May 20, 1992. Along the Zar road, the road of life, as we called it then, a truck with more than 50 people, mostly children, women and old men, who were fleeing from the besieged Tskhinval, was heading for Dzau district.
Through the rugged high -mountain road, the driver of the truck was in a hurry to take away his passengers from danger, to a safe place. However, danger was waiting for the travelers at the next rise. It was not the accident, but a well-planned, cruel and cynic operation, the purpose of which was to shed the blood of the Ossetians. At 12:03, from ambush the Georgian armed bandits shot the truck and the other cars, successfully accomplished the task by the Georgian leadership. No one was spared - neither children nor women. One little girl miraculously remained alive - her mother covered the child with her own her body and was killed. This tragedy has been depicted on the obelisk "The Grieving Mother," put up on the site of the tragedy in 2007. Members of the government of South Ossetia, intellectuals, students and school children, relatives and friends of the victims have come today to the monument to honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy. To the mournful music were laid wreaths at the monument and lit candles for the souls of the brutally murdered 33 Ossetians.
Opening the mourning ceremony, the chief editor of the newspaper "Khurzaerin" Yuri Gabaraev has noted that today Ossetia is commemorating not only the victims of the Zar tragedy, but all those who were killed by the Georgian fascists.
"May 20, 1992 we got added evidence, that we were dealing with the most cruel, the most vile enemy that was dangerous not in a fair fight, but who attacked the defenseless people , like a beast, surreptitiously. The blessed memory to all the victims of the Georgian genocide "- said Gabaraev.
On behalf of the Republic the Prime Minister of South Ossetia Rostislav Khugaev has made a speech, noting that even time has not abated the pain of this heinous crime.
At 12:03 those present observed a minute of silence in memory of the killed.
"The unarmed children, women and old people, - they were fleeing from the horrors of war. The wail of the victims of this unspeakable tragedy is still echoed in the Zar gorge. We were being killed just because we were the living witnesses of violence, national chauvinism, the criminal policy of Georgia. We have paid a heavy price for our freedom, "- said Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of South Ossetia Mira Tskhovrebova.
The priest of the Alan Diocese Father Georgy held a prayer service for the victims of the Georgian aggressors.
"Our land is sacred, it is not sanctified with holy water, but with blood of the innocent victims - children, women, old people," - said the priest.
On behalf of the young people a student of the South Ossetian State University Igor Chochity addressed the meeting.
"I am 21 years old on this day of mourning. I was born at the time when the victims of the Zar tragedy were brought to Tskhinval. That's why I do not like my birthday and do not celebrate the holiday on this day. And how could I listen to some of our enemies, talking about some future with the Georgians? While we remember each victim of the Zar tragedy, they will be alive,"- he said.
Each year, relatives and friends of the victims of the tragedy come to this place; they put flowers at the monument "The Grieving Mother," bringing back the memory of the horrors of that time. That day Inna Kabisova`s little brother Batradz and her uncle were driving in that ill-fated truck. The Georgian bullets cut off their lives.
"My uncle came from Dzau; he wanted to take away my brother. But, alas, they found their death here. My uncle was killed at once, his whole back was riddled. Batradz, according to the witnesses, jumped out of the truck and ran down, shouting, "Here are the Georgians, the Georgians." They shot him in the back, wounding his leg. Then they ran up to him and finished him off by a headshot. He was eleven years old…, "- said Inna.
That day Mary Bitieva with her four children miraculously avoided death.
"I could not wait for that truck, as it was a cold, windy day, the kids were tired of standing at the bus stop, and I decided to return home and the next day to go to the village of Gufta to my found brother. But in the afternoon the whole Ossetia shuddered from this horror. Since then, every year I come here to honor the memory of the victims of that tragedy, among whom I could have been found myself "- she told, wiping away her tears.
21 years have passed since the massacre of the peaceful refugees, but the Zar tragedy still echoes in the hearts of the people of South Ossetia. Please, forgive us, the 33 Ossetians, that we could not protect you, could not save ...
