Ruth Sherlock

As we wrap up our interview, Abou Fadi agrees to take us to the site of the mass grave he helped to dig. So the next day we head out there. No one knows for sure, but it's thought tens of thousands of people could be buried here. At the site, Fadi walks along the barely visible traces of the trenches he says he dug. Abou Fadi

So where there is shrubbery, that's where there's a trend?

So where there is shrubbery, that's where there's a trend?

So where there is shrubbery, that's where there's a trend?

Like this one here?

Like this one here?

Like this one here?

Standing at this site, Abu Fadi says, of course he feels guilty. And he still wonders if his own brother is buried here, underneath this soil.

Standing at this site, Abu Fadi says, of course he feels guilty. And he still wonders if his own brother is buried here, underneath this soil.

Standing at this site, Abu Fadi says, of course he feels guilty. And he still wonders if his own brother is buried here, underneath this soil.

Muaz Mustafa from the Syrian Emergency Task Force watched this site on Google Earth for years and saw it change into what it is now.

Muaz Mustafa from the Syrian Emergency Task Force watched this site on Google Earth for years and saw it change into what it is now.

Muaz Mustafa from the Syrian Emergency Task Force watched this site on Google Earth for years and saw it change into what it is now.

Mustafa brought a grave digger who'd worked at this site to testify before the U.S. Congress. He says after that, the regime seemed to get nervous. And that's when it erected the high walls. And he says flattened the earth to make this place look less conspicuous.

Mustafa brought a grave digger who'd worked at this site to testify before the U.S. Congress. He says after that, the regime seemed to get nervous. And that's when it erected the high walls. And he says flattened the earth to make this place look less conspicuous.

Mustafa brought a grave digger who'd worked at this site to testify before the U.S. Congress. He says after that, the regime seemed to get nervous. And that's when it erected the high walls. And he says flattened the earth to make this place look less conspicuous.

As the sun sets, we leave. And in the car, Mustafa calls up the grave digger who testified and now lives in Germany. Mustafa interprets. On the phone, he tells us even more details about how this mass grave site worked. The trucks would come at night. This man says he oversaw a group of men whose job it was to drag the bodies into the grave.

As the sun sets, we leave. And in the car, Mustafa calls up the grave digger who testified and now lives in Germany. Mustafa interprets. On the phone, he tells us even more details about how this mass grave site worked. The trucks would come at night. This man says he oversaw a group of men whose job it was to drag the bodies into the grave.

As the sun sets, we leave. And in the car, Mustafa calls up the grave digger who testified and now lives in Germany. Mustafa interprets. On the phone, he tells us even more details about how this mass grave site worked. The trucks would come at night. This man says he oversaw a group of men whose job it was to drag the bodies into the grave.

He says the trucks brought people from a military hospital in Damascus that seemed to be a gathering point for corpses of people killed in Syria's many intelligence branches. But the bodies of people killed in Sednaya prison, they arrived separately. NPR's Jawad Rizalla takes over interpreting.