ROJBİN DENİZ

Shengal (Sinjar)- During the genocide committed against the Yazidis, the birds flew in the sky, where the screams of women and children could be heard. They could not land due to the screams and smell of blood and death. They probably said, “If I could, I would take all people to the sky, far away from the hands of oppression.” They are the witnesses of the genocide. Beritan Şengalî is also one of the witnesses of the genocide committed against the Yazidis. In our article series, she tells us what she witnessed.

When ISIS attacked Shengal on August 3, 2014, Beritan was stuck in the Suka Kevin û Suka Nu (The old and new bazaar in Shengal) for three days and became the witness of the genocide.

She became a fighter for all women

After witnessing the genocide, Beritan joined the Êzîdxan Women's Units (YJŞ) to protect the Yazidi community, particularly women, against the attacks of ISIS. She showed us the places surrounded by ISIS during the genocide.

“Children grow up too fast here”

Beritan began to speak to us by introducing herself:

“My name is Beritan Şengali. I am from Shengal. When ISIS attacked, I was in Shengal. My family was a modest family in Shengal. Social pressures and the pressure and fear created by the Arab villages surrounding Shengal most affected the women. For this reason, I do not have more good memories from my childhood. I grew too fast. All children grow up too fast here. When I was a child, I became a woman facing many problems. Now, I live my childhood in my dreams by remembering my neighborhood, friends and games. People say that even if we grow up, a child is still in all of us. I think this is true.”

Stating that Yazidis children grow up by listening to stories of edicts (genocide) against them, Beritan said that the elders never told them the details of the edicts but the pain felt during the edicts.

“No one did know what happened and how people protected during the edicts. The stories of edicts were like horror tales for us. Sometimes, we used to think that maybe our grandparents had watched a horror film and told us that film. When I was 14, the people began to talk about the possible attacks of ISIS. I listened to them secretly to understand what would happen. It was like watching a movie through a small hole. Maybe everything was a movie; everything was edited and shot previously.”

“To protect all Yazidis and Yazidism”

Stating that everyone fled to the mountains in the morning hours of the day when ISIS attacked Shengal, Beritan said that there was no one to protect them.

“Our elders always told us, ‘Don't trust anyone but the mountains’. There was no one to protect us. The members of the Peshmerga affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who had claimed that they would always protect us fled and left us unprotected. As the Yazidis people, we were alone. Everyone tried to help each other to protect all Yazidis and Yazidism. All Yazidis took shelters in the Shengal mountains together.”

Beritan’s family members fled from ISIS together. Beritan carried her sister’s child on her shoulder. “I was 14 and became a mother at a young age. I looked after my niece for six months. Carrying her was very difficult for me but I never left her. We looked back at what we left behind.”

“I could not return anymore”

Underling that they could not take anything with them because they left their home quickly, Beritan said, “I could not take anything with us. Actually, we left our house to return at night. But when we arrived in Suka Kevn, we understood that we could not return anymore because a genocide was committed against us. We did not take anything to wear or eat with us. But my niece was hungry and needed milk. I decided to look for milk for her. I saw people on the way and they told me, ‘ISIS has entered all parts of Shengal, they will kill you, don't go’. I told them, ‘The child is hungry; I will go to Suka Kevn, not Shengal’. My uncle was living in Suka Kevn and I found his house. I was just close to my uncle's house when I suddenly heard noises. I jumped into the yard of a house next to my uncle’s house. I could not return anymore.”