Khirbat al-Sarkas خربة السركس Khirbet as Sarkas | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Etymology: lit. "The ruins of the Circassians" | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat al-Sarkas (click the buttons) | |
  Khirbat al-Sarkas Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°26′49″N34°57′37″E / 32.44694°N 34.96028°E /32.44694; 34.96028 | |
| Palestine grid | 146/205 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Date of depopulation | 15 April 1948[1] |
| Population (1931) | |
• Total | 383 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Gan Shmuel,[2]Talmei Elazar[2] |
Khirbat al-Sarkas (Arabic:خربة السركس) was a village inPalestine, located 42 kilometres south ofHaifa. It was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The village was founded byCircassians fromRussia who were expelled from their country by the armies of the Czar in the 19th century, approximately 1860.[3]
A population list from about 1887 showed thatJerakes had 130 Muslim inhabitants, who were noted as "Circassians”.[4]
The village was abandoned by the Circassians because of aMalaria epidemic. It was then settled by local Muslim Arabs.[citation needed]
Gan Shmuel was established in 1913, about 1 km from the village.[2]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Kherbet al-Sharkas had a population of 74; allMuslims,[5] increasing sharply in the1931 census to 383, still all Muslim, in a total of 80 houses.[6]
Though the Arab Higher Command had ordered the evacuation of the village's women and children three times prior to April 1948, the villagers did not leave.[7] Described byBenny Morris as "a friendly village", it was nonetheless one of the villages depopulated at the order of theIsraeliHaganah, per their policy to clear the coastal plain ofArab villages in the lead up to the1948 Arab-Israeli war.[7] The women and children left between 20 April and 22 April 1948, and the men a few days later.[7]
Talmei Elazar was established near the village site in 1952.[2]
In 1992 the place was described: "Cactuses and spikes of grain are scattered across the site; there are no traces of any landmarks or houses. The land near the site is used by Israeli farmers for raising cattle and growing citrus."[2]
