Remembrance event in Netherlands recalled heroes of 1915 Sayfo Resistance

HENGELO, The Netherlands — Following the 15 June remembrance of the 1915 Sayfo Genocide, an event remembering the heroes of the 1915 Sayfo Resistance was held in the hall of Virgin Mary Church in Hengelo, Netherlands.

During the event, Shamoun Hanna Haido and his brother Malki Hanna Haido, who led the resistance of the Syriac people during the 1915 Sayfo Genocide, were remembered.

The event was opened with a poem by Sabri Ozkan. Attendees then stood for a minute of silence for the souls of martyrs.

The event program was presented by Isaac Muro. Candles were lit for the souls of the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people’s martyrs, as well as Syriac youth Elena Boyeji who passed away in a car accident this week.

This event was organized by the grandchildren of Shamoun Hanna Haido, and was attended by Archbishop of the Netherlands Augin Eiden, representatives of the European Syriac Union (ESU), the Syriac–Aramaic Union in the Netherlands, representatives of Suroyo TV and Suryoyo Sat, in addition to other organizations and institutions of the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people.

The Sayfo Genocide was committed by the Ottoman Empire and allied Kurdish, Arab, and Circassian forces in the early 20th century against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people and occurred parallel to the genocides of Armenians, Greeks, and Yezidis. Upwards of 300,000 of the region’s estimated 700,000 Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans) were massacred. More than 200,000 were forcefully displaced or deported south.