Wounds from the 1960 Great Fire of Amuda remain open for Syrian Kurds

AMUDA (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian Kurds on Tuesday commemorated the 58th anniversary of the calamity in which hundreds of schoolboys perished in a blaze at a cinema in Syria’s predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Amuda.

Hasan Hamidi, roughly 70 years-old, one of the survivors still living in the city, talked to Kurdistan 24 about the fire, commonly referred to as the Amuda Cinema Fire or Great Fire of Amuda. The tragic event claimed the lives of 283 schoolchildren, most of whom were under the age of 14.

On November 13, 1960, Syrian government authorities in the city ordered all elementary-aged schoolchildren to attend a film on the Algerian Revolution, after which the proceeds from the viewing would be sent to Algeria, which at that time was fighting for its independence from France.

“We went to the cinema with great joy, hundreds of children gathered there,” he said. “Although the owner of the cinema had warned authorities that the projector would at times overheat, they insisted on the viewing.”

Hamidi recounted how the fire broke out in the wooden halls of the movie theater, burning through a straw-and-wood roof, and how hundreds of children were devoured in the blaze.

“The cries of my friends and classmates still ring in my ears, and I still hear the cries of parents who rushed to the cinema to save their children,” he said.

Dozens of books, poems, and Kurdish songs have been composed on the fire, and some Kurdish poems refer to it as similar to the Great Fire of London of 1666.

More details were published in an article entitled Remembering the Amude Cinema Fire, published by Kurdistan Commentary blog a few years ago.

It was the last showing of the day, and 500 children packed into the wood, straw, and clay structure that was designed to hold 200, the blog reads. “Most children were crammed in next to each other on long benches; many stood where they could find room.”

The projector had been running all day, showing the film to hundreds of others. In this last screening, it overheated and burst into flames, igniting the projection room. Flames spread quickly through the building.

ACCIDENTAL OR DELIBERATE?

Syrian authorities at that time claimed it was an accident, but eyewitness statements contradict the authorities’ claim.

“When the fire broke out, it was discovered that the projectionist and other cinema staff had left the building and the exits had been padlocked,” Philip G. Kreyenbroek and Sperl Stefan said in their book The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview.

“The police prevented people from outside from attempting to rescue the victims because it would have been ‘dangerous.’”

The book carries on recounting, “One man, Muhamad Said Agha Dakori, did manage to force an entry and saved fourteen boys from death before himself perishing under burning rubble.”

“One of those he saved has since completed his Ph.D. and now lives as a refugee in Sweden.”

What makes eyewitnesses and subsequent generations suggest it was a deliberate act is a policy of the Syrian government banning any public commemoration of those who died in the fire.

After the breakout of the Syrian civil war in 2011, and the Kurds establishing a self-administration in the country’s north, Kurdish authorities have made it a yearly official requirement to commemorate the events of November 13, 1960.

Where the cinema once stood has been transformed into a small garden in the city of Amuda, with a statue depicting the tragedy and two large signs, one for Muhamad Said Agha Dakori, and the other containing a list of names and photos of those who perished in the fire.

Editing by Nadia Riva

(Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 correspondents Dilovan Chato in Amuda and Siwar Ahmad in Erbil)