Holding 276th Memory Night

Three Narrators and Memories of the Revolution, the Sacred Defense and Syria

Maryam Rajabi
Translated by Ruhollah Golmoradi

2017-2-6

According to Iranian Oral History Website, 276th meeting of series of memory night was held in Sooreh Hall of Art Center in evening on Thursday January 26, 2017. In the seminar Mehdi Ramezani Alavi, Mashallah Shahmoradizadeh and Mohammad Sadegh Koushki expressed their own memories.

Events of Captivity

Disabled veteran and freedman, Mehdi Ramezani Alavi, was the first memory narrator. He went to the front 1983 and at the time he was about forty days in Sumar and after that almost two months in Gilan-e Gharb region. Because he was a student, he returned Kashan and next year again went to the front and was captured in Operation Dawn-4 in Panjwin, Iraq by Saddam's army.

He began memories: "My first sparkle to go to the front was one of my classmates during primary school named martyr Jafar Shahbazi Alavi. He participated in Operation Fath ol-Mobin (in Strait of Chazabeh) and his body was split by RPG rocket. Half of his body was brought and the other half was given to his family six months later. Every night, in sleep, he asked me "why don't you go to the front?" This dream was repeated as much as so until finally I went to the front."

He added: "When we entered Shiler plain in night of the operation, in minefield I saw one of the Basij guy, who one of his legs had been amputated, standing on his another leg and said: "Go, God protect you." Having seen the fighter that despite amputating one of his legs said other this statement, I remembered the words of Hazrat Abolfazl (AS): "on my oath, if you cut my right hand I wouldn't avoid supporting my religion at all."[1] when we got top of hills overlooking the city of Iraq, Panjwin, there was a machine gunner which was about 10 meters far from us and even though we were three RPG shooters and that Iraqis did not see us at all, we couldn't shot that Iraqi's machine gun and as God wanted to preserve it in order to our using the machine gun against Iraqis next morning.

When I got top of the hill someone stroke me behind and I fell into a canal. Until 7 a.m. that the guys were busy for entrenchment, I was bleeding. They retreated at 8 a.m. and several another wounded and I were involved among impassable hills. When they retreated I sat on my knees barely and told take me with yourselves too. They put me on a stretcher but failed to climb the hill and I was flung from top to down. They tried again and put me on a stretcher and wanted to take top of the hill But Iraqis had arrived and shot one of those fighters over me named Mr. Rezaei, who had camouflage uniforms and was from Shahreza, and he died a martyr till that night.

In this situation rest of the guys went and I stayed in a forest till morning. Next morning, I came to a higher region with guys of Kerman's Army who had come for operation and they went too. I stayed there two nights and in the third day, Iraqis attacked at 2 p.m. and came up the hill and sprayed around me bullets. Iraqis before coming up to me fired the forest. There was a magazine full of bullets and a grenade and because I knew if the fire approaches me the grenade would explode, I threw it down the hill. I lay on my side, when the fire approached under my side I let myself in the fire. My surrounding fired, but I didn't burn even a little bit. When the fire was over, Iraqis came up to me. I faked death. They told me get up in order to take you to the hospital, but I didn't get up. They sat me up and where they left me I fell in that side. They pulled bolt and directed the gun on my temple but they didn't shoot. They ate pistachio that I had kept in my pocket for a rainy day and threw its skin on my face and went.

About ten minutes later, another Iraqi group came and they also ate rest of the pistachios and spat at my face. Due to eating nothing for a few days and at the other hand I was bled a lot I was very thirsty; maybe I moved as if they found that I was alive and went behind the forest trees and waited. When I saw they went put my hand under my head and I slept before the sun. They came after half an hour and I could not faked death. I wanted water and they, despite being as enemy and at the other hand that I had bothered them and had faked death, watered me by their canteen and took me to hospital. I was hospitalized for 18 days in Sulaymaniyah Hospital."

