Two-part Live Online Event on Dec. 8 to Feature Author Mikhal Dekel

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y., & WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chautauqua Institution and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum today announced a jointly presented online program titled “The Tehran Children: Iran’s Unexpected & Suppressed Connection to the Holocaust,” inspired by Mikhal Dekel’s 2019 memoir Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey. Dekel will participate in each segment of the two-part, 90-minute presentation, to air live beginning 7 p.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 8, on the Institution’s CHQ Assembly video channel.  

A finalist for the 2020 Chautauqua Prize, Tehran Children tells the little-known story of the of the more than 1 million Polish Jews who fled the Nazis by traversing the Soviet Union, and in particular nearly 1,000 children who were evacuated to Iran. Dekel’s late father, Hannan Teitel, was one of these “Tehran Children”; the book is the culmination of her decade-long journey to understand the 13,000-mile odyssey at the core of his young adulthood — an experience which he never talked about, though it informed every aspect of his being. 

The program is part of the Museum’s Sardari Project, with IranWire.com. Today Iran’s leaders actively suppress and deny Holocaust history and spread antisemitic propaganda and conspiracy theories. As a result, Iranian citizens are largely unfamiliar with their country’s role during World War II.   

The first segment of the Dec. 8 program will be a panel discussion exploring Iran’s role in this lesser-known Jewish refugee rescue and how this discovery has the power to shape identity and transform the perspective of young Iranians. Dekel will be joined in conversation by Arash Azizi, a journalist with IranWire and former international editor of Kragozaran, an Iranian daily newspaper, and author of the new book The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Edna Friedberg, a historian with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

The second segment, an Author’s Talk, will feature Dekel in conversation with Chautauqua Institution Director of Literary Arts Sony Ton-Aime on the power of the storyteller, how history and current events shape the writer’s identity and perspective, and, specific to Dekel’s life, how new knowledge has informed one Holocaust descendant’s identity. 

The two-part “Tehran Children” program will be presented among the complimentary offerings of Chautauqua’s CHQ Assembly platform. Audiences are invited to pre-register for the free program at tehranchildren.chq.org. Each segment of the program will conclude with a live audience Q-and-A. 

“Today we think of the Iranian regime’s Holocaust denial and antisemitism, but there is also a rarely told story about the Iranian people welcoming Jewish refugees during WWII,” said United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield. “Exploring lesser-known aspects of this history can challenge our assumptions which is what good education does.”  

“Chautauqua Institution is honored to reconnect with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and to continue a partnership that began in 2018 when Sara Bloomfield delivered a stirring and poignant lecture in our Amphitheater. That lecture, during a week on ‘History and Memory in the 21st Century,’ has a clear and meaningful through line to this co-presented program on the Tehran Children,” said Michael E. Hill, president of Chautauqua Institution. “We at Chautauqua feel mission-bound to facilitate these important cross-cultural and historically minded conversations, as part of our exploration of the best in human values through civil dialogue. In our current political and societal moment, we are proud to provide opportunities for understanding, and we thank USHMM for their enthusiastic partnership.” 

ABOUT THE SARDARI PROJECT 
Through The Sardari Project: Iran and the Holocaust, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and IranWire.com will help Iranian audiences—primarily emerging adults (age 17-30)—engage with Persian-language digital/social content about the history and lessons of the Holocaust, as well as the dangers of antisemitism and hatred. The Iranian government prevents Iranians from learning about the Holocaust, including its unique connection to this history. During World War II, Nazi Germany targeted Iran for its resources, and Allied forces invaded and occupied the country. Iran accepted some 116,000 Polish refugees and army personnel fleeing horrible conditions in labor camps in the Soviet Union. Among the civilians were 1,000 Jewish children, the majority of them orphans. Named for Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian diplomat who helped save Iranian and other Central Asian Jews in occupied France, The Sardari Project seeks to help Iranians explore subjects related to the Holocaust in detail such as conspiracy theories, dehumanizing propaganda, the importance of Holocaust education, and more. 

ABOUT THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM 
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires leaders and citizens to confront hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit ushmm.org.    

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer — and year-round through the CHQ Assembly online platforms — with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. 

###