Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
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a number of esteemed and recognized figures of Guba’s that-time
community who not only witnessed the events in question but took
an active part in resisting Amazasp’s squads. These are Alibey Zizikski,
Hamdulla Efendi, Mohubali Efendi, and Khatam-Agha Jagrawi, just to
mention few. A well-known fact is that soon after the of bloody events
in Guba a group of local public figures formed a commission to col-
lect witness testimonies on the tragedy in its immediate aftermath.
According to certain sources, part of these documents were kept at
the archives in Dagestan up until mid 1990’s. The search for these files
yielded no results so far. (187) No records mentioning this initiative in
the files of the AHIC, let alone the absence of documents themselves
is something looks really bizarre.
Non-involvement of Alibey Zizikski and Hamdulla Efendi in the
investigation group’s efforts could be partially explained by the forma-
tion and first steps of the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan in
December 1918 where both of them were representing Guba Uyezd.
It was exactly the time when the investigation group started its work.
Another Guba resident not interviewed by the investigation
group due to unknown reasons was retired colonel Hajji Alakbar Me-
shadi Mahmud oghlu. Back of July 18, 1918, three days after the AHIC
formation he sent the letter to A.Khasmammadov, Chairman of the
Commission, requesting him and other members of the Commission
to arrive in Guba urgently with a view to recording facts of bigotry
and vandalism committed by the Armenian punitive squad. He also
mentioned “sufficient evidence and live witnesses” in Guba capable
to expose criminal offences of the Armenians who had slaughtered
above three thousand children, women and elderly men with incon-
ceivable atrocity and “turned a big part of the town into a cemetery”.
The letter’s author demanded arrest and military trial of masterminds
of these crimes, i.e. “Shaumyan, Japaridze, Military Commissar Kor-
ganov, killer D.A.Ghelovani, cutthroat Amazasp and his mates Nicolay
and others”. The letter’s conclusion emphasized that “this address is
passing the message of dozens of thousands Guba residents whose
households were ruined and innocent kin drowned in blood”, hence
taking urgent steps was hereby required. (188)
Nevertheless, the number of Muslim witnesses from the town
of Guba interviewed by the AHIC was slightly over 20. Such a low
number of witnesses in the Guba devastation case compared to the