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How an American Rabbi and the Shah's Father Saved the Jews of Tehran from a Pogrom
(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Karmel Melamed - On Sep. 4, 1922, a servant of a Tehran mullah was riding his donkey past the Jewish school in the Jewish ghetto when the school's custodian stopped the donkey to prevent it from colliding with a group of children as they were exiting the school. The servant returned home and told his master that his donkey was held up for a group of Jewish children. The Islamic cleric demanded retribution and called for a general strike in the city. Local thugs and hoodlums armed with sticks and clubs randomly beat up Jews in the street. The following day thousands of armed rioters surrounded Tehran's Jewish ghetto seeking vengeance. The Jews of Tehran turned for help to their co-religionist, the American Ambassador to Persia, Rabbi Joseph Saul Kornfeld, who asked for help from the minister of war, Reza Khan Pahlavi, reminding him of the international consequences of this incident. The minister dispatched the cavalry to the Jewish ghetto to break up the riot and calm was restored with no Jews being slaughtered. In 1925, Reza Khan took power and became the new king or Shah. Both he and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi were indeed benevolent to the Jews, offering them protection from physical attacks and harassment. The Jews lived in relative peace and prosperity until the 1979 revolution when Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the Shah.