About memories of these 18 days in the hospital, he said: "We were eight people in a room and I was close to tears due to injure of my leg. A soldier named Hassan, who was come up to me, asked: What was happen Mahdi? I said: I have leg pain. He said you are Basiji and Basiji do not cry! Another soldier was near me who constantly lit a cigarette, puff it and threw it away and told: Haj Hemmat! Haj Hemmat! I asked one of the Iraqis: Who is Haj Hemmat? He said Haj Hemmat is commander of Muhammad Rasoul-Allah (pbuh) Division that they (Iraqis) fear him and I understood there greatness of Haj Hemmat.

Another event that took place in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, was being familiar with a person from village of Eshkardasht, Chalus, named Qorban Bazargan. During captivity he told me that night of the operation they brought us with Imam Hussein (AS) Division in order to get intelligence and next night start the operation. He told we had almost reached headquarter of Iraqis and we were succeeding nearly so that suddenly we realized four Iraqis are coming with a dog. The dog was barking in front of them and came towards us, and because we did not want they become informed of the operation at all, we decided stand by the roadside two by two and if the dog continued barking, we would kill it. Iraqis were laughing and passing, but when the dog approached us looked at us and shook his head for us and went with Iraqis. Finally we come down in the other side and next night Operation Dawn-4 was started."

In the following, Ramezani recounted memories of his captivity "of the best days of my life were captivity days. As ascension of the Prophet Joseph was in well and prison, ascension of the Prophet Jonah was within the whale, that of the Prophet Abraham was at the heart of the fire, ascension of prisoners was also in captivity. 1983 I was a student of Nahj al-Balagha before a teacher named Reza Rahimi who was from Yazd. He had been captured as an Army soldier and when I wake up at midnight for pray, he was prostrating and I couldn't even preceded him for just one night.  He had four classes for Nahj al-Balagha that at each class he spoke only for a quarter. He had studied all of Hawza books that Red Cross had brought for us. In his leisure, He repaired the guy's clocks and shoes. He told me that you must prepare yourself for the rest of captivity. We then began too; reading, translating and memorizing Quran. We had about 400 Hafizes (Quran memorizer); from one Juz' to 30 Juz', even in memorizing we came along as much as that we could read quickly Surah Al-Baqarah from the end to the beginning. Then we came to the Nahj al-Balagha and at the end of captivity, we had Nahj al-Balagha poetical contests. We, who were 200 people in sanitarium, had 5 Qurans that we had divided them 30 Juz' and give them to each other and kept two Qurans intact for them who wanted read Quran completely.  In the same way, we had divided Nahj Al-balagha in Letters, Sermons and Sayings. We were in the camp of Mosul 4 that most of its prisoners programs were established by deceased Abu Torabi and there was written in front of the camp door: "Guard Khomeini".[2]

In our camp, Iraqis stood on both sides with cable in their hands and stroke the guys. One of the prisoners, in one of those times that they were hitting, his eye was burst and was extracted. On the last day, when the resolution was passed, the soldier who had struck him came and wanted the militant to forgive him and said: I afraid of Last Judgment. He replied "broke my leg, why did you blind me? How do I response my mother in Iran?

In captivity our quota was six spoons of rice and meat, that was slaughtered 10 years before our born and sometimes we find worm in it, and beans that was for chickens. We saved from lunch a slice of bread for dinner, because they did not give us dinner. However, we had 400 people Hafizes of Quran and Nahj al-Balagha and those who had memorized Mafatih al-Janan."

After the reminiscence, the presenter narrated story of martyrdom of firefighter Omid Abbasi; A young to save an eight years girl who had been trapped in a building, went into the heart of fire and gave his mask her in order to survive the girl, and that after his death his organ donor card was found among his things and by donate his organs saved lives of three others people. Then a short film about collapsing Plasco Building and round-the-clock efforts of rescue forces was broadcast.

