Exhibit illuminates Jewish history in Iran

‘In the Land of the Shahs’
When: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Mon. thru Fri.
Where: Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center, 222-05 56 Ave., Bayside
Website: qcc.cuny.edu/khrca

The story of the Tehran Children offers hope in the midst of stark tragedy. In 1941, hundreds of children, many of them orphans, had escaped Nazi-occupied Poland and settled temporarily in the Soviet Union. The USSR then authorized resettling them and other refugees to a military barracks outside Tehran. Through the care of Zionist leaders such as David Ben Gurion and Eliahu Dobkin, these children were not only able to avoid the horrors of war, but were able to eventually immigrate to British-controlled Palestine.

The exhibit also explores the story of a so-called “Iranian Oskar Schindler” who managed to save 2,400 Jewish lives, the prosperous era under the Shah and the expectations and realities of Jewish life in Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

The center has hosted several events in support of its exhibit, the final of which will be a lecture from Houman Sarshar on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m., about the role of Iranian Jews in Persian music.