Republic of Hate - Podcast Eight - Golden Years Turn Dark

Hello and welcome to Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism, in which we explore Iran’s hatred of Israel, Jews, and the West. These are essays by Dr. Mark Silinsky, president of Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to the field of national security. And now, to podcast eight: the exciting and optimistic Pahlavi years.  The Golden Pahlavi Years             If there was a second golden age for Iranian Jews, it probably occurred during the father-and-son Pahlavi dynasty, 1925-1979. There were friendships, quarrels, business dealings, and a full range of social interactions. Some Jewish liberals saw the shah push forward social reforms, especially regarding women's rights. Many Jews thrived.             According to envoys of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, Jews in Iran were living in poverty and despair in the early twentieth century. This poverty and hopelessness changed when Reza Shah took the throne in 1925. The six-foot-five-inch Persian Cossack, known as Machinegun Reza, aimed to modernize his country. Reza Shah abolished the Jizya, dress codes, housing restrictions, and other limitations that stigmatized non-Shia. For the first time, Jewish children and young adults could attend public schools and universities. Reza Shah, reducing the influence of the Shia clergy, sought support from non-Shia religious groups. He found allies among ambitious Jews, rabbis, youth, and women. When he issued the decree for the mandatory unveiling of women, some Jewish women easily removed their chadors.             After Reza Shah established the Pahlavi Dynasty in 1925, he launched a modernization drive in which Jews participated. He was inspired by Ataturk, the president of Turkey, who abolished veils and established a non-clerical government. In this spirit, Reza Shah issued a royal decree banning women from wearing chadors and headscarves in public, which he considered outdated. For such women, veiling symbolized respect and modesty. When the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate in 1941, traditional and religious Muslim and Jewish women resumed veiling. According to an estimate from the early 19th century, their numbers had increased to about 50,000 by the end of the century. This modernization, continued by his son Mohammed Reza Shah through force, was swept away by the Islamic Revolution. Muhammad Reza Shah continued his father's policies of supporting religious traditions minorities.             Life Improves for Jews in Iran             Persia, which was called Iran in 1935, underwent a cultural and spiritual change inspired by the reforms of Kemal Ataturk of Turkey. Reza Shah weakened the power of the Shia clergy, which had for centuries hindered progress and restricted religious freedom. In Iran, Jews could aim to hold roles in society similar to those of their coreligionists in the Ottoman Empire, such as bankers, court-treasurers, and tax collectors. They could be scientists, businessmen, lawyers, and statesmen.             Under Reza Shah, for the first time, a Jew served as a member of parliament representing the Jewish minority. He was Solomon Chayyim of Kermanshah, a champion for religious rights. He supported Zionism and published a Jewish-Persian newspaper. Zionism became widespread after 1912, with Hamadan serving as its Iranian center. The revival of Jewish life in Persia found literary expression in 1917 with the establishment of a Judeo-Persian and Hebrew printing press in Tehran. It produced Hebrew textbooks modeled after those used in Palestine.             The Mixed Rule of Reza Shah             Reza Shah was both authoritarian and tolerant. The shah esteemed elements of Hitler’s National Socialism and strengthened Iranian ties with Nazi Germany. In turn, Germany courted Persians, lauding them as "Persian Aryans." Germany broadcast in Persian, advocating anti-Jewish violence in retaliation for Esther's triumph during Purim millennia earlier. Germany published a magazine titled Ancient Iran, which championed Hitler as the man who broke Jewish conspiracies. The journal also claimed that the swastika was a symbol of the Iranians.             Reza Pahlavi allowed German intelligence and security personnel to operate freely in Iran, using the country as a perch to monitor British activity across the broader Middle East.  Fritz Grobba, Berlin’s envoy to the Middle East, and often called “the German Lawrence of Arabia,” made overtures to Persia.  In Germany, authorities exempted Iranians from the restrictions of the Nuremberg Racial Laws on the grounds that they were “pure-blooded Aryans.'” President Rafsanjani underscored his friendship with a German delegation in 1996, “Both our peoples are of the Aryan race!”             However, this racial anti-Semitic trope did not resonate in Iran. In 1941, Iran rebuffed German efforts to criminalize Jews, explaining that Iranian Jews were fully assimilated members of the Persian nation and persuaded Germans not to harm Iranian citizens in Germany.  Iran did not corral their Jewish countrymen into ghettos or concentration camps, nor were there organized killings. Further, Iranian diplomat Abdolhoseyn Sardari was called the Iranian Schindler for saving French Jews in Paris in the 1940s by issuing them fake Iranian passports.             Iran also admitted some European Jewish refugees. On February 18, 1943, 861 Polish-Jewish refugee children, many made orphans by German killings, arrived in Mandatory Palestine after spending several months in Iran. These children became known as the “Tehran Children." Moir Ezry, an Israeli ambassador to Iran, claimed that European countries that attempted to save Jews, like Bulgaria, asked for money in return. “But the Iranian government never asked for any money." This concludes this episode of Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism. We look forward to reading your comments. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Israel, Hamas, and the World, will be available for purchase in summer 2026. Nothing in this podcast or any of Dr. Silinsky’s other podcasts reflects the official position of the United States Department of War, the United States Intelligence Community, or any other U.S. government agency. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening, and goodbye until our next podcast.