| Ra's al-'Ayn Camps | |
|---|---|
| Concentration camp | |
| Known for | Mass murder and abuse of Ottoman Armenian civilians during theArmenian genocide |
| Location | Ras al-Ayn,Ottoman Empire (Present-daySyria) |
| Built by | Ottoman Empire |
| Operated by | Ottoman Empire |
| Operational | 1910s |
| Inmates | Armenians |
| Killed | 80,000 |
Ra's al-'Ayn camps (alsoRas ul-Ain camps) were desertdeath camps near the city ofRas al-Ayn, where manyArmenians were deported and slaughtered during theArmenian genocide.[1] The site became "synonymous with Armenian suffering".[2]
Ras al-Ayn became a major collecting place for deported Armenians from Anatolia.[3] By September 1915, groups ofrefugees (usually made up of women and children) began to arrive after the exhausting journey.[4] In April 1916 the German consul reported "again massacre at Ras ul Ain": "300 to 500 deportees are taken out of theconcentration camp each day and butchered at a distance of 10 km. from Ras ul Ain"[5] In the summer of 1916 new rounds ofmassacres were improvised by the Turkish government in the areas ofDeir ez-Zor, Rakka and Ras ul-Ain..[6] In 1916, over 80,000 of Armenians were slaughtered in Ras al-Ayn.[7] According to reports, in one day alone 300-400 women arrived to the camps completely naked and were plundered byChechens andgendarmerie: "All the bodies, without exception, were entirely naked and the wounds that had been inflicted showed that the victims had been killed, after having been subjected to unspeakable brutalities".[8] The localkaimakam (governor) ordered the massacre of deported Armenians. Daurri (Diirri) Bey, son of the TurkishBey ofAleppo Defterdar Djemal, was the official High Executioner of Armenians at Ras-el-Ain: "this brute, after robbing them of their jewelry chose the youngest girls of good families and kept them for aharem".[9][verify]
An Armenian eyewitness wrote that:[10]
"While we were marching the Turkish soldiers, with drawn swords, suddenly made their way through the crowd, and, like beasts let loose in a flock of sheep, killed and wounded many.. The rest still dragged on under the influence of the bloody swords until Ras-ul-Ain Desert was reached. This place was especially noted for the carrying of their butchery, for all that were sent to these parts were sent there to die." "Armenian Tells Of Death Pilgrimage",New York Times, July 27, 1919
Several times, entire camps in Ras ul-Ayn were liquidated as a prevention againsttyphoid epidemics.[11] According to US AmbassadorHenry Morgenthau, Sr., the route to Ras-ul-Ain for Armenian travellers "was one prolonged horror".[12]
Some scenes in the 2014 movieThe Cut use a representation of the camp.