Memoirs of Mohammad Reza Sherkat Tootoonchi

The days of 9th and 10th of Dey 1357 9th of Dey

Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2024-1-1


One of most glorious days of the revolution in Mashhad was the 9th of Dey 1357 (December 30, 1978). A huge rally was held on the morning of this day in Mashhad. I along with a large population started moving from Navab School. We passed from Tehran Street[1], reaching Bargh Square. All along the way, the people carried a large and beautiful photo of Imam Khomeini in front of the crowd.[2] After the Barqh Square, we went to Taghiabad Square. When we reached the governor's office, I saw that they brought the big photo of Imam Khomeini in front of the governor's office. The crowd was still moving. We had not yet reached Taghiabad Square when the army suddenly attacked us. At the same time as the army tanks attacked, many people fled to the surrounding streets and even some inside the governorate. Some people also fled to Imam Reza (PBUH) hospital, tore the fences of the hospital and threw them aside. They lay down and took shelter behind the brick wall of the hospital, which was not more than a meter high.

The shooting was intensified and some were injured and the rally broke up. With the help of a driver, we took five or six injured people to Shah Reza Hospital for seven or eight times. Thank God, the hospital had enough beds, because it was usual for the organizers of the rally to inform the medical staff of the hospitals that had joined the revolution a day in advance, and they vacated their beds. This means that most of the patients who could be discharged, for example those who were supposed to be discharged in two or three days, were discharged earlier. That's why the hospitals were on standby so that if people were injured during the rally, they would be ready to treat and care for them.

During these commutes, I sat on the edge of the car window and put my body out of the window. I asked the people to go back and clear the way so that we could get the wounded to the hospital faster. I had opened the way with my hands so much that they had hurt a lot. On the other hand, I was not used to going to the doctor, and there was no one at home to help or guide me, for example, to warm my hands or massage with boiling water to ease the pain a little.

10th of Dey

The next day that is 10th of Dey (December 31), I went to Behesht Reza Cemetery. It was a very strange situation. All the people were angry and restless. The bodies of the previous day event had been brought, but nothing was being done, and the people were disputing each other over the turn of their bodies. There were a lot of bodies and I got the help of one or two other people to put things in order. Then, we asked the people to line up the corpses so that they could be bathed and shrouded in turn. With this work, a little bit of inflammation and violent confrontations were reduced and the atmosphere got relatively regular. I was in Behesht Reza until around six o'clock in the evening. At that hour, there were no more than four or five bodies left. One or two homeless addicts and two other unknowns. There was a hall in Behesht Reza where we moved the bodies, but the door was open and we were afraid that a wolf would come from the surrounding deserts at night and tear the bodies to pieces. This possibility was not without reason, because the weather was also cold and there was a possibility that the wolves would not find food. Anyway, we secured the doors as much as we could and returned to Mashhad. I wrote the details of those bodies and posted them on the notice board in front of Shah Reza Hospital. I put the same paper in front of Shahnaz hospital for people to read and inform their families if anyone knew them.

Source: Zarif Karimi, Navid, Second Curtain, Oral Memoirs of Mohammad Reza Sherkat Tootooonchi, Tehran, Rah-e Yar, 1399, P. 232.

 

[1] The present Imam Reza Street

[2] It means the image drawn by Alireza Khaelghi from Imam Khomeini which later, the curtain was torn. (writer)



 
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