Bewildered and elated prisoners poured out of Syrian jails on Sunday, shouting with joy as they emerged from one of the world's most notorious detention systems and walked to freedom following the collapse of President Bashar Assad's government.
All across Syria, families wept as they were reunited with children, siblings, spouses and parents who vanished years ago into the impregnable gulag of the Assad dynasty's five-decade reign.
Newly freed prisoners ran through the Damascus streets holding up the fingers of both hands to show how many years they had been in prison, asking passersby what had happened, not immediately understanding that Assad had fallen.
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