“They found out there’s a machine. They put a human being inside, and they are compressed while they are alive.”
That’s just one of many horrifying stories coming out of Syria now that rebels have toppled the brutal dynastic Bashar al-Assad dictatorship.
Ahmad Alkhaldy is from Syria and owns Palmyra on Wilton Drive.
His social media is filled with videos of celebrations, and friends keep him informed of what’s going on.
“People got their country back, and they want to build it and return to normal lives. Be democratic,” he said.
During the 50-year dynastic dictatorship, and 13-plus year revolution, thousands of people just disappeared. Families were left wondering if their loved ones died in bombings or were jailed by state police.
As rebels liberate political prisons, people are having unexpected reunions, including in Alkhaldy’s family.
“My cousin is a doctor. He disappeared in 2011. No one heard of him after,” Alkhaldy said. “Yesterday my mom called me and said he’s back, he’s alive.”
Alkhaldy says people are finding hidden gates to prisons no one knew even existed, and says one person has been in prison since 1982 and is so confused they have forgotten how to talk.
During The Gazette’s visit to Palmyra, two other Syrians were having dinner and shared their thoughts and hopes for Syria’s future. Dr. Ahmed Sakkal, a cardiologist, and his son, Dr. Mouhammed Sakkal, an internist, and both are members of the Syrian-American Council.
“There was a photographer whose job was to take pictures of the [tortured and killed] prisoners, and they would be filed,” Ahmed said.
Mouhammed added: “There was always the fear that you’re being monitored by the secret police and taken and never seen again.”
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