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That was near Dayr al-Zawr. That's the final slaughterhouse of the Armenians. It came an order from north. I've heard those things: my mother told me. I read afterwards that we are to go north, no more to Dayr al-Zawr. Then from that, they start to give (inaudible) piece of bread, and gendarmes were better behaving. I don't know how far it was.
We came a place called -- Suruç, some place. The houses right there hoof shape, mud houses. That's the first time since we left Sivas under roof, but in a room like this maybe thirty, forty of us, sitting there. I don't know how many days we stayed there.
Then after that, we cross again the Euphrates River by the city of Birecik. And after that, it was an army abandoned place, no soldiers or anything we lived on the top of the roof. After that, I don't know how many days took us. The name my mother not remember; I don't remember either, but they say it was near Maraş. Very north we coming, pretty close to Sivas. And over there, they start to give us soup too, besides bread. And as I said, gendarmes had mellowed a bit.
I don't know how many days we stayed there, but it seemed the weather got cooler or something, and we're gonna start. And I had pain on my leg. My mother used to -- she scared so much she can't even care for, even my uncle. Finally, I guess I able.
Then we came a place that there was gendarmes over there, beside the gendarmes. They sent the Armenians to different Turkish villages, and we were in -- I think about twenty or thirty people someplace, Göksuncuk, near Antep, a village. And it was someplace like not connected to the village, maybe; it's just gonna be school or something. It was half built. And in a room like this: narrower, no carpet or anything, just dirt. We had children coming and looking at us. They think we are not human, all dirty and everything (inaudible) and things, lice all over our bodies. And I think the mayor of the village told them that, "Give them food." They come around.
But I recall another man that survived. Those two people, I don't know. They give them bags or something, and something to put food. They used to go around with the sticks, dogs barking and everything. We are not used to it. In that container, whatever the villager give them all kind of -- and bread, and we used to eat. That time we don't know about germs or anything, nothing. That was our food.