The Girl of Pasdar (guardian)

The second narrator was Mashallah Shahmoradizadeh, Actor and Director, who, with his sweet Mashhadi accent, began his memories with humor: "During the war I was famous as "infernal lecturer" because every person who was supposed to make a speech and didn't come anyway they said to hell with it! Mashallah will give a speech.

During the war, once I was on vacation, they said go to a university and speak. Because atmosphere of university is very formal, I was very anxious and did not know what to say. The presenter said that narrate a melodious and interesting memory of Operation Khorramshahr. My hands were cold due to fear because I had never seen Khorramshahr, I wanted to say that we passed Sardasht and entered Khorramshahr, I realized that It is not related, I wanted to say that we crossed some mountains and go into Khorramshahr, I understood it wasn’t relevant too. At the other hand, because my mother always wanted me to be truthful, I looked at the audience and said: I want tell a sweetly memory of Operation Khorramshahr; when Khorramshahr was liberated, we were in Kermanshah! It was very nice ...." The performer wrote a note that is not great, so narrate an interesting memory of Operation Faw. Because I was embarrassed I wished the earth open its mouth so that I could go into it, because I had never seen Faw too. Suddenly I remembered that we were near Shalamcheh and every day they said the evening is operation, but there was no operation. We told the commander why do not we go to operation? He said: no one do speak, then next morning they took us Ahwaz in darkness and we stayed there till 3 p.m. then we got on the plane and we were in sky until night as we felt pressure in our ears. But finally we landed and when we got out plane, we saw that people were coming toward us happily. We firstly thought that we'd landed in another country, but after a short time we realized that are in Mashhad and the people were families of Air Force who lived there. When I asked them cause of their happiness, they said that Faw was liberated. At that time we told washing powders Fav and in that moment I told myself how it is bad that people are so happy for a washing powder. Then I thought that perhaps they have captured Iraq's Faw factory and that is why they are happy! But I finally saw on TV that talked about operation of liberating Faw and then it became clear to me."

He added: "I think war is 100 days, 90 of which the human steps on "I" and 10 days steps on "mine". If a person doesn't pass the 90 days well he/she couldn't step on mine, but if the 90 days pass well he/she no longer would step on a mine but step on sky. Whatever has been said about the war is only the 10 days and they haven't told anything of the 90 days for our children. This is why now our children think whether we were silly, that when they said step on mine we went, or we were saints and as God told in sky that you go and become martyr Hemmat and he became martyr Hemmat in this way and or told you go and become martyr Mahmoud Kaveh. Martyr Kaveh and I were from a neighborhood in Mashhad and grew up together and went to the front. In movie of martyr Kaveh that is title "Shoore Shirin (Sweet Salty)" I was set designer and author. I actually tried told you comedy parts of that 90 days which is no one tell it or not say it well."

Shahmoradizadeh narrated two examples of comic memories of the front: "First, a division in Operation Khyber wanted to pray outdoor; When Haj Agha (clergyman) put his turban and cloak out of ablution place on a peg in order to ablution, one of fighters wore his clothes and goes to in front of queue to start pray as chaplain and because it was evening, no one could see his face so that recognize that he is not prayer leader. The pray begun and prayers went to Ruku and because the Ruku was long, they all straightened and saw the prayer leader had gone and they didn't have chaplain. Atmosphere of the front was as much as good that no one of thousand troops leaked him before Sardar Qa'ani. Measure of joking was very high at the front and during the war.

Another memory is that Iraq captured about three to four hills in suburb of Qasr-e Shirin. We fought them since about 4 a.m. and we could retake the hills about 9 a.m. In the quarrel, about 28 of them were wounded and captured. One of them, who weighed about 110 kg, his thigh had been injured. I tried to bandage his wound in order to stopping bleeding but I hadn't paid attention to it because I had fought last night and then had helped the wounded, all of my clothes were bloody. Because I had put my backpack under the injured, it was bleeding as I had severed head in it. As I was very skinny I had to disengage bayonet from my waist to help the injured and at the end in order to cut his pants I took out a big iron scissor in my bag, regardless the issue that all actions had caused the Iraqi captive to cry due to fear and ask me not to kill him! Till he wasn't sure that I didn't intend to kill him and wanted change his bandage, he continued his screaming and crying."

