An Iranian Schindler’s List: “Zero Degree Turn”

Remember the controversy over the current Iranian President’s inflammatory questioning of the Holocaust, at one point doubting its extent, at other moments playing up old regional wounds, asking why the Mideast had to “pay” for Europe’s sins? Iran’s image has taken a severe beating as a result of such rhetoric.
Ironically, Iranian state television since April has been showing an extraordinary series, entitled “Zero Degree Turn.” The most expensive production in Iranian TV history, the government approved and funded program sympathetically portrays the suffering of Jews at the hands of the Nazis, and depicts an Iranian embassy employee in Paris as a hero who helps his Jewish love and her family flee.
The intriguing series has been a smash hit inside Iran. It’s also gaining an audience internationally, via satellite and net re-broadcasts. Here’s a ten minute sample, with English sub-titles, on YouTube.
For an overview of the series, see Sunday’s AP report. Among Israeli reviews, here’s an early skeptical Ha’aretz report in June. Ynet ran this more upbeat assessment just last week. Ynet draws from an interesting interview of the series producer, Hassan Fatthi, in The Wall Street Journal..
Some may object to Fatthi’s comment that, “The murder of innocent Jews during World War II is just as despicable, sad and shocking as the killing of innocent Palestinian women and children by racist Zionist soldiers.” Yet even David Horovitz in the Jerusalem Post is more impressed by the fact that,

“Monday night after Monday night across Iran, Fatthi is broadcasting an unmistakable challenge to his own president’s efforts at historical revisionism. State TV is essentially telling Ahmadinejad to shut up.”

While the show’s central love story is fictional, Fatthi’s inspiration for his series is true, of an Iranian diplomat in Paris during WWII, Abdol Hussein Sardari, who “saved over a thousand European Jews by forging Iranian passports and claiming they belonged to an Iranian tribe.”
Move over Cyrus.
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I don’t have the time to highlight these reports and comment. In the next few days, I’m finishing an essay about the previous Iranian President’s critically important reformist legacy, one that Iran doubters dismiss too readily. Anybody else miss Khatami’s “Dialogue Among Civilizations?”
Funny thing, just as I’m crossing the “T’s,” this report appears in today’s Financial Times: “Khatami Plots a Comeback.”
If “they” let him run in 2009, my sense of the Iranian landscape (at least as of today) is that he’d win in a landslide. Imagine, we could have a second chance at a Khatami-Clinton Summit.

13 thoughts on “An Iranian Schindler’s List: “Zero Degree Turn””

  1. For another angle on the Sardardi story, see this in Tuesday’s Jerusalem Post:
    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411423481&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
    Is seems that different holocaust remembrance organizations have slightly different takes on Sardari. Curiously, Vad Yashem has thus far chosen not to designate him as “Righteous Among Nations.”
    “the documentation is inconclusive insofar as the criteria for recognition as Righteous Among the Nations,” a Yad Vashem spokesperson said. “Should material arrive that would shed more light on the case, it will be re-referred to the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous Among the Nation.”
    “Yad Vashem said it was clear that Sardari had helped Jews living in Paris during the Holocaust who held Iranian citizenship, but it was not clear if he did so at any risk.
    “This is admirable conduct, but it appears he acted in compliance with his [government] instruction,”
    ———————-
    The distinction is perhaps of even greater “interest” for today….

  2. What is interesting about this is not whether it is historically accurate in portraying the “righteousness” of Sardari, but that it is a product of modern Iran. It’s a clear signal that, just as Bush does not speak for all (or even most) Americans, Ahmadinejad does not speak for all Iranians. Now, if we can just keep these two idiots from starting a war in hopes of boosting their respective domestic standings….
    Ask yourself, is there anything playing on American state-run television (other than the Simpsons 🙂 that is as contrary to what comes out of Bush’s mouth?

  3. The Iranian leader has only predicted the unviability of Israel, not threatened it with
    violence. And he has only questioned the orthodox Holocaust story which even do Jewish historians eg Arno Mayer of Princeton.

