Ra's al-'Ayn Camps
Encyclopedia
Ra's al-'Ayn camps were desert death camps near Ra's al-'Ayn
city, where many Armenians
were deported and slaughtered during the Armenian Genocide
. The site became "synonymous with Armenian suffering".
: "All the bodies, without exception, were entirely naked and the wounds that had been inflicted showed that the victims had been killed, after having been subjected to unspeakable brutalities". "There was nothing wrong in robbing and killing deportees', as the local kaimakam (governor) had ordered to massacre the deported Armenians. Daurri (Diirri) Bey, son of Turkish Defterdar Djemal Bey of Aleppo, was the official High Executioner of the Armenians at Ras-el-Ain. "This brute, after robbing them of their jewelry chose the youngest girls of good families and kept them for a harem
.
Several times, entire camps in Ras ul-Ayn were liquidated as a persecution against typhoid epidemics. According to US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
, all the way to Ras-ul-Ain the existence of wretched Armenian travellers "was one prolonged horror".
Hovhannes Kımpetyan (1894-1915), a poet and educator, perished during the deportation in Ras ul-Ain at the age of twenty one.
Ra's al-'Ayn
Ra's al-'Ayn is a Syrian city administratively belonging to Al-Hasakah Governorate. Ra's al-'Ayn has an altitude of 360 m. It has a population of 55,247, many of them being Assyrian/Syriacs, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Chechens, or Syrian Turkmen. There is a border crossing to Ceylanpınar in Turkey...
city, where many Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
were deported and slaughtered during the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. The site became "synonymous with Armenian suffering".
History
Ras al-Ayn was one of the major collecting places of deported Christians. By September 1915 the groups of refugees (usually made up of women and children) began to arrive after the exhausting journey. In April 1916 the German consul reported "again massacre at Ras ul Ain": "300 to 500 deprotees are taken out of the concentration camp each day and butchered at a distance of 10 km. from Ras ul Ain" In summer of 1916 new rounds of massacres improvised by the Turkish government in the areas of Deir Zor, Rakka and Ras ul-Ain. In 1916, over 80000 of Armenians were slaughtered in Ras al-Ayn. According to reports, in one day alone 300-400 women arrived to the camps completely naked and were plundered by local Chechens and gendarmerieGendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
: "All the bodies, without exception, were entirely naked and the wounds that had been inflicted showed that the victims had been killed, after having been subjected to unspeakable brutalities". "There was nothing wrong in robbing and killing deportees', as the local kaimakam (governor) had ordered to massacre the deported Armenians. Daurri (Diirri) Bey, son of Turkish Defterdar Djemal Bey of Aleppo, was the official High Executioner of the Armenians at Ras-el-Ain. "This brute, after robbing them of their jewelry chose the youngest girls of good families and kept them for a harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
.
Several times, entire camps in Ras ul-Ayn were liquidated as a persecution against typhoid epidemics. According to US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
Henry Morgenthau was a lawyer, businessman and United States ambassador, most famous as the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. He was father of the politician Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and the grandfather of Robert M. Morgenthau, who was the District Attorney of...
, all the way to Ras-ul-Ain the existence of wretched Armenian travellers "was one prolonged horror".
Hovhannes Kımpetyan (1894-1915), a poet and educator, perished during the deportation in Ras ul-Ain at the age of twenty one.