Mesrob Kloian's Witness Story.

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Mesrob Kloian describes his experience in the Armenian Genocide as a traumatic experience. He says that they were given exactly one day to get ready. They were forbidden to take any weapons or even a pen knife. Anyone who was found with any weapons was shot at the spot. Also, he says that while they will march with the Turks officers among desolated areas where there will be no water, and then they will camp at night. Then, on the third day of their march they were led to a narrow canyon where they had to camp for the night. The next day, when they woke up they were surrounded with bandits among with the Turk officers and they were armed with rifles, swords, and axes. He says that he still remembers the whole ground covered with dead bodies. His sisters, brothers, sister-in-law, nice, and nephew were all killed on that morning. Also, he says that he witnessed his mother being taken away by two Turk officers. He says that his father tried stopping them from taking her, but it was useless.



Also, he says that after that massacre that had happened, the Turk officers searched each man, one by one, taking away their clothes and cutting them down with swords, axes right where they stood. Mesrob mentions that he escaped that night that his mother was taken away, and he had hid in an abandoned stable. He was awoken to cries and screams, and had later saw that the officers piled up a bunch of hundreds of babies that had lost their mothers. With the babies they would use their yagatans to see who could shot a baby’s head with just one blow. He says that the officers considered this a game. The officers would place babies at 15 or 20 meters up against a tree or bush to see who could shoot the best. Mesrob ends his experience saying that that day in the narrow canyon has still haunt him in his life today.

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