  4. Scott, did you hear this?
    Khatami, in Friday paryers telling his followers speaking about recent US call for peces smmute between Israil and few arab stats.
    He said enemy like Israel need a SHOK or BUILT! Not peace!!
    So where is Khatami’s “thinks both domestic and international developments will go in such a wrong direction that the regime [leaders] will ask him to run to help the survival of the system,” said the ally.
    ال رجل الدين الايراني المحافظ اية الله أحمد خاتمي ان «صيحة الموت» باتت مسموعة لمؤتمر السلام الذي اعلنت اميركا عن عقده منتصف نوفمبر المقبل.
    وتابع خاتمي في خطبة الجمعة في طهران امس «هل تريدون انتم (الدول العربية) الجلوس الى طاولة المفاوضات مع اسرائيل..عدو كهذا ليس بحاجة الا الى لكمة ورصاصة.. هذه المؤتمرات لا تتطلع الى حل مشاكل الشعب الفلسطيني وانما تسهم فقط في حل مشاكل اسرائيل..
    http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=3&article=438178&issue=10525

  6. Neocon criticism of Ahmadinejad’s foolish comment on gay people in Iran ring very hollow, considering the gay bashing rhetoric they engage in. Newt Gingrich looked ludicrious condemning Iran for “executing homosexuals” when many in his Fundamentalist Christian constituency want to impose biblical law on the United States, and therefore make homosexuality a capital crime as prescribed in Leviticus, I think.
    The President of Iran has limited power. He’s nothing more than a windbag for the Supreme Leader and his council. Ahmadinejad is getting much too much attention for his worth. Aren’t there many other world leaders attending? Including Hamid Karzai and Nouri al-Maliki? Why doesn’t anyone talk to THEM, see what they have to say about the current states of their countries?

  7. Newt Gingrich looked ludicrious condemning Iran for “executing homosexuals” when many in his Fundamentalist Christian constituency want to impose biblical law on the United States
    Newt Gingrich is absolutely correct to condemn Iran for executing homosexuals regardless of what some in his constituency believe. He can’t be held responsible for the beliefs of every far-right-wing religious fruitcake. Even if he were an ardent fundamentalist (which he isn’t) the criticism would stand. His own moral consistency isn’t the issue. And I’m not so sure about neocon’s homophobia. I seem to remember Andrew Sullivan arguing pretty loudly for the Iraq war. Wasn’t he editor of the New Republic? And don’t religious neocons tend to be Jewish anyway?
    He’s nothing more than a windbag for the Supreme Leader and his council.
    Then it’s the supreme leadership responsible for Iran’s barbaric penal code. As their representative on the public stage Ahmadinejad should be expected to answer for these inhumane policies.

  9. By Amir Taheri
    uh-oh! Someone hasn’t been studying the JWN list of approved source material.
    Salah, “infamous” Amir Taheri is a known neocon Orientalist collaborator. He’s a card carrying agent of the Zionist-Imperialist alliance. He’s “a top star” at Mme Benador’s stable of neoconservative propagandists. Nothing he says can be trusted.
    Every word of every article he writes is a lie, prepositions and articles included.

  10. vadim,
    Ok then you gave him your approval to be “Zionist-Imperialist”
    But you need to believe Ali Khaminie his the top gay who play the game in Iran he is the handler of those who call themselves Clerics in Iraq, he is the force behind Al-Quds forces.

  11. He’s a card carrying agent of the Zionist-Imperialist alliance……Every word of every article he writes is a lie, prepositions and articles included.
    BTW, then we expected each one we believe he is “Zionist-Imperialist” what he say or said “Every word of every article he writes is a lie, prepositions and articles included.!!
    Dose that make sense to you?
    What If we call you is “Zionist”!!?
    What about this top advisor to successive US administrations H. Kissinger, oh what about Noah Friedman!! Or what about Tom Freedman…..oh I don need to go along the list as you called them as all lairs.

  13. oh I don need to go along the list as you called them as all lairs
    Salah,
    انا اسف
    ولوحظ السخريه
    نكتة سيئة

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