He recounted one of another his famous memories in the following: "In a meeting all comedy artists of Iran had been invited to come and to cause to laugh people for a minute because of Gol-Agha; I were there too and said the memory that eventually Mr. Dehnamaki came and asked the memories to be included in the film. Once they took us from Saqqez to Marivan and no one was in the city except Sepah forces. They took us to a school and Sepah forces brought a thermos of tea with a sugar box, but there was not a cup to drink tea. So everyone found something to drink tea with it. I also found a plastic ball and split it to use half of it as a glass, but when I came back I saw there was a very long queue for tea. Frightening that maybe the tea would be finished, I went one step toward the queue and started loudly singing song of "Chaei Chaei¹" and as I was singing was moving front so that finally I arrived ahead of the queue and receipt tea and went. After that my song of "Chaei Chaei" became famous and the guys continuously wanted me to sing it and because I was short-tempered to sing it, I avoided. At the end, once I was in good mood and accepted to sing it, they intended record my voice so that no longer they insist me to listen it again. They recorded my voice on tape of Mr. Ahangaran. A day when I broadcasted song of Mr. Ahangaran in Maragheh through advertising speaker of the army and I, relax and calm, went to play football, suddenly voice of Mr. Ahangaran was stopped and began my song Chaei Chaei me. As long as I got recorder and I paused the song, it had been broadcasted completely.

We were playing theater in Sanandaj, I was supposed enter from one side, there would be a teapot and kettle at the center and as I entered and were singing "Chaei Chaei", my friend destroyed bunkers, but when I was singing the song, I looked at my friend and saw he was doing some dance on stage. We were so shy that went behind the stage and sat down quiet in a corner, because I was panegyrist of the Brigade and my friend was Quran Qari. Shortly the commander came and said get up, it was completely clear that if there wasn't a revolution what would do you do."

Shahmoradizadeh said: "At first when we went to the front, they took us Quchaq's mountain in Saqqez. We were top of the mountain that they brought a newspaper and food that we won and Bukan was released. We were 6 months at top of the mountain and nobody came to tell go from top of the mountain to another mountain! After 6 months we joined Saqqez Sepah forces and found that all people had been changed. For example, formerly martyr Kaveh was there, but after six months martyr Tayareh was there. When martyr Tayareh realized that we had stayed 6 months in mountain in order to receive command of movement, made us Pasdar (guardian) because we were good forces.

Another comic braveness of the guys in front was that they pulled safety pin of grenade and threw it toward ourselves forces, the guys fled and they laughed. I always afraid of doing this and wanted to obviate my weakness. So I found a grenade MK 2 that didn't have detonator, I installed a false safety pin and went inside a tent that I thought there is only one of my friends, But when I entered I saw some of commanders were talking about this humor action of the guys. At that moment I said that I want to use safety pin of grenade for my boot zip and as I pulled the false safety pin, they calmly wanted me not to pull real safety pin and go out and use the false safety pin according to my desire for my boot zip, But I pulled safety pin and threw the grenade and as sirs were expressing their Shahada (the testimony) because they feared, I was saying repeatedly that it didn't have detonator and they continued, as feared, leaving the tent and I was still saying that it didn't have detonator! "

At last Shahmoradizadeh stated his dearest memory: "we were in clinic of Bobektan, 30 km far from Saqqez, and all thought that we're doctor. In evening, a woman crying and with a bleeding face due to clawing at it, brought a half dead child to the clinic and begged to do something for her. The child had severe vomiting and diarrhea. As the mother was crying, left the baby and went. At the time, our password was "Ya Madar (O' mother)" and we believed that as long as Hazrat Zahra (AS) is our prop, nothing bad would happen. At that moment I said in my heart Ya Madar, help the kid yourself, because if there be a bad happen for her, there would be more deaths and all say the Pasdar killed the child. Shortly I embraced the child and while there was no car after 4 p.m. in Kurdistan, I went toward road and suddenly saw a pick-up truck was coming. I told the story for driver and he agreed too to take us to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, they asked me: are you father of the girl? I said yes. They said, 'What is his name? I Said Ali. They told it's not true because she is a girl! I said so her name is Meli! They kept the child for two days and then and then discharged her and we took the child to the village. The girl's father named her "Dokhtar'e Pasdar (Girl of Pasdar)".

