Ankara
Summary The capital of Turkey. In segment 04.06 Sinior travels there to pursue Shmuel Kutler’s appeal, consults lawyers, and receives help from Judge Ali…
Aşkale
Summary A town in Erzurum Province in eastern Turkey. Segment 04.03 mentions it as the place to which non-Muslim Wealth Tax debtors were sent…
Bashkale
Bashkale (Turkish: Başkale; in the local Aramaic dialect: Bashhalan) is a town and district center in Van Province in eastern Turkey, near the Iranian…
Black Hill
Summary A local landmark that, according to the chapter, was reached by the militia and Iranian soldiers gathered in Khoy; they turned back from…
Chahri
Summary A settlement and fortress identified in the chapter with Simko’s power base. After Mar Benyamin Shimun’s murder, Simko withdrew toward it and later…
Dilman
Summary A settlement in the Salmas region, described as about twenty kilometres from the town. Hakham Pinhas set out for Dilman and was murdered…
Garmian
Summary A region mentioned with Hakkari, Tyari and Tkhuma as an area inhabited by Assyrian Christian communities. Names and spelling variants Garmian; Germiyan Mentioned…
Garzan
Summary A historical locality or region west of Siirt where Sinior and his three companions left the lorry on their way to military service.…
Gever
Summary A settlement mentioned in family tradition as one of four places where the family’s ancestors settled. Its precise identification with a modern locality…
Golozan
Summary A village in the Salmas area where Assyrians settled after their displacement from Hakkari. Names and spelling variants Golozan; Goluzan Mentioned in the…
Haftvan
Summary A village in the Salmas area where Assyrians settled after their displacement from Hakkari. Names and spelling variants Haftvan; Haftavan Mentioned in the…
Hakkari
Summary A mountainous region between southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia, described in the chapter as one of the principal Assyrian homelands before the communities…
Hamadan
Summary A city in Iran mentioned in family tradition as one of the places where the family’s ancestors lived among Iranians and Armenians before…
Hatay
Summary A region in southern Turkey from which sixty Muslim soldiers were attached to Sinior’s unit. They said they had chosen Turkish over French…
Istanbul
Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey and one of the most historically significant cities in the world. Straddling the Bosporus Strait,…
Julfa
Summary A border town where Russian authorities detained Jewish refugees and denied them entry. The memoir places it near the Kura River, while historic…
Kerchiyan
Summary A place in the Başkale area near which the kaymakam and regimental commander stopped with Dervish Bey on their way to Hanasor. The…
Khosrowa
Summary A settlement in the Salmas area where Mar Benyamin Shimun established his residence after the Assyrians arrived in the region. According to segment…
Khoy
Summary A city in northwestern Iran. Shimon reached it on his return journey and met Judge Mirza Khalil Khan and the force gathering to…
Kohneh Shahr
Summary Kohneh Shahr (Persian: کهنهشهر; also written Kohneshahr, Kuhneh Shahr and Kohneh Shar) was a historic settlement in the Salmas Plain of northwestern Iran,…
Maku
Summary A town near the historical Russian frontier. The chapter mentions it as the base of the arms merchant known as Sardar. Names and…
Manisa
Summary A city in western Turkey reached by Sinior and the other conscripts during his second period of service. Sinior was assigned to Unit…
Mar Yaqub Church
Summary A church located in the Armenian quarter of Kohneh Shahr and known as Mar Yaqub. Further information about its identification, history, and precise…
Miri-Khatun Brick Tower
The Miri-Khatun Tower (Miri Khatun; Mirə Xatun) was a medieval mausoleum and funerary tower located in Kohneh Shahr (Kohneh Shahr), the old city of…
Mosul
Summary A city in northern Iraq. Segment 04.01 says that after fleeing Iran, Simko found a place in the Mosul region after the British…
Ottoman Empire
Summary The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: Memâlik-i Mahrûse-i Osmâniyye – “The Well-Protected Domains of the House of Osman”) was a multinational Islamic empire founded…
Pataver
Summary A village in the Salmas area where Assyrians settled after their displacement from Hakkari. Segment 01.07 also mentions a hill between it and…
Qara Qeshlaq
Summary A village described as about forty kilometres from Dilman. A force commanded by Yusuf Khan gathered there against Simko, and the family delivered…
Russian Empire
Summary A historical polity in which some Jews from Salmas stayed while seeking a livelihood. The segment connects it with their journeys to Tiflis.…
Sabra
Summary A village in the Salmas area where Assyrians settled after their displacement from Hakkari. Names and spelling variants Sabra Mentioned in the book…
Salmas
Summary The historical region in which Chapter One is set and which includes Kohneh Shahr and Navahi-Sharqiya. The segment describes Sinior Demirel’s childhood surroundings…
Ser-Elbak
Summary A region of about thirty villages near Başkale. In segment 04.07 two regiments are sent there after the Surdeli Osman incident, but the…
Shoshnemirk
Summary A village on the route from Başkale to Van where Sinior and his three companions spent the first night of their journey to…
Siirt
Summary A city in southeastern Turkey where Sinior and three other Jewish conscripts were required to report for military service. They reached it after…
Sındırgı
Summary A town in western Turkey to which Sinior’s unit was transferred. He discovered an error in the position of bridge foundations; following his…
Tabriz
Summary A city in northwestern Iran. In segment 04.02 it appears in the false letter used to draw Simko into an ambush, and later…
Tiflis (Tbilisi)
Tiflis, now Tbilisi, is the capital and largest city of Georgia. It lies in eastern Georgia, in the valley of the Kura River, at…
Tkhuma
Summary A tribal and mountainous district mentioned with Hakkari, Garmian and Tyari as an area of Assyrian settlement. Names and spelling variants Tkhuma; Tkhouma…
Tyari
Summary A mountainous district mentioned in the chapter as one of the regions inhabited by Assyrian communities. Names and spelling variants Tyari; Tiyari Mentioned…
Ula
Ula (also written Ola) is a village in the Salmas region of northwestern Iran, mentioned in the diary of Sinior Demirel in connection with…
Urmia
Urmia (also spelled Urmiya; Persian: ارومیه), known during part of the twentieth century as Rezaiyeh, is a city in northwestern Iran and the capital…
Van
Van is a city in eastern Turkey, situated on the eastern shore of Lake Van and serving as the capital of the province of…