Ahmad Agha
Summary A brother of Simko and one of the Kurdish village leaders. During the conflict described in the chapter, he sided with Simko against…
Ahmad Ara
Summary A trusted associate of Simko. In segment 03.03 he stands beside Simko during the execution of the men involved in the explosive-chest plot…
Ahmad Shah Qajar
Summary The Qajar ruler of Iran at the time. The memoir says that Simko sent him an ultimatum demanding the surrender of the person…
Ali Hakim Rıza
Summary A judge known to Sinior from Başkale. In Ankara he hosted Sinior and directed him to Dr Osman, who helped in Shmuel Kutler’s…
Ali Khan
Summary A brother of Simko and a local Kurdish leader. He and Moho opposed Simko and Ahmad Agha; after being captured and sentenced to…
Ali Rıza Bey
Summary A lawyer of Laz background and former president of the Van Heavy Penal Court who represented Shmuel Kutler at his trial. Names and…
Avraham Demirel
Avraham Demirel, known within his family also as Ibrahim, was Sinior Demirel’s elder brother and one of the prominent figures in the diary’s account…
Baji Kutler
Summary Wife of Shmuel Kutler. In segment 04.06 she seeks help for her husband after his arrest in Van. Names and spelling variants Baji…
Cevdat Bey
Summary A colonel from the inspectorate who examined the large bridge built by Sinior, praised his work, and awarded him one month’s leave. He…
Ciray
Summary An Armenian engineer serving as a private in Unit 20 at the labor camp in Manisa, where he was placed in charge of…
Daha Baji (Dabaji)
Summary Mother of Sinior and of his siblings, including Shimon (Shaban) and Avraham (Ibrahim). Her personal name is not given in the book. According…
David Demirel
Summary Sinior’s father. The chapter describes him as about sixty years old and as the head of the family during the violence and upheaval…
David Demirel (the son)
David Demirel, Sinior Demirel’s son, immigrated to Israel in 1949, worked for more than thirty years at Israel Aerospace Industries, and was Michael Demirel’s…
David Khan
Summary Brother of Mar Benyamin Shimun and a commander in the Assyrian force. After the killings in Kohneh Shahr, he issued an order to…
Dervish Bey
Summary Chief of the Merziki tribe who hosted the kaymakam and regimental commander. He tried to prevent Osman from committing murder in his home;…
Dr. Mordechai (Moti) Zaken
Dr. Mordechai (Moti) Zaken was a historian of Kurdish Jewry, Kurdish society, and Neo-Aramaic, a government adviser on minorities, and a 2019 Prime Minister’s…
Dr Edip Osman Somunoğlu
Dr Edip Osman Somunoğlu directed the military hospital in Siirt and aided Sinior during his service. He later served as mayor of Erzurum, a…
Dr Osman
Summary An Ankara physician who helped Sinior bring the account of Shmuel Kutler’s trial to the attention of the appeal judges and later informed…
Ezekiel Jacob
Summary A learned leader of the Jewish community in Kohneh Shahr. After Shimon returned from Khoy, he came to ask whether the Iranian force…
Ferzan
Summary A trusted associate of Simko. In segment 03.03 he stands beside Simko during the execution of the men involved in the explosive-chest plot…
Gabriel Demirel
Summary Son of Rahamim Demirel and grandson of Avraham (Ibrahim) Demirel. Born in Van, Turkey, he contributed greatly to the research and to maintaining…
Gilaz Arjun (Rachel Demirel)
Summary The wife of Shimon (Shaban) Demirel. In Khoy she was pressured to convert to Islam; she later returned to Kohneh Shahr with her…
Hakham Pinhas
Summary A local hakham and native of the town who, according to the account, knew twelve languages. He studied in Vienna and Russia, completed…
Ihsan, son of Hafiz
Summary A resident of Başkale who volunteered to mail the accusation letters against the Jewish community. He was interrogated and beaten after refusing to…
Ismail Agha Shikak (Simko)
Summary Ismail Agha Shikak, better known as Simko, was an influential Kurdish leader active in northwestern Iran in the early twentieth century. He led…
Kapuzade Mehmet Efendi
Summary A Turkish friend of Shimon who promised to help move the family to Turkey. He travelled from Dilman to Van with Sinior, Shimon…
Kaymakam Kemal Bey
Summary The kaymakam who humiliated Surdeli Osman over the Kurdish headwear he wore. Osman fired at him but missed; the subsequent reports led to…
Malka Demirel
Summary Wife of Sinior Demirel, daughter of Varda and Menachem, and granddaughter of Hanukkah. In segment 05.03 she is mentioned as waiting with Daha…
Mar Benyamin Shimun
Summary Mar Benyamin Shimun (1887–1918) was Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1903 until 1918 and the religious and communal leader of…
Michael Demirel
Michael Demirel manages and edits the Nash Didan website, researches genealogy and family history, and initiated the digital edition of Sinior’s Diary. His work…
Mirza Khalil Khan
Summary A judge in Khoy. According to the chapter, Shimon met him in the city while armed volunteers and Iranian soldiers were gathering to…
Moho
