Memoirs of Ezzat Shahi, a model for Oral Historians

Mohammad Mehdi Abdollahzadeh
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2018-8-14

In recent years, application of oral history method has significantly developed in documenting and recording the events of the Islamic Revolution and the imposed war in our country. To the level that many institutions, organizations, agencies, universities, and ... devote part of their budget to oral history. Unfortunately, in some cases, the result of such admirable efforts and the costs incurred are books with intriguing and interesting, but with a lesser and non-scientific content and material. Hence, the need for doctrinal teaching of oral history is felt more than ever.

One of the most effective and common methods in teaching and learning is the model method. In this approach, the scholar using the model behavior tries to acquire new behaviors and undertake the task. In many cases, the use of this method is less costly, more effective, and more practical than other learning methods.

According to the above concepts, the introduction of books that have more acceptable standards seems to be welcomed by people who are involved in oral history. On the other hand, the books that are introduced can be a model to be cited when signing contracts with oral history implementers.

In this article, we go to a book by the person who is familiar with the theoretical aspects of oral history with university education, and on the other hand, on the field of action, he has produced numerous books in this field, some of which are reprinted several times.

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“Memoirs of Ezzat Shahi” in 865 pages was introduced to the market by the Office of the Islamic Revolution Literature and Soureh Mehr Publication in 2007. Research and compilation was conducted by Mohssen Kazemi. The content starts from the childhood of the narrator and continues until after the victory of the revolution. Through the book the audience is made acquainted with the memoirs and activities of the narrator in different times and indirectly with the events in the country and the activities of various groups opposing the Pahlavi regime, such as the Mojahedin and Communists. Meanwhile, his memoirs from the pre-revolutionary years in revealing the crimes of the Pahlavi regime in the country's political prisons is a matter of reflection for the audience. The result of the collaborative effort of the narrator, interviewer, researcher and team involved in the creation of this work is a book that has some admirable dimensions in oral history.

The Narrator in a Glance

Ezzatollah Motahari known as Ezzat Shahi was born in 1936 in Khansar. He finished his primary school and migrated to Tehran and started work as an apprentice in the grand Bazaar. Through his connection with the Islamic Revolutionary Committees started its political operations. He was also involved in establishment of Iran National Liberation Front and disrupted the football game of Iran and Israel in Amjadieh stadium (1966). He was arrested by SAVAK and sentenced to fifteen years of prison and after years of torture and imprisonment he was released in 1978.

In Savak prison, the most prominent traits of his dignity was his unparalleled resistance to the secrets of the struggle and to the continuation of the politics that he perceived to be a right. He is an opposition fighter who is a symbol of resisting SAVAK torturers and trusted by most opposition groups. In his memoirs, the history of the two decades of fighting the Shah's regime and the history of political currents and militant groups have been expressed.

The book "Memoirs of Ezat Shahi" in 2006 and shortly after the publication, won the second rank at the Imam Khomeini Research Center (RA). It was also honored in the 26th year book of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Ezzatollah Motahhari, during the meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader praised the book and likened the book to a city that has now come out of the rubble to make people realize that it was also a city here. Another trait pointed out by the leader of the Islamic Revolution was the honest approach of Ezzatollah Motahhari (Shahi) in expressing his memoirs. The Supreme Leader emphasized that there are fine books printed with not significant content, but I have read the whole book and studied some chapters couple of times.

The book of Memoirs of Ezzata Shahi has several features that are referred to below:

A         The most prominent feature of “Memoirs of Ezzat Shahi” is its prose. This progressive, simple, realistic and true prose accompanies the reader until the end. This prose shows the honesty of the narrator and editor in expressing the subject. In the content of the book and in different situations, fostering proper ambiance, the audience understands the circumstances in which the memories occurred and the actors present. For instance:

1. In the back cover we read: The room number 22 was slightly sloping and the floor was wet. They sat me down on the floor all naked and said: write. I kneeled and covered myself with one hand and took the pen with the other. Cold, forced my teeth together. Steam rose from my nose and mouth. I was shivering. I didn’t know what to write. Cold had penetrated my body and frozen my bones. "I cannot write," I said shakily…

In this few lines, and in these short words, describing the physical condition of the room, the cover and the physical condition of the narrator, we can understand the character of the SAVAK agents, their approach towards the prisoners and the difficulties that the narrator has endured.

