June 18, 2013

Iranian Schindler That Saved Jews is Celebrated at The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center


"Fariborz Mokhtari was a political science professor at Norwich University in Vermont before joining the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC in 2002. He has written numerous articles and policy documents including "Dealing with Al-Qaeda" for American Foreign Policy Interests. He lives in Washington, DC." (Source: Amazon.com).

Wikipedia:
"Abdol Hossein Sardari was an Iranian statesman and diplomat who saved the lives of many Jews during the Holocaust. He is known as the "Schindler of Iran" and was the uncle of Amir Abbas and Fereydoun Hoveyda.

Sardari was in charge of the Iranian consular office in Paris in 1941. There was a sizeable community of Iranian Jews in Paris when Adolf Hitler invaded and occupied the city. Leaning on the national socialist perception that Germans were Aryans, Nazi Germany and Iran had an agreement which protected all Iranian citizens against German acts of aggression, Sardari was able to protect Iranian Jews, whose families had been present in Iran since the time of the Persian Empire. (Cyrus the Great personally ordered the Jews of Babylonia to be freed from Babylonian slavery.) He very strongly argued this point to the Germans and specifically ascertained that the Iranian Jews were protected under these statutes. The Nazis grudgingly agreed and accordingly, many Persian Jews were saved from harassment and eventually deportation by the Nazi regime.

But Sardari went further. Once he realized the full nature of Nazi ambitions, he began issuing hundreds of Iranian passports for non-Iranian Jews to save them from persecution. To safeguard his plan, he did not ask for permission, and felt that support by the Iranian leadership was implied. His actions were later confirmed and applauded by the government of Iran."
Video Title: Iranian Schindler That Saved Jews is Celebrated at The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. Source: YouTube Channel MyLITV. Date Published: February 26, 2013. Description:
By Video Journalist Stephanie Stern

The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County honors the man many call the "Iranian Schindler."

Featured Interviews: Beth Lilach, Senior Director of Education, Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center; Dr. Fariborz Mokhtari, Author, "In the Lion's Shadow"; Kaveh Sardari, Abdol-Hossein Sardari's Grandnephew; Claude Morady, Ibrahim Morady's Son; Eliane Senehi Cohanim, Family was saved by Abdol-Hossein Sardari

For more information visit: www.Holocaust-Nassau.org
"The most important part is that there is hope for humans and humanity. We have a lot more in common than the things that divide us. So that's the main thing. But I also want to correct some of the errors in the image that has been created for Iranians. I make a distinction between Iranians the people and the government." - Fariborz Mokhtari (quote is from the end of the video below).