While walking on the paths that Berivan passed through during the genocide, we saw bird nests made of women’s hair; the hair of women, who were killed, raped and whose babies were killed in Suka Kevin.

ROJBIN DENIZ

Shengal- Beritan did not know how to escape from ISIS. Her weak body tested by hunger and thirst forced her to stay strong. The things she witnessed did not allow her to be happy when she found her family.

“While walking to mountains, I saw people and I took courage from them to find my family. I could not carry food and water anymore so I left them there. I had only the gun given me by my father. I was so tired so that I hardly walked. I went to Çilmera with those people. When I arrived there, I started looking for my family. Fortunately, I found them very easy. When I saw my family members, I hugged them. I escaped but could not save the people in Suka Kevin. I told my family what I had seen in Suka Kevin.”

They watched Shengal for days

In Çilmera, there were 20 families and Beritan’s family.

“There were children and three babies with us. On the first days, we had food but then we had very hard times because we ran out of food. It was very cold at night in Çilmera. We dug a big hole and built a wall around it with stones in order to stay there at night and protect ourselves from the cold weather. During the day, we went to the other side of the mountain, sat there on the stones, and watched Shengal for hours. Sometimes, we heard gunshots, sometimes screams. There were many people in Çilmera. We also had sheep with us; we could quench our thirst with sheep's milk, and we ate their meat to not starve. There was a pregnant woman with us. She gave birth to twins in Çilmera. We had difficulty to protect them from the cold weather. I do not know what happened to them. We were safe in the mountains but we were afraid of ISIS members to come to mountains.”

Helicopters dropped food for them

Beritan told us how she felt when helicopters dropped food for them.

“When we heard noises, we hid ourselves under the trees or behind the stones. Then, we saw helicopters dropping food and water bottles. As we ran towards them, we were happy that they brought us food and water, hoping that maybe they would get us out of there. But they did not land. The helicopters dropped big boxes. A woman died under one of the food boxes. I don't know how to describe that feeling. A woman, who managed to escape from ISIS, overcame many difficulties for days, died while she was happy for the food boxes and bottled water dropped by the helicopters.”

The joy of Beritan and those around her turned into pain after the death of the woman.

“We were very happy for having food and water but our joy turned into pain after the death of the woman. Her husband and children took her body and dug a hole under a big stone and buried her there. Everyone helped them.”

 

They waited for being saved

As days passed, they felt the weight of hunger and thirst in their bodies more and more and they did not feel anything when they saw helicopters anymore.

“Dozens of people died of thirst. One day, a helicopter dropped bottled water. After dropping food boxes and bottled water, the helicopter began to flight close to us and took several sick and old people, children and pregnant women. We began to hope that they would save us, too. But they did not.”

They died of thirst and cold

“We were in the mountains for about a week. Children and sick people had a hard time in the mountains. Many children and women died of thirst, hunger and cold. We had to overcome hunger, thirst, cold and heat. The old people knew the life in the mountains. The number of old people, who died in the mountains, was very low.”

Beritan continued to tell us what they faced in the mountains.

“For seven days, we took shelter in the mountains. We faced many difficulties but we were safe in the mountains. After seven days, we decided to descend from the mountains from the south side. We thought that there were not any ISIS members there. We saw many people when we looked down. They told us there were ISIS members in the all villages in southern side and they abducted more than half of the people living in the village of Hardan. They came to mountains to protect themselves, like us. We were told, ‘The guerrillas have arrived. They came to save us’. Everyone talked about the guerrillas. Some of them saw the guerrillas. They said that the guerrillas had opened a corridor from Sinune to Digor in order to save the people. Everyone said, ‘The PKK guerrillas are fighting for us’. During the genocide, nobody did anything for us, only PKK guerrillas came to protect us and this affected us. On the second day, the guerrillas brought food and water for us. They told us, ‘Eat and drink, then we will leave’. We did not know where we would go and nobody asked where they would take us. we all trusted the guerrillas who had come to fight for us. Then, we went to the border of Rojava. There were cars there. We were taken to Rojava by those cars.”

She returned to Shengal after two years

Noting that some of the people said, “We will not leave our mountains, if the guerrillas will stay here, we will also stay here”, Beritan said that some decided to stay in Rojava, hoping that they would return to Shengal when Shengal was liberated from ISIS.

“Some of the Yazidis wanted to go to Bashur Kurdistan (Southern Kurdistan), especially to Shekhan because they wanted to be close to Laleş Temple, the holy place for Yazidis. I went to Bashur Kurdistan with my family. The people of Bashur Kurdistan helped us. We stayed in a destroyed house in Zakho. After staying there for five months, we went to a camp built for IDPs. We stayed in the camp for two years. During that time, an operation was launched to liberate Shengal. After Shengal was liberated from ISIS, we returned to Shengal after two years.”

They rebuilt their houses

“We returned to Shengal to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Everything was in ruin. Our house was in ruin. We rebuilt our house. It wasn't as beautiful as before. We told ourselves, ‘When our wounds are healed, our house will be beautiful as before’.

 

She decided to be a fighter

After witnessing the atrocity of ISIS, Beritan decided to be fighter to protect her people.

“In 2018, I joined the YJŞ (the Êzîdxan Women's Units). It was time to avenge what was done to us. It was time to avenge the thousands of Yazidi women killed, abducted, raped by ISIS. As a Yazidi woman, I could not sit at home anymore. Today, I proudly carry my gun as a Yazidi woman. When I was a child, I wanted to be a soldier. I grew up fast, witnessed a genocide, met guerrillas and became a fighter. When the PKK guerrillas came to protect us, they saved us not only physically but also ideology. They taught us how to have a strong will and how to protect ourselves. As Yazidis, we know who are friends and enemies now. The Peshmerga members of the KDP left us alone and unprotected. I will never forget what we faced. Yazidis women and community will never forget the genocide.  As a Yazidi woman, I now have a purpose and a goal in my life; never allow another genocide to be committed in these lands.”

Beritan told us what she witnessed during the genocide committed against them by ISIS. While walking on the paths that Berivan passed through during the genocide, we saw bird nests made of women’s hair; the hair of women, who were killed, raped and whose babies were killed in Suka Kevin.

Ended.