Book Review

Golden Age

Oral history of Mahmoud Mohammadnia

Compiled by: Mahia Hafizi
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2023-5-6

The "Golden Age" interview was conducted by Mustafa Alinia and edited by Bijan Parvan and Hakimeh Vaghari. The creator's information on the cover is slightly different from the birth certificate page. The first edition of the book was published in 2018 by Nashaar Mabar, in 414 pages and 1000 copies.

The book is written by Mahmoud Mohammadnia; after the index page, there is the introduction of the North Khorasan Sacred Defense Documents and Documents Organization, which considers oral history as a method for collecting historical data: "In fact, the content of oral history is obtained through the interview process, which includes the historical observations and experiences of individuals or quotes. Their words are among those present on the stage of history... To write the history of the holy defense accurately, one must go to the eyewitnesses of this event at different levels."

At the end of the introduction, the passing of time and the forgetting of memories is mentioned, which is a threat to the oral history of the holy defense: "We hope that by trusting in God and the efforts of experts, we will be able to remember the treasures of the golden age to promote the culture of sacrifice and martyrdom in the future generation. »

In the preface, Bijan Parvan has mentioned how to compile and the number of dialogue sessions. The introduction of the narrator is briefly described on two pages (birth, joining to the army, presence at the front, date and duration of captivity... and retirement); the text of the book is arranged in the form of questions and answers in six chapters; the final pages include images and documents, list of announcements and references.

The first chapter tells the story of the narrator's childhood until his military service. He was born on the 7th of May 1955 in the village of Keshank near Bojnord. He lost his father when he was 9 years old. My father had gone for agricultural work. The river overflowed and my father was caught in the flood..." In the following, he explains the simple and rural life conditions of that time until his marriage and military service in 1973.

The second chapter, entitled "A Review of the Revolution", talks about the sparks of familiarity with the revolution in Minodasht. The narrator said that before the marriage ceremony, I went to Minodasht for a few months and worked in a pastry shop. Scattered and confidential meetings were held there. In 1977 and 1978, he worked in a bakery on Damavand Street in Tehran. "Sometimes we heard the voice of Allahu Akbar from the people and we got mixed up in the procession. Mr. Abbaslo's bakery was known as Khorasani bread. That's why the children of the mosque trusted us and talked to us." Then he explains about the escape of the Shah, the tapes of the Imam, the arrival of the Imam and everything he saw: "That night when the Imam was supposed to enter Iran, not a single person was left at home. Everyone was on the roofs and shouted Allahu Akbar; Woe to Bakhtiar's situation, if the imam did not come tomorrow... they would have gone."

In the third chapter, the narrator has explained how to enter the Corps. "At the beginning of the revolution, the IRGC and the Islamic Revolution Committee were formed. Later, some of the corps children were assigned to the committee. Shehrbani underwent changes at the beginning of the revolution. The gendarmerie barracks was located at the intersection of the regiment. After a while, the committee, police and gendarmerie were merged and later they started their activities under the title of police force. This chapter ends with the arrest and interrogation of the hypocrites and the Nojeh coup in 1980. "At that time, I was on assignment in Turkmen port as a worker on behalf of the IRGC. Where I was sleeping, one of his sons was with me and he didn't think I was a guard."

The fourth chapter is dedicated to the period of Iraq's imposed war against Iran. In this section, the events and movements of the enemy before the war, until the deployment to Ahvaz and several operations, and at the end of the narrator's injury, are mentioned. "From the right side, Iraqis surrounded us and came towards us... Iraqi forces cut us off. They were divided. They stood between us and the water. A mortar was fired and its shrapnel hit my right ankle. "His injury was not too bad."

The fifth chapter titled "From Basra to Mosul" deals with the memories of 7 years of captivity. The difficulty of living in an asylum, the problem of cleaning and torturing Iraqis has been explained in this chapter. "In the month of Ramadan, the pressure of the Iraqis was reduced a little. The amount and type of food was not different from other months, that is, our Iftar was the same as breakfast and Suhoor was noon rice. At the end of this chapter, there are memories of the last day of captivity. "It was sunset when we were transferred from the camp to the city of Mosul. At night, they boarded a train and transferred to Baghdad and then to the border..."

The sixth chapter is called "Rebirth (Return to Iran)". After the liberation, Ravi served for two years in the west of the country from 1993 and from 1996 for two or three years in Taibad on the border of Dogharon. In 2010 and after his retirement, he served for a few months at the Center for the Preservation of Works and Publication of the Sacred Defense Values of the Revolutionary Guards and for one year at the Retirees' Center. Then he gave up all his responsibilities and remained in the service of the family. The book ends with illustrations, list of announcements and references.