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Captives of Occupation: Intellectuals interrogated in Arak (WWII)
Abstract
The Occupation of Iran during World War II, not only led to the abdication of Reza Shah, but also the captivity of over two hundred high ranking intellectuals, judges, lawyers, minsters, technocrats and journalists in 1941-1946. Most of these captives were held in Arak, in a concentration camp style area formed by the British, and they were erroneously called the "Fifth Column." This study examines how these captives, amongst them a past and a future prime minister, (Ahmad Matin Daftari and Ja'far Sharif Emami), as well as many movers and shakers of the second Pahlavi period, stood out as anti-colonial activists in the aftermath of the wrongful occupation of Iran by the allied forces. Most histories of World War II in Iran do not mention these captives and how the allied forces took their freedom, and placed them in concentration camps in Arak (Sultanabad). This study wishes to address this lacunae in modern Iranian history, and shed light on ideas expressed by some of the most vociferous opponents of anti-colonialism. These were voices that defined modern Iran, and ideas that contributed to the progress of the country, after the end of the second World War.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries