The Quba Genocide Memorial Complex stands as a solemn tribute to the Muslims who were brutally killed by Armenian nationalists. This poignant landmark in the city bears a striking resemblance to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum, and for a profound reason: the site is the resting place of 60,000 victims of a massacre that occurred over a century ago.
The mass grave was accidentally discovered in 2007 during construction work in Guba. Following this discovery, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan conducted extensive research at the site. The findings revealed that the grave is linked to the genocide committed by Armenians against the local civilian population in 1918. The remains of over 400 individuals from various age groups were uncovered at the site. Alongside Azerbaijanis, the grave contains the remains of brutally murdered representatives of the Lezgin, Jewish, Tat, and other ethnic communities.
With its minimalist triangular design, long underground exhibition halls, and black granite tombstones, the memorial complex strongly evokes the imagery of Yad Vashem, the Israeli memorial dedicated to the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust. Given the tragic nature of the events it commemorates, the architects deliberately opted for a minimalist design to honor the memory of the victims. The museum was commissioned by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
The walls of the complex are adorned with dozens of black-and-white photographs, capturing the lives of Azerbaijani Jews before the upheaval of 1918.
The monument consists of three parts: an entrance and exit shaped like two sharp, knife-like structures, and a main hall featuring a black memorial stone at its center. The sharp edges of the monument symbolize profound pain, while their emergence from the ground represents the impossibility of concealing the truth.
The museum’s exhibition chronicles the history of the genocide committed against the Muslim population of five districts of the Baku Governorate between March and July 1918. The exhibition, divided into 19 sections, is presented in Azerbaijani, Russian, and English. The memorial complex also includes an information center, a well-stocked library, and a computer-equipped reading room, providing visitors with resources to deepen their understanding of this tragic chapter in history.
