The foundation stone for a memorial commemorating the victims of the Simmele Massacre was laid this week in the town of Simmele, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), in a ceremony attended by senior Kurdish and Christian leaders.

The project, sponsored by Masoud Barzani and attended by Patriarch Mar Awa III, head of the Assyrian Church of the East, is intended to honor the memory of thousands of Assyrian civilians killed during one of the darkest episodes in modern Iraqi history.

Related: The 1933 Massacre of Assyrians in Simmele, Iraq

The memorial will be built on an area of approximately 6,250 square meters and is designed not only as a site of remembrance, but also as a space for historical reflection. Organizers said the monument aims to preserve the collective memory of the Assyrian people and to underscore their deep-rooted presence in the region.

Officials involved in the project emphasized that the memorial is meant to serve a broader purpose than commemoration alone. It represents, they said, a formal acknowledgment of past atrocities and a commitment to documenting crimes committed against the Assyrian people, ensuring that future generations understand the scale of the tragedy.

The Simmele Massacre 1933, Simmele Massacre -- an atrocity committed by Iraqi Army in 1933 which claimed the lives of thousands and forced tens of thousands to flee, many of whom sought refuge in the Khabur River Valley across the border in Syria.