2. Hosseini removed the galea from my head. Looked at me and I looked back: he was a Dracula! For some who weren’t ready, seeing his face was torture; his face, feature, teeth and eyes were horrifying. He was a barbarian! I was surprised to see him and I knew that it is bad. “Well! Well! Dear Ezzat!” said Hosseini. How is our dear friend?! “I’m fine”, I replied. He took my hand and politely steered me to the room. Put me on the bed and tight my legs and hands to the sides and said: “Say no words, no sound, if you want to talk, move your thumb.” Then he began to whip very coldly which made my bones shake. Each lash was a shock blocking my breath.

In this part, in order for the audience to visualize the character of Hosseini, the known torturer of the joint committee, narrator’s observations and the exchange between the two, simple words are used to tell us the story inside SAVAK and the types of torture.

B         The proper narration of the text is the characteristics of this work. Unfortunately, in books that have been produced with the name of oral history, there is a lot of extremes in introducing places, characters, events, and other subjects. In some books, the multi-page explanation for words that are not needed at all, has overcome the margin of the text, and on the other hand, in some of the books mentioned, even the most essential requirements for introducing in footnotes have been left out.

The editor has been able to extract hundreds of podcasts and use them as references and sources with quite a few years of research and study in publications, journals, related books and other resources in a targeted and programmed way.

C         Mohsen Kazemi, in this book, used the interviews of over twenty people who have been with the narrator or had information that is complementary to the memoirs. Interview with these people has made provided the opportunity to trust the reliability of the material. Using this framework will make oral history books and oral memoirs look more like historic books.

D         Mohssen Kazemi has been admirably patient in creating this book; he has been in the shoes of Ezzat Shahi for a while. Socializing with narrators brings the producer closer to their character, prose and style and more importantly re-living the situations in which critical events have taken place with the narrator brings the narrator and the individual who is trying to deeply understand the memoirs and transfer them properly, closer. In the introduction of the book, Kazemi says: to tangibly understand the issues and locations I asked Ezzat to take me to the place in Roudabeh Street where he was confronted with SAVAK agents and he repeated the whole story in the location once again. Then we visited the anti-opposition joint committee headquarters couple of times and I investigated the cells and torture devices and the pictures of the interrogators and the torturers carefully. In one of our visits I asked Ezzat to put on the prison gown and be crucified again and stay in the cell four couple of minutes. What an idea!... He was rattled and anxious and he went on recounting stories for hours. As if he was in a different world and couldn’t see us. He was rushing to tell whatever came to his mind, so that he won’t forget!

E          The eight page introduction of the book is an article in its own right. The content of the book, hours of interview, constraints, opportunities, and the narrator’s self-preserved prose, the reasons of compilation, acknowledgement of those who supported creation of the book are detailed in the introduction. It helps the audience to decide whether to study the book. 

F          Some of the criteria to validate a book are the number and types of resources and their credibility. The “Memoirs of Ezzat Shahi” is very rich in its resources. The researcher has used any and all available resources including documents, newspaper, interviews, books, political literature, declarations or even writings on grave stones.

G         The book on Ezzat Shahi is individual oriented. The questions are removed from the content but the material produced properly represent them. On the other hand, by proper research, Mohssen Kazemi has managed to successfully fit individual orientation within the subject oriented approach of oral history. This is how this invaluable book not only represents a part of the Islamic Revolution History but also the battles of various political groups in two decades.

H         To show the scientific spirit of the producer it suffice to say that in the fifth edition, by the end of the book, he has published a list of reports and criticisms made on the book.