Scholar’s book on Yazidi genocide translated into German

A book about the Yazidi genocide has been translated into German, for use in German institutions studying the Islamic State (ISIS) crimes against the minority community in northern Iraq. The Yazidi Genocide is a seven-volume tome originally published in Arabic and written by Kurdish scholar Dawood Khatari. 

The German edition condenses the book into one volume, titled Ferman 74, referring to the dozens of genocides Yazidis have suffered. “The printing of this book has been funded by the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Germany in cooperation with the University of Potsdam. This book won’t be studied only at universities, but it will be studied as historical record in schools,” said Stefan Gatzhammer, from Germany’s University of Potsdam. 

Ferman 74 draws on more than 200 statements and interviews of survivors to document the crimes of ISIS. ISIS took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq in August 2014, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. The militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. In the first days of the genocide, 1,293 Yazidis were killed and 6,417 were abducted. 

by Ayub Nasri