Summary A brother of Simko and a local Kurdish leader. In the chapter he joins Ali Khan against Simko and Ahmad Agha and is…
Moses
Summary One of two Jewish brothers, with Tela, who joined the Iranian gendarmerie, distinguished themselves against bandits, and received decorations for bravery but no…
Mümtaz Bey
Summary A young Turkish army lieutenant who temporarily acted as regimental commander in Başkale. According to segment 04.05, he promised to marry the hakham’s…
Naser al-Din Shah
Summary An Iranian shah mentioned in connection with Hakham Pinhas’s father, who, according to the tradition, received a firman — a royal decree —…
Navruz
Summary The leader of forty Kurdish fighters who descended from the mountains into Başkale during the First World War. Their battle cries drove a…
Nikolai Petrovolo
Summary A commander in Mar Benyamin Shimun’s entourage at the meeting in Kohneh Shahr. The chapter describes him and David Khan moving along the…
Nuri Bey
Summary A Turkish officer and friend of Sinior who commanded the Fifth Battalion of the Border Guard in Başkale. Before Sinior left for military…
Pinhas, Sinior’s Fellow Soldier
Summary A Jewish soldier from Başkale who served with Sinior at the military hospital in Siirt. After an officer brutally beat and imprisoned him…
Rahamim Demirel
Summary Son of Avraham (Ibrahim) Demirel and father of Gabriel Demirel. During the events described in segment 01.07, he was an infant hiding with…
Rahmi Bey
Summary A lieutenant from Erzincan who served as officer of the guard at the military hospital in Siirt and was known for his severity…
Recad Öcal
Summary The kaymakam of Başkale during the accusation against the Jewish community. After Sinior alerted him to the letters sent to Ankara, he investigated…
Sabri “the Madman”
Summary A deputy leader of the Ertoşi tribe and an acquaintance of Sinior in Başkale. During the conscription of non-Muslims, he threatened the recruiting…
Saim Dora
Saim Dora was an Ankara lawyer and president of the Ankara Bar Association from 1946 to 1956. Senior’s diary recalls his offer to handle…
Sardar of Maku
Summary A powerful arms merchant operating in Maku near the Russian frontier. According to the chapter, a shipment of French weapons prepared for Kurdish…
Shala, Son of Dava Baba
Summary The son of Dava Baba, a Jewish man remembered for his courage. According to the account, he stood alone against Armenian fighters in…
Sheikh Abdülhakim Arvasi
Abdülhakim Arvasi Abdülhakim Arvasi (1865–1943) was a prominent Islamic scholar, Sufi sheikh, and spiritual leader of the Naqshbandi-Khalidi order. Born in Başkale, in the…
Sheikh Salim
Summary An acquaintance of Sinior from his days in Başkale. While hosting Cemil, the military hospital surgeon, in Siirt, he asked him to treat…
Sheikh Ziyaddin Arvasi
Summary The mufti of Başkale and a member of the Arvasi family. He came to Sinior’s home with the town’s notables and asked him…
Shimon Demirel
Summary Sinior’s elder brother, also called Shaban or Shaban Efendi in segment 03.01. He had previously lived in Russia and spoke fluent Russian. During…
Shimshon Özel
Summary A relative of Rafael, the husband of Sinior’s sister. In segment 04.06 he hosts Sinior at his home in Galata, Istanbul. Names and…
Shmuel Chacho Güner
Summary A Jewish resident and community notable in Başkale. In segment 04.03 Sinior assessed his Wealth Tax at 2,000 lira; initially angry, he later…
Shmuel Kutler
Summary A leading member of the Jewish community in Başkale. Sinior told him about the accusation and inquiry after meeting the kaymakam. In segment…
Sinior Demirel
Sinior Demirel (1909–1987) was a Jew born in the Salmas region of northwestern Iran, a member of the community later known in Israel as…
Surdeli Osman
Summary One of the leaders of the Merziki tribe. After being humiliated by Kaymakam Kemal Bey, he fired at him, and the incident led…
Surma Khanum
Summary Sister of Mar Benyamin Shimun and a prominent figure in Assyrian public life. The chapter describes her as unmarried and revered; after her…
Suto
Summary A longstanding Kurdish rival of Mar Benyamin Shimun. According to the chapter, after receiving new weapons the patriarch campaigned against him and dispersed…
Tela
Summary One of two Jewish brothers, with Moses, who joined the Iranian gendarmerie, distinguished themselves against bandits, and received decorations for bravery but no…
Yusuf Khan
Summary A senior Iranian army officer who commanded a mujahidin and Azerbaijani force gathered at Qara Qeshlaq against Simko. After Simko defeated the force,…
İsmet İnönü
Summary President of Turkey when the Wealth Tax was imposed in 1942. Segment 04.03 mentions him in its account of the government under which…
Şükrü Kanatlı
Summary A senior Turkish officer who listened to Sinior and the mufti and halted the burning of all the Ser-Elbak villages. He later cared…
Şükrü Saracoğlu
Summary Prime Minister of Turkey when the Wealth Tax was imposed in 1942. Segment 04.03 mentions him alongside President İsmet İnönü in its account…