Book Review

One of Those 33 People

Oral history by Mehrdad Orang

By Mahya Hafizi
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian

2023-6-12

One of Those 33 People, was published by Yohana Publication, Arak, 2023, in 308 pages, 500 volumes, at the price of 900,000 Rials. The emblem of Markazi General Department for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Works and Values is also seen on the back cover. Mohammad Sadegh Ashuri and Khosrow Asadpour conducted the interviews, and the recreation and editing of the book was done by Alireza Salehi and Fatemeh Moradi.

On the front cover, 32 black war helmets and one orange helmet in a larger size are designed. The book title is next to the colored helmet. Of course, the helmet symbol can be seen next to the digit of all pages. The "Oral History" were printed at the top and bottom of the cover.

The table of contents is on two pages in large fonts; there is an introduction and 13 chapters with distinct titles. At the end of the book 16 photos in black and white can be seen.

The introduction was written by the Foundation for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Works and Values and gave explanations about the oral history. In the introduction, it is stated that oral history is a method of collecting memories and oral narratives of historical events, and is considered a branch of historiography. One of the problems of compiling oral history is the passage of time, forgetting of memories, old age of witnesses, etc.

The process of the question and answer is preserved in the book. Due to some problems, of course, it seems that some of the questions were added to the book later. For example, the question on page 41 can be referred.

The narrator is Mehrdad Orang who introduced himself as follows at the beginning of the chapter: ‘born on November 06, 1979 in Arak, completed the military service.

The book does not have a foreword or section in which the method of interview and its process have been described. The narrator has mentioned most of his fellow citizens with the details and date of martyrdom. He also told memories of Martyr Abshenasan, Moulaei, Zeinuddin, etc. Surely mentioning the exact date and details of the operations shows the narrator's mindfulness, and the accuracy in compiling.

Reading this book will familiarize the reader with the ups and downs of a soldier's life during the war. It also provides information about lifestyle, observations, wartime events, mine clearance, etc.