In Those Lands Were Ours, Cengiz Dağcı transports readers back to the sorrowful landscapes of Crimea, specifically to the village of Çukurca. The narrative follows Selim, a character familiar to readers of They Too Were Human. Having survived the brutal Kızıltaş exile and subsequently undergoing a strict Russian education, Selim returns to his homeland as the chief of a collective farm. He finds a village utterly exhausted by relentless oppression, where the deeply rooted inhabitants are merely struggling to survive day by day, living in constant fear of further displacement.

The outbreak of the Second World War abruptly alters their bleak reality, casting a fleeting glimmer of hope over Crimea. As the oppressive collective farm system temporarily collapses, the villagers briefly reclaim their ancestral way of life—mosques fill with worshippers once more, and individuals freely tend to their own land. However, this fragile illusion of freedom is violently shattered by the Russian victory, plunging the region into devastating massacres and ultimately condemning the entire population, from the youngest to the oldest, to mass exile.

Through Selim’s deeply personal journey, the novel masterfully captures the profound tragedy of being mentally and physically imprisoned within one's own homeland. It is a heartbreaking exploration of cultural alienation, the crushing weight of shattered hopes, and the agonizing drama of a displaced people grappling with an unimaginable historical trauma.