The “Schindler of Iran”

Abdol Hossein Sardari (1914 in Tehran – 1981 in Nottingham) was an Iranian diplomat. He is credited with saving thousands of Jews in Europe, and given the title “Schindler of Iran”. His first step to help Iranian Jews in France, was to issue them with new passports that did not state their religion. He helped around 2,000 Jews obtain passports.

Though he formulated arguments in hopes of sparing the Iranian Jews, he did just as much to help non-Iranian Jews escape the horrors of the war. He began issuing hundreds of Iranian passports for non-Iranian Jews as well, to protect them from the hands of the Nazis.

The Iranians who got their passports would beseech Sardari to issue passports for their non-Iranian friends, spouses, and colleagues. In hopes of protecting them from persecution, Sardari issued passports and signed affidavits for as many Iranian and non-Iranian Jews as he could.

He hesitated speaking publicly about his heroic actions during World War II and never asked for anything in return. Due to his efforts to save the Jews, Sardari has since been known as “The Iranian Schindler”.

The Iranian Revolution of 1978 brought Sardari a great deal of despair when he heard the news that his nephew had been murdered and that all of his belongings in Iran were destroyed. He passed away in London in 1981.

In April 1978, three years before his death, Abdol Hossein Sardari responded to the queries of Yad Vashem, the Israeli national Holocaust Memorial, about his actions in this way: “As you may know, I had the pleasure of being the Iranian Consul in Paris during the German occupation of France, and as such it was my duty to save all Iranians, including Iranian Jews.”

Zero Degree Turn (Madare sefr darajeh), a popular Iranian TV series (2007), was loosely based on Sardari’s actions in Paris.