A comrade who entered the revolutionary struggle together with Şehîd Tîjda Zagros (Kelly Freygang) and worked and struggled together with her in the cause of time, wrote down her memories and moments that she shared with Şehîd Tîjda with us:
“Our dear comrade,
I recall the time I first met you. You had come to us alongside our fellow student comrades from Kurdistan, always conducting yourself with a smile, great confidence, and love. Your eyes were wide open; anyone who looked into them could see the sparks of freedom within. Those sparks of freedom grew over time, step by step, eventually turning into a blazing fire. After a while, you made your own decision. But before you left, you wanted to take us with you—you didn’t want to leave us behind. You wanted to liberate us from the pressure and oppression of the system. Your arguments to persuade us seemed very sound, yet at the time, we didn’t fully grasp them, as our attachment to that system was still too strong. Looking back, your idea was truly excellent and deeply insightful.
You asked why we—as internationalist comrades—didn’t decide to join the internationalist efforts as a group, thereby further strengthening that work. Today, I regret that we didn’t follow your suggestion back then. Most of the comrades who were with us at that time have since strayed from our path and are now living their own personal lives. We were unable to build the work upon the perspectives we had envisioned at the time. We were new and inexperienced, yet we were driven from top to bottom by great ideals and aspirations—ideals that might seem like utopian dreams today. We were young and filled with hope.
You left, and for a time, we did not see each other. We heard you had joined the ranks, and we often imagined you moving amidst the Kurdistan freedom guerrillas on the free mountains with great joy and dignity. We met again when we were in Rojava, but the plains of Rojava were not for you. Your place was the mountains. You breathed the mountain air, lived the mountain life, and embraced the camaraderie of the guerrillas so deeply that you never wanted to stray even a step away from it. You rebuilt your life and yourself, overcoming your own flaws, and you easily found a place in the heart of every comrade who knew you. Wherever I met comrades who knew you, they spoke of you—our great comrade, our tall comrade. You no longer cared about fashion, food and drink, clothing brands, material possessions, or anything of the sort. On the contrary, you felt a strong pull toward those things. The mountains became your home—a place of labor, of communal and socialist values, of militancy, of nature and history. It was a place of defense and education, the purest place of all.
You fought resolutely for your decision; you struggled in accordance with your heart’s desire, and before long, you were heading to the mountains again. Once you breathed the air of freedom, a spark ignited in your eyes, and the fire in your heart began to burn brightly. Your eyes were wide open—pure and filled with love. When you looked at someone, it felt as though you could see into the depths of our hearts. You always prioritized love, never harboring a negative thought about your comrades. You were a humble comrade, always smiling—genuine, modest, honest, and wise. True, life in the mountains—especially in the cramped tunnels—was physically difficult for you because your stature differed from that of the other comrades, yet you never made your own hardship the focus. Instead, you always sought to uplift your comrades, to be helpful, and to truly understand them.
Just as deeply as you loved that life, your resolve regarding that path was equally strong. Your belief in the success of the struggle and the righteousness of that way of life never wavered. You had never truly grasped the essence of humanity—despite years of schooling within the German state system and a lifetime spent in the capitalist order. Yet, life in the free mountains, the camaraderie of the movement, and the truth embodied by the Leadership of this movement revealed the true meaning of existence and defined the spiritual essence of life. Consequently, no matter the cost—whether enduring hardship or even sacrificing your life—it was never an issue for you; you knew that this was the only true, free way of life. You were a fighter for freedom, for a life of liberty and comradeship; a fighter for women’s liberation and international sisterhood. Through your participation and your struggle, you became a benchmark for us—a standard of determination, of how to live and relate to others, of love for the mountains, of faith, enthusiasm, and high morale. With these beautiful qualities, and by joining the special forces, you took a step that was even stronger and more significant. You have left us, yet we do not feel distant from you; for you brought us along with you—you never left us behind, but instead paved the way for us. We know that no matter how much we speak of you, it is never enough; yet, at the very least, we keep you alive in our lives through remembrance, taking you as our example and recreating your spirit within us each day. Our comrade of noble stature and great heart—we walk in your footsteps and will never forget our martyrs. We will not forget your comradeship, nor your smile.
Martyrs never die.
Silava Kobanê
25/06/2026″