Posted on 04/20/2012 6:39:06 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
We all have heard stories of courage from the Holocaust period - about heroes such as Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler. Yet how many know the story of Abdol Hossein Sardari, the Iranian Muslim diplomat in charge of Iran's Consular office in Paris at the time Hitler's forces invaded France?
While many consulates were relocated to Vichy following Hitler's invasion of France, Iran, a neutral during the war, kept its diplomatic operations active in Paris. At the time, there was a small but significant population of expatriate Iranian Jews in Paris, many of whom had been living there for decades. Following the Iranian coup in 1921 that saw military strongman Reza Khan assume control in Tehran, the Iranian government cancelled all previously issued passports. Many Iranian Jews simply stayed on in Paris.
As the Nazis and their local henchmen began rounding up Jews, many of these Iranian exiles were among those clogging the French roads looking for a way out - the crowds whom French writers referred to as le peuple du désastre.
Though neutral, the Iranian government managed to keep a strong trading arrangement with Nazi Germany. So taken with Persian history was Adolf Hitler that he even referred to Iranians as racially equal to Aryans. This placed Sardari, who understood the need to save Iranian Jews in Paris, in a very delicate diplomatic position.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
This would not at all be out of character for a lot of Iranians whom I have known. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them like Ahmadinejad, as well. It’s like Germany in the 1930’s, the bullies intimidate the majority.
From the article: “Sardari continued with Iranian foreign service following the war. But, sadly, after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, he fell from grace and lost his pension rights.”
Yet another victim of Jimmy Carter's stupidity.
***Iran, a neutral during the war,***
They sure of this? I read that Iran was allied with the Axis and that is why Stalin invaded and occupied Tehran.
Iraq was pro-Axis and once sent bombers to hit the airport at British occupied Jerusalem.
It’s called “Iran” instead of “Persia” today because the then-Shah was so enamored with Hitler and the Nazis he named his country after the Farsi word for “Aryan.”
?????
interesting. thanks for posting.
Persia was a neutral nation during WW2. There were several factions in the government that were sympathetic towards the Germany, but no more so then Argentina. They did not actually join the Axis, or fight the Allies like the Iraqi rebels did.
However, in 1941, the Soviet Union was reeling from the Axis invasion and desperately needed support in the form of Lend Lease. The northern supply route through Murmansk was just getting started and was very risky. It was decided that a land route through Persia would be of significant value in sending equipment and supplies to the Soviets. The British tried to convince the Persians to join the Allies, but they refused, and said that they were going to remain neutral in this conflict. Thus, in mid 1941, the British and Soviets invaded and the country was occupied for the duration of the war in order to secure its oil fields and a transport corridor to southern Russia.
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