In the kaza of Hizan, which straddled the vilayets of Bitlis and Van, there were no fewer than 76 Armenian villages, with a combined population of 8,207 in 1915.
The available sources all discuss the district of Spargerd, in which there were 26 villages with an approximate total Armenian population of 2,600.
The district lay in the southernmost part of the kaza. There is every reason to believe that the fate of the Armenians of the other nahies was similar to that of the inhabitants of Spargerd.
According to our main witness, conscription was a painful process in this district, because many men of draftable age were working far from home or even abroad, as was common in the rural areas of Armenia.
The conscripts were sent to Van and from there to the Caucasian front. None came back alive. Despite the tensions that arose during the military requisitions, the leader of the local ARF committee, Lato, succeeded in maintaining relations with the müdir of Spargerd and in obtaining guarantees that the militias formed in the region would not mistreat the Armenian population.
As happened elsewhere, the authorities in this nahie organized a second conscription campaign late in March; its purpose was to enlist men over 45 years of age, who were supposed to serve in the military labor battalions.
When the Van events occurred, it seems that the local Kurds began to make preparations for war, perhaps in response to orders from their superiors. At the same time, Lato mobilized 120 armed men to ensure the safety of the population.
Around 20 May, the region found itself under threat from “Kurds and Turks fleeing Van.” However, the Armenian fedayis checked the offensive by maintaining control over a pass in the southern part of the nahie, the sole means of access to it.
An agreement between the müdir and Lato finally resolved the matter.
Our witness reports that in the same period a battalion of volunteers from the Caucasus had advanced as far as the neighboring kaza of Moks, but that the people of Spargerd were unaware of this until Tro’s contingent arrived in Spargerd.
The Russian forces effectively controlled the region for almost two months, between late May and late July. In July, however, the Russian general staff ordered the evacuation of all the inhabitants of Spargerd and Khizan. It is likely that the return of Halil’s and Cevdet’s unifi ed forces alarmed the Russian commanders, who preferred to evacuate these villages to save them from certain death. After waiting for three weeks in Vostan, on the shores of Lake Van, the Armenians of Khizan set out on their exodus, bound for the Caucasus.
Like the refugees from Van, they fell victim to massacres in the Perkri pass. Over the following weeks, many others were mowed down by epidemics in Echmiadzin, where they had found refuge.
To be continued
Note- this chapter is from Raymond Kévorkian’s book ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A Complete History.
Map – Hushamadyan