It was passed 33 years after this incident and because I love this girl, in every ceremony I would go I narrated the memory and even I made a TV show for her. Then I went again to those areas and I gave a presentation at University of Sanandaj and I told the story as well. At the end of the meeting, three young came and said: whatever you like tells lie because we are from the same village and haven't ever heard this story. I told I didn't tell a lie, it is for 33 years ago, about 11 years before your birth, so it is natural that you do not know, go and do your research. Next day I had a seminar in Hamedan and the guys called me and told that your talks were true. Your daughter is now 33 years old and she has a girl too. It was passed 9 month the story and I'm eager to see the girl and bring her to pilgrimage Imam Reza and I would like wherever I tell the story she would accompany me too.

After this narrating reminiscence, documentary of "Time in the story of Monsieur Setboun" was broadcasted. The documentary narrates the story of a Frenchman photograph named Michel Setboun that after 36 years returns Iran. The famous photo of Imam Khomeini (RA) under an apple tree in Neauphle-le-Château was taken by him. He believes that taking photos on Islamic Revolution of Iran has made him a professional photographer. Some photos of him about revolution that has been seen, rarely seen or never been seen, was compiled in a book by Association of Revolution and Sacred Defense Photographers. He presented free and with his love the photos to Iranians.

In honor of Iranians

The third narrator was Mohammad Sadegh Koushki. He wrote book of "The Magisterial history of America" which has a satirical view at America's history. Koushki recounted recollections of revolution, war and the bloody days of Syria in 276th meeting of the series of memory night.

At the beginning he expressed his memories of the Revolution: "The first image that was stick in my mind about the revolution is related to early 1978. I was student at primary school that went with my father for strike rally the people with angry protesters. That day was the funeral of demonstration and saw people were chanting angrily and raged. At the day, there was funeral of a martyr. I remember that at that time they didn't made a coffin for martyrs like today coffins and put shrouded martyr's body on a stretcher in order to romanticize people. People chanted too: "Qasam be Khune shohada, Shah to ra mikoshim (oath of blood of the martyrs, we will kill you Shah)." The martyr's body like a boat on a river was moving upon hands of the people.

When adults wanted to talk about Shah, Imam or the revolution, they raised it in a way that the children not hear, as if they said these talks in school or out of house, SAVAK arrested them. In fact, fear of SAVAK was so much, but when demonstrations were begun in 1978, these fears disappeared too.

My second image of the revolution was when Pahlavi dynasty sprayed the student bullets in front of Tehran University on November 04, 1978 and martyred them. They showed it at night on TV to scare people. The next day when we went to school, we found our kind and always laughing schoolmarm upset and tearful. Our teacher didn't teach that day and went. From November 1978 our work was that we went to school and didn't sing imperial anthem and left school. In fact, school was not important. Another action that the guys could do was that they extracted photos of the Shah which were at the beginning of educational books and made comic strips and brought them in front of the Army cars and shook them. Some of the soldiers laughed and some other disputed.

We had an active and revolutionary prayer leader who urged all to come to protest. After November 1978 I almost every day went demonstration alongside my father and now I think he was at good service to me in this way because most of people didn't take children to demonstration due to shots and shooting of officers. I had in my mind a few nice scenes from the revolution that these scenes lonely mean the revolution for me. The demonstrations lasted from morning until about noon. In one of these days, about noon when I was very hungry, my father and I walked along a bakery and I wanted my father to buy a loaf of bread, my father bought it, but when we were going he went back to the bakery and bought all baked breads in the bakery and then he told me: when you're hungry, be sure the other people are also hungry and he divided among the people. Moreover, it was about January or February that a vendor next to street was selling bouquets of daffodil. A man went and bought all his flowers and divided them between those who had come to demonstration. These images were very nice, because people knew their selves as a family and now I understand why they insisted congregation prayer in street after protests.

