the
Bolsheviks trying to pus the out of town. The Bolsheviks were fighting
them back for three days. On the third day they got a support from
Khachmaz: 40 men armed with cannons and machineguns.
However the Lezghins were pressing hard. That being the case,
the Bolsheviks decided to leave the town. They evacuated the Rus-
sian officials and all Armenians. Several Russians and Armenians were
killed in the exchange of fire. While retreating, the Bolsheviks burned
down buildings of the Uyezd Administration, the Municipal Duma,
the Magistrate Court. They also tried to arson the local Juma Mosque
(Friday Mosque).
About two weeks after their withdrawal, we got to know that
Documents on the Devastation of Guba
Witness Testimonies of Residents of the Town of Guba