The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and IranWire.com, one of the most popular Persian language news websites inside and outside of Iran, launched on Tuesday 'The Sardari Project: Iran and the Holocaust' that will broadcast articles and videos about the Holocaust, and Iran's unknown role in helping Jews during this period.
The project was named after Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian diplomat based in Paris who worked to save many Iranian and non-Iranian Jews after Germany occupied the country.
“Education is a critical step in countering the Iranian government’s Holocaust denial, antisemitic rhetoric, and suppression of information,” said Tad Stahnke, William and Sheila Konar director of international educational outreach in the Levine Institute for Holocaust Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The series will feature 13 articles and nine videos, and will be available in both Persian and English. The content will be released through IranWire.com’s Facebook and Twitter channels, and be available on SardariProject.com.
“Through this project, Holocaust history will be in front of the eyes and ears of Iranian audiences, who are exposed to relentless propaganda from the regime. For many, it will be the first time they will have had access to accurate and relevant information on the subject for themselves and to share with others.”
The story will focus on the Holocaust history and the origin of Holocaust denial, while trying to understand at the same time the origins and dangers of antisemitic conspiracy theories and propaganda in Iran and in the world.
“Iranians, especially young Iranians, yearn to understand the truth of the Holocaust,” says Maziar Bahari, IranWire.com founder, adding that "these articles and videos are not simple translations from other languages. We produced them with Iranian audiences in mind.”
Besides, the series will establish the profiles of the current Iranians who are living in Diaspora and who are fighting antisemitism and hate, as well as the profiles of two heroes who saved Jews during the Holocaust, Dr. Mohamed Helmy and Derviš Korkut, two Muslim living in Germany and Bosnia.
“Iran has a connection to this history almost unknown to Iranians. But unfortunately, this image of Iran has been tarnished by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei who regularly denies the Holocaust," continued Bahari.
"We will show aspects of Holocaust history and related topics that many Iranians have never had the opportunity to study."