Near our house there was a SAVAK building that despite shooting of SAVAK forces, people attacked there and destroyed it and brought equipment from inside like a big scissor as they were instruments of torture.

My next image of the revolution is on February 01, 1979, when Imam Khomeini (RA) came. First TV showed the moment when Imam coming down stairs of the plane, but suddenly it stopped and broadcasted imperial anthem. People were angry due to the action and went to the streets and they shared their happiness there. The image lasted the image of February 11, 1979, and the memory that my peers went their house and took bed sheet for the injured.

A police center was near our house that people had attacked to capture it. Next day when we went out we saw that next to the center, there was much blood and many martyrs had put their hands in their blood and had rubbed to walls. A stream that was next to the center and was used as a stronghold for fighters was all bloody, and at that age it was hard to see the views and assimilate the events.

I remember I found a black and white photo of Imam (AS) in size A4 that I along my older brother mired around it and make it as a big placard to take it with our hands in demonstration, but on arrival into the crowd I lost my placard because of flood of the crowd and I was looking for to find it till end of the day and it was the only thing I sacrificed for the revolution!"

Koushki stated about his memories of Sacred Defense: "I was at eighth-grade student and there were boys in our school that due to failing in several semesters were older than us. They abandoned school in middle of the year and went to the front. After my last exam, I also went to register in Sepah to go to the front, but one of Sepah forces informed my father and I couldn't go to the front that year. Next year I decided and did the first governmental forging to say that I have been trained too. Shortly we were dispatched accompanied by one of Sepah forces who understand us, but when we got the main headquarter of dispatch, they called my name and several others and I saw my father had stood in front of door and quarreled them that "my son is still a kid". I concerned uneasily at the end of queue and finally those brothers satisfied my father that we would turn him back ourselves. In front and after three months, having insisted by one of my friends I wrote a letter for my family and told that I am health, because even I didn't think as much that my parents would be worried and of course my older brother, who had gone to the front of before me was worse and nearly it lasted four months to send a letter.

We were in Majnoon Island and temperature was over 40 degrees that they brought a truck of watermelons. Provision officer divided an average watermelon among 10 people and it was in the situation that one of my dear friends and I decided to take our quota of Bayt al-mal. So we separate about ten to twelve high quality watermelons and put them in in a corner. Every night we went to the top our trench and ate two watermelons and threw its skin behind the trench; as we thought that no one will see it. Commander realized and found watermelon thief, but he didn't manifested it."

He talked about memories of his trip to Syria too: "A few months ago, it was our honor to serve for Hezbollah fighters and went to several regions. There were a few things very interesting for me, one that I, as an Iranian, went there and they said their much thanksgiving. Almost for most of Hezbollah guys it was specific for them that to come and tell me that if you went to Qom and before deceased Ayatollah Bahjat will say our hello and pilgrimage to him. Hezbollah guys love him a lot. Their next plea was that to go before Sayyed al-Qaed (Supreme Leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei) and tell him that we are aware, be undisturbed and don't feel that you are alone at all.

Elsewhere, a mellow old man was with Hezbollah guys that when he realized that I was Iranian started mourning "ba navaye karevan (to the tune of Caravan)" by Mr. Ahangaran. I asked about the action, he said: when you were fighting, we loved Ahangaran a lot and found in different ways his mournful songs and song them as much as that we could sing it similar to his accent and at the time he sang it in honor of Iranian guys who were there."

276th meeting of series of memory night was held by Center for Resistance Culture and Literature Research and Studies in Sooreh Hall of Art Center in evening on Thursday January 26, 2017.