..Sunny Georgia - isn't it
We used to call you ...
Why did you drink the sun to the last drop?
From a child, killing a mother?
Irina Gurdzhibekova
May 20, 1992
An eleven-year-old boy, not afraid of death, managed to warn people and saved several ... Batradz Kabisov. Men do not become - they are born, and heroes do not die, but the pain of realizing this truth is no less. When it comes to children, it is so strong that it seems overwhelming. And every year on the twentieth of May, South Ossetia is covered with a wave of pain and anger. And time does not heal ...
The most beautiful month of the year is forever darkened for South Ossetia by one of the most terrible dates in its history: on May 20, 1992, Georgian gangs shot refugees on the Zar road: 36 people, old people, women, children. The monstrous crime remained unpunished. Among those whose life was cut short in that blooming May is Batradz Kabisov. He was less than eleven years old.
Later, the eyewitnesses who miraculously survived will remember Kabisov. The survivors tell how young Kabisov ran down the road and shouted a warning not to drive any further. These were his last words. Batradz was killed. The bloodthirsty beasts shot the child in cold blood.
For Batradz's sister, Inna Kabisova, the pain did not dull even after so many years. As Inna is recalling, due to the frequent shelling, their uncle decided to take Batradz to Dzau.
“In May, massive shelling of the city became more frequent, and because of this, the children were released on vacation earlier. Our uncle Volodya lived in the village of Dzau. Two days before the tragedy, he came along the same bypass road to visit his father, who lived in the village of Zar, and other relatives, brothers and sisters who lived in Tskhinval. Having witnessed heavy shelling, my uncle offered to take Batradz to Dzau for several days,” his sister is sharing her memories with the IA “Res”.
According to her, they were supposed to leave on May 19, but did not find the car. The trip had to be postponed the next day.
“Cars usually left the territory of the bakery, but there weren’t cars that day. My aunt lived nearby, and my uncle stayed with her to find transport on the second day and leave, but my brother did not want to stay there. It was as if he had a presentiment of trouble and returned home, promising that he would return in the morning and they would leave together,” is recalling Inna.
On the morning of May 20, Batradz's father escorted him to the bakery, and he and his uncle got into that ill-fated car.
“According to the eyewitnesses, the onboard vehicle was filled with people. My uncle and brother were among the last to board. At that time, I was studying at the institute. I was approached by a friend of mine who knew that my brother and uncle were to leave for Dzau. He warned me not to let my brother go, because there was a big tragedy on the Zar road - cars with passengers were shot there. But, unfortunately, it was too late, they had already left, " she is complaining.
Upon learning of what had happened, Inna and her parents went to the hospital. According to her, people came there from all over the city, many people gathered there.
“There was a list on the door and I started looking for my brother. I thought they were the dead, but this was a list of the wounded. It was impossible even to get close to the morgue, but my father made his way there anyway, he could not enter the building, climbed onto the window and began to examine the bodies of the dead. He saw them - my brother and my uncle,” the sister is recalling.
Batradz's sister also knows the details of the shooting from the words of the eyewitnesses.
She was told that the car in which her brother and uncle were, was driving in the middle of the convoy. When they began to fire, Batradz jumped out, ran down the road and shouted to those who were driving behind them: "Stop, they are shooting."
“My uncle most likely covered my brother with his body, because his back was completely in the wounds from bullets. And Batradz, having survived, ran down. He started shouting, waving his arms so that the cars would not go further, and then fell. He had two wounds - in the leg and in the head. He is the youngest among those killed,” said Inna.
Batradz was wise beyond his years - this is how his sister remembered him.
"My brother was noy very interested in his peers lately. Not far from us was the headquarters where the militias were staying, and he began to come to them, considered it an honor to be near them. They gave him some assignments, and he happily fulfilled them,” his sister is recalling.
The father of Batradz and Inna led a detachment of militias in the village of Zar, and at that time, due to the tense situation, he was constantly there, so young Batradz took over the role of the head of the family. He became a support for the family.
“At that time there was no electricityt, no water, no gas. There was a faucet far from us and Batradz himself began to go for water. He was not lazy. My brother took over all the duties of a man. Every day he went out and collected firewood and brushwood so that we could live in a warm place. He asked us not to worry, promised to help and was helping,” she said.
Batradz was very attentive, Inna continued.
“The age difference between us was 11 years. Then he moved to the sixth grade. His birthday is September 1st, so this date, together with the beginning of the new school year, was a double celebration for him. Now he would have been 40 years old.
Before my brother was born, two of my sisters died, and therefore Batradz was a long-awaited child. His death devastated both me and my parents,” the sister said with pain.
Inna and her parents visit the site of the tragedy in Zar every year. It is extremely painful for them.
The sister, with tears in her eyes, says that she always feels like Batradz is waiting for them there.
“The Georgian fascists have deprived us of our support - our beloved son and brother,” she added bitterly.
Batradz is buried in their ancestral village of Zar.
