DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A massive exodus of tens of thousands from all corners of Syria led them to a fateful destination. After the downfall of their long-time oppressor, former President Bashar Assad, their first stop was Saydnaya Prison. Renowned for its atrocities, it had long been dubbed "the slaughterhouse."

Hope and Despair

For the past two days, these seekers have been desperately searching for signs of their loved ones who vanished years or even decades ago within the secretive and sprawling prison just outside Damascus. However, on Monday, hope transformed into despair. As they opened the heavy iron doors lining the hallways, they found the cells empty. With sledgehammers, shovels, and drills, they pounded holes in floors and walls, hoping to uncover secret dungeons or chase the sounds they believed came from underground. But to no avail.

The Search Begins

When insurgents freed dozens of people from the Saydnaya military prison on Sunday, hope surged. But since then, very few have been found. Ghada Assad, breaking down in tears, rushed from her Damascus home to the prison on the capital's outskirts, hoping to find her brother who was detained in 2011 during the protests that would later turn into a long and grueling civil war. She had no idea why he was arrested. "My heart has been burned over my brother. For 13 years, I kept looking for him," she said.

Civil defense officials helping in the search were as puzzled as the families. It seemed that fewer people were held here in recent weeks. But the searchers refused to give up, a testament to the powerful hold that Saydnaya holds in the minds of Syrians as the heart of Assad's brutal police state.

Amnesty International's Findings

In 2017, Amnesty International estimated that 10,000-20,000 people were being held at Saydnaya at that time, coming from all sectors of society. It was said that they were effectively marked for "extermination." Thousands were killed in frequent mass executions, as testified by freed prisoners and prison officials. Prisoners endured constant torture, intense beatings, and rape. Guards would regularly collect the bodies of inmates who died overnight due to injuries, diseases, or starvation. Some inmates even fell into psychosis and starved themselves.

Khairiya Ismail, 54, had two sons detained in the early days of the protests against Assad. One of them came to visit her after she herself was detained. She was accused of helping her son evade military service and spent eight months in Adra prison. "They detained everyone," she said. An estimated 150,000 people have been detained or gone missing in Syria since 2011, and tens of thousands are believed to have passed through Saydnaya.

The White Helmets' Efforts

Ghayath Abu al-Dahab, a spokesman for the White Helmets, said that five teams with two canine teams came to Saydnaya to assist in the search. They even brought in the prison electrician who had the floor plan and went through every shaft, vent, and sewage opening. So far, there were no answers. He said the civil defense had documents showing more than 3,500 people were in Saydnaya until three months before the fall of Damascus, but the number might have been less by the time the prison was stormed.

"There are other prisons," he added. "The regime had turned all of Syria into a big prison." Around the Y-shaped main building of the prison, everyone continued to search, convinced that they could find some hidden chamber with detainees, alive or dead.

The Empty Wards

In the wards, rows of cells were empty. Some had blankets, a few plastic pots, or a few names scribbled on the walls. Documents with names of prisoners were strewn in the yard, kitchen, and other places. Families frantically searched for their loved ones' names. A brief protest broke out in the prison yard when a group of men chanted for the prison warden. Calls on social media urged anyone with information about the secret cells to come forward.

Firas al-Halabi, one of the prisoners freed when insurgents first broke into Saydnaya, returned on Monday. Those searching crowded around him, whispering names of relatives to see if he knew them. He spent four years in a cell with 20 others, surviving on a quarter loaf of bread and some burghul. He suffered from tuberculosis due to the cell conditions and was tortured by electrocution and constant beatings. He was even thrown into solitary for simply praying in his cell.

The Final Search

Just before sundown on Monday, rescue teams brought in an excavator to dig deeper. But late at night, the White Helmets announced the end of their search, stating in a statement that they had found no hidden areas in the facility. "We share the profound disappointment of the families of the thousands who remain missing and whose fates are unknown."

American poet Yolanda Cornelia ‘Nikki’ Giovanni se apoia na sua mesa ao lado de uma máquina de escrever, diante de uma parede decorada com fotos, em 1973. (Foto de Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A Perda de Uma Lenda na Literatura

Primeiros Passos na Vida e Carreira

Nikki Giovanni nasceu Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., no dia 7 de junho de 1943, em Knoxville, Tennessee. Embora crescesse em Cincinnati, Ohio, e seus subúrbios circundantes, retornou para Nashville para frequentar a universidade Fisk. Ali, conheceu outros escritores que se tornariam figuras literárias negros de destaque - Dudley Randall, Margaret Walker, Amiri Baraka e muitos outros. Durante sua estadia em Fisk, também reestabeleceu o Comitê Coordenador Não-Violento de Estudantes.

O Início da Carreira Literária

Em 1968, Giovanni publicou sua primeira coleção de poesias, "Black Feeling Black Talk", o que a estabeleceu como uma figura emergente da Black Arts Movement. Nela, ela escreve sobre as intersecções do amor, da política, do sofrimento e da raça. Seu idioma é às vezes esparso e ansioso, outras vezes denso e justo. As últimas linhas em "Word Poem" leem: "let’s build / what we become / when we dream."

Contribuições na Universidade e Após

Giovanni finalmente chegou à Virginia Tech, onde lecionou inglês durante mais de três décadas. Ali, expressou preocupações sobre um de seus alunos, que posteriormente assassinou 32 pessoas na massa de tiros na Virginia Tech em 2007. Falando sobre o massacre, Giovanni disse para a NPR: "Matar é uma falta de criação. É uma falta de imaginação. É uma falta de compreensão de quem você é e seu lugar no mundo. A vida é uma ideia interessante e boa."Ela continuou trabalhando até os seus últimos dias. Após dúzias de coleções de poesias em seu nome, estava trabalhando para lançar seu último livro de poesias quando morreu. Ele ainda está planejado para sair no ano que vem, intitulado THE LAST BOOK.