85 years ago, the modern history witnessed a massacre that the word... (Lebanon)
85 years ago, the modern history witnessed a massacre that the word GENOCIDE had to be invented to define.
7th August 1933,was not a regular day for an 8 years old boy living in Simele village in Northern Iraq. Waking up on children screaming, women crying and machine guns was terrifying for him! Fortunately, this little boy had a very smart Mother, who quickly disguised him into a little girl to save his life; since the brutal murderers were killing all men -even little young boys- & pregnant women to eradicate a nation called: “the Assyrians”.
Walking on the bodies of his father, his uncles and all his male family and relatives’ members was traumatizing for him. Trying to find refuge with his mom, they went to Syria & then moved to Lebanon at the age of 13. In his mid-70’s, he travelled back to Iraq thinking he could visit his village again, but unfortunately the brutal image of that day came back as flashback & he was unable to make it to his hometown.
This is the story of a little young boy who luckily survived Simele Massacre 1933, and this boy was mygrandfather: Simon Savo! Hearing this from him, he used to say it was a miracle to survive the massacre that killed more than two third of his nation. -The Simele massacre: ܦܪܡܬܐ ܕܣܡܠܐ was a massacre committed by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Iraq a campaign systematically targeting the Assyrians of northern Iraq.
Today, at the commemoration of the Simele massacres, I couldn’t but remember my grandfather who passed away few years ago. This day is not a regular day for me & my family: as much as we remember it with heartbreaking moments, as much as we remember it with Pride.
My grandfather gave me the identity of a 6768 years old nation that lived it all; an identity I’m looking forward to transmit to my kids!
If there is one thing I’m proud of being in this world, is the fact that I am a descendant of an Assyrian survivor!
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by jessysavo / Instagram