Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
156
sacring to the left and to the right. I agreed, and being vested with
broad authorities I got back to Guba. Here I started blaming Amazasp
for what he had committed. He and his commissar Veluntz responded
that it were the Sunnis41 and Shiites42 who burned the town to ashes
in a blood feud. I never bought this, so I asked Amazasp to leave Guba
with his unit. At first he was hesitant, however he ultimately complied,
and in fact, on the ninth day of his stay he left with al his unit. I fol-
lowed him. It should be noted that in the way back, Amazasp’s squad
massacred 35 bullock car drivers, I personally saw five dead bodies of
theirs.
Read aloud to an signed by the witness
Signed by A.Novatski, the member of the Commission
Reference: SARA, f.1061, op.1, d.96, l.62-65(verso)
File No.69
Record of Examination
On this 24th 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: David Alexandrovich Ghelovani (additional testi-
monies).
In addition to previous testimonies please be informed that I in-
vited the following religious leaders to the meeting (mejlis): Hajjibaba
Akhundzadeh and Abdurahman Efendi Imam, the former one repre-
senting the Shiite clergy whereas the latter one as a representative of
the Sunni clerics. In general terms, I introduced the basic principles
of the Bolshevism to both, so the clerical leaders concluded that the
Bolshevik doctrine does not contradict the Shariah at all. When one
of the meeting participants, Orujev, now the Investigator of Guba,
asked: “What if we start expropriating the land from owners of large
estates, is that admissible from the standpoint of Shariah?”, after a
deep thought, Abdurahmad Effendi responded in the following way:
”Shariah does not approve violence, however, should this happen
peacefully, this will be even desirable for the owners of large land