Survived the Hama Massacre… Facing the Hell of Tadmor Prison

The Syrian Chronicle is a cultural and documentary space from Damascus Studio, where we host a select group of thinkers, researchers, historians, knowledge makers, and individuals with impactful stories who witnessed Syria’s events, in conversation with Syrian journalist Abdullah Al-Zarzour.

The podcast aims to document Syrian history, events, and stories, preserving living testimonies and memory for future generations through deep conversations that explore human experience and knowledge.

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From Damascus… to the world

In this episode, we host Engineer Mohammad Adel Kharsa, who delivers an extraordinary testimony revealing shocking details from years of imprisonment in Syrian regime prisons, recounting what he lived and witnessed—events that left an indelible mark on memory.

Our guest recounts the first moments of his arrest, the fear that accompanied him from the last glimpse of his family before being taken into the unknown, and his memories inside Tadmor Prison, where he endured torture and violations that sometimes made death feel easier than life.

The episode also exposes painful details of crimes that were insufficiently documented, including massacres across different regions of Syria, such as the South Stadium Massacre in Hama, as well as testimonies of young people being burned alive—scenes illustrating the scale of the tragedy Syrians endured for decades.

Engineer Kharsa reflects on the regime’s policy of consolidating power through destruction, extermination, and spreading fear, describing helpless moments in response to the screams of women and the suffering of families waiting behind prison walls for the fate of their loved ones. He also shares his greatest fear during detention: the arrest of his sister, and the constant anxiety over his family’s safety.

The episode reaches its most harrowing moments when he describes the final moments before execution sentences and the anticipation and fear detainees experienced while awaiting an uncertain fate, offering a deeply human testimony highlighting the suffering of thousands of Syrian prisoners.

This episode documents a personal experience, but at the same time reflects the story of an entire people who lived years of oppression, fear, and destruction, providing a vital testimony for future generations about one of the most painful periods in modern Syrian history.