ette case, and the third his right shoulder. Kel Ali, the commander of the regular troops, witnessed this and said to Ustad:

"Bullets have no effect on you either, Bediuzzaman!" To which Bediuzzaman replied: "If Allah protects a person, even the shells of a heavy gun cannot kill him!"

At the end of a week's fierce resistance, the Russians still could not enter Bitlis, so they evacuated the Papşin Han on the Tatvin road and withdrew. Then it was seen that guided by the Armenians, they had skirted round the south of Bitlis by the Güzeldere road by way of Simek, had cut the Bitlis-Siirt road, and were holding the Arab Bridge. After midnight they started the attack on Bitlis. There was very fierce fighting. At this point Ustad's nephew, Ubeyd, [^267] whom he was very fond of, and many of his students, and our friends, were killed.

[^267]:Ubeyd was the son of Bediuzzaman's eldest sister, Dürriye.

Since the Russians had taken the town's three bridges, Ustad wanted to get to the other side of the town. We jumped down from on top of a conduit which passed beneath a large building next to what is now Kazımpaşa Primary School. Because the water was entirely covered by snow and it was also night-time, we could not estimate the ground, and Ustad hit his leg on a stone and broke it. Showing me a more suitable place underneath the conduit, he said: "Get me in there, Ali. Then go. I give you permission. God willing, you will get away." I got him in there and sat him down. He continued to insist that I go, but when I said that I was not going and that I wanted to remain and die as a martyr alongside him, he stroked my head with his hand, and said: "Fate has made us prisoners." I declared that I too had surrendered to fate.

We remained in the water for about thirty-six hours. The Russians had occupied the building over the conduit and their voices could be heard from below. We were busy planning how we could get out of there when a squad of fifty Russians soldiers arrived. They pulled us all out and took us to a building which was a hotel beneath and in which the Russian Second Army was billeted. They placed us in a room.

A regimental commander met us. They brought a chicken for Ustad to eat. Two Russian commanders started to speak with Ustad. It was clear they were talking about the War. Ustad was talking to them standing on one leg. It was as though Ustad was the commander and the two Russian commanders were prisoners. Ustad did not take them seriously at all. They realized that his leg was broken, and called a health orderly who put it in plaster. After about two and a half hours there, we were taken to the Government Building by a detachment of soldiers. A Tatar officer, who we later learnt was a Muslim, took pity on us, and taking us inside, put us in the governor's room.