Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
174
File No.96
Record of Examination
On this 21st day of December, 1918, in Guba
Novatski, the member of the Ad Hoc Investigation Commission
established by the Government of Azerbaijan, examined the person
named below as a witness, pursuant to the Criminal Court Regulations:
Shaban Sarkar oghlu, aged 40, elder of Davachi village,
Guba Uyezd, illiterate.
I am the elder at Davachi village, Guba Uyezd. The railroad bed
runs across our village. Before the devastation, the village numbered
up to 200 households with more than a thousand residents, both
men and women. In late April this year, when the punitive squad was
moving from Baku to Guba, it used to plunder and loot all villages
and residential areas adjacent to the railroad. Our village was not an
exception either. Some people fled well in advance, however many
others could not. Those found in the village were murdered, with the
overall death toll reaching about 40 persons. There were no women
among the victims. The white flag was ignored, and those raising it
slain. We could only get back to the village about a month and a half
later to find it totally looted and burned to the ground. About 50 vil-
lage houses were set ablaze, together with two mosques, the Bazar
and another mosque located amidst the market. Personal assets of
the residents were plundered. A number of constructions within the
households were set on fire. The same happened to the public of-
fice at the Bazar. We did not come across the Bolsheviks personally.
However those who did, recall that they were exclusively of Armenian
origin. There was a handful of Russians among them but the Russians
were not involved neither in arsons, nor in the massacre. On the con-
trary, they were reportedly trying to hold back the Armenians from
committing violence towards the Muslims. There is nothing I can add
to this.
Read out loud to the witness
Translated by A. Khanbudaghov
Signed by A.Novatski
Reference: SARA, f.1061, op.1, d.97, l.3-3(verso)