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The Boiling Point

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The Boiling Point

Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

After reading ‘Persepolis,’ freshmen hear a parent’s non-fiction story of revolutionary Iran

After reading Persepolis, freshmen hear a parents non-fiction story of revolutionary Iran

By Eric Bazak, Staff Writer

When he was just 18 years old, Sol Marghzar found himself in a deserted mountainous area of Pakistan with other weak, anxious Iranians, waiting for an illegal organization to pick them up and take them to a nearby city

It was 48 hours in the cold mountains with no food or water, sleeping on the ground without tents, befoe the truck arrived – conveniently, just after a group of thieves had spotted the group and started to chase after them.

“At that point I didn’t think we were going to make it,” said Dr. Marghzar, who is the father of freshman Kian Marghzar.

“I was so weak, but then I saw these thieves coming for us, and we started to run. Finally, we saw the guys who were supposed to pick us up. So you can imagine how lucky we were.”

Dr. Marghzar’s story was the highlight of Ms. Crincoli’s freshman English classes May 30, when he shared his experiences in Iran as they finished reading the graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi.

The book depicts Ms. Satrapi’s life as a teenager during the Iranian Revolution. Dr. Marghzar connected his life with hers, emphasizing how brave and unique her family actually was.

“I thought it would give you guys a firsthand experience – this story must be told,” he said. “It would help the students not to take what we have in America for granted.”

Gulping every word he said, the class seemed to watch Dr. Marghzar with admiration. After learning about the Iranian Revolution in class, they knew what had been happening at the time.

Unlike Marjane Satrapi, who was able to fly out of Iran, Dr. Marghzar was forced to go through a formidable trek, which included several life-risking moments.

The Pakistan border story ended happily.  Running from the thieves, Dr. Marghzar and the rest of his group got to the truck in the nick of time, finding fruit and contaminated water which they gratefully consumed.

Arriving in Pakistan five days after he’d left home, Dr. Marghzar called his parents up to tell them he survived.

“The book was realistic in the sense that it was the story of one family,” Dr. Marghzar said. “What was not realistic was assuming that this family represents the Iranian Muslims in the late 1970s.”

During his 30-minute presentation, Dr. Marghzar described a Jewish perspective of living in Iran throughout those tumultuous times.

Just 13 when the revolution started, Dr. Marghzar said his whole life had turned upside down with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and anti-semitism..”

The Iranian Revolution began as an attempt to overthrow the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was under immense scrutiny by his own people. The Shah was criticized for his dictatorship, while also being hated by fanatical Muslims for modernizing Iran.  Ultimately, the Shah was forced to resign and Islamic fundamentalists ook over in 1979.

Dr. Marghzar said Jews had been among those seeking to overthrow the Shah.

“In fact, the father of one of our distant relatives was a left-wing activist who was arrested by the shah’s regime for reading a book,” Dr. Marghzar said. “A lot of people didn’t know that the alternative would be much worse than the status quo.”

After the chaos of the revolution, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, starting a war that lasted more than seven years. Missiles fired at Iran by Saddam were the reason 18-year-old Dr. Marghzar decided it was time to escape, in February of 1987.

With no passport to fly out of the country, Dr. Marghzar and others on his cramped bus escaped Iran by cutting through wires at the border with Pakistan, before waiting 48 hours in the cold for the delayed bus.

Kian claimed to have heard the story  “many times, but it never gets old or boring.”

“It made me appreciate the fact that he is very intelligent and that I’m alive now,” Kian said.  “If some events didn’t occur I wouldn’t be here. You have to really thank God for everything he does.”

Dr. Marghzar stayed in the “undeveloped and unsanitary country” of Pakistan for 48 days, before using a fake passport to fly to Austria. After six months in Austria, where he first met his wife who had also left Iran, Dr. Marghzar traveled to America and became an audiologist.

“It was awe inspiring to know that a human can go through so much,” said Ms. Crincoli. “It made me see the charmed life Kian now has compared to what his dad went through.”

The period was capped off with a Persian rice dish called tadig, — served by Mrs. Anet Tabaroki, the mother of freshman Liana Taboaroki – after which students left for their lunch break with a little more to think about.

“I thought it was very interesting and real,” said freshman Michelle Hirschhorn. “I found his story both inspirational and touching. It also allowed me to appreciate the book even more.”

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