Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
58
mation available on the acts of violence perpetrated by the Armenian
gangs towards the civilian population of both the town and adjacent
areas. As the files show, the Commission planned to interview not
only the local Muslim population of the place. Witness testimonies
by representatives of other ethnic groups “not involved in violence
against the Muslim population and capable of providing the Com-
mission with data regarding the attack of Armenian gangs on Guba,
its devastation and perpetration of violent actions towards the town’s
Muslim residents” (157) were also welcomed.
As a matter of fact, in Baku, testimonies by the Russians, Jews, Poles,
Georgians and even Armenians provided to the AHIC were given equal
legal grounds as those provided by the local Muslims (i.e. Azerbaijanis).
(158) As far as Guba is concerned, throughout the whole period of AHIC’s
work here, none of Guba’s Jewish residents, staying or repatriating, ever
lodged any complaint about violence or damage inflicted.
Meanwhile, the list of persons wounded or injured in the course
of Armenian gangs’ attack presented by Mammadbayov, the police
inspector of Guba’s Section 2, and found among the AHIC files men-
tions names of the 6 local residents of Jewish descent, such Abraham
Avshalumov, Nouri Rahamil, Rafael Israel Nafshakl, Gurshum Pesah,
Zakaria Nissim, and Shuluim Izhay. (159) However the list provides no
further information regarding no further details regarding the time,
the venue and other circumstances of the wounds suffered.
Based of the AHIC files with due consideration of the circumstances
mentioned before and reported facts of collaboration of certain Jewish
residents of Guba with Armenians, one may conclude, that unlike the
area’s Muslim population, local Jews were not and could not be subject
to pogroms and violence committed by the Armenian gangs. Neither
were they ever exposed to any “Muslim and Lezghin violence” which
Amazasp, famous for his egregious atrocities to the latter ones, was sca-
ring them with in the most cynical manner. Another detail not be hereby
overseen is that with substantial number of ethnic Jews among the Bol-
sheviks, including commissars of the Baku Soviet, violent actions towards
the Jewish population would never pass unpunished for the Armenians.
Meanwhile there could be some victims among the Guba Jews as
a result of cross-fire, during Ghelovani unit’s retreat and in the course
of Amazasp’s assault on Guba from three directions preceded by the
town’s massive artillery bombardment. As far the mass Jewish flight