31. Issuing Visas to Save Thousands From the Nazis
Early in the German occupation, Sardari guessed what the Nazis were up to, so he decided to save Iranian Jews by getting them out of France as quickly as possible. When his Jewish countrymen asked him to help non-Iranian Jewish friends and acquaintances, Sardari began issuing them Iranian passports and visas as well. He won the Germans’ friendship by throwing lavish parties at the Iranian embassy, then used that to get them to accept his claims about Iranian Jews not really being Jews.
The Juguti ruse eventually reached Adolf Eichmann, the SS man in charge of Jewish affairs. He dismissed it as “the usual Jewish tricks and attempts at camouflage“. Nonetheless, between the Juguti argument and outright bribery, Sardari got the Germans to accept roughly 500 – 1500 passports issued to Jews, designated as non-Jewish Iranians, with visas to get them out of Nazi-occupied Europe. The passports were issued to families, not individuals. A conservative estimate of one thousand passports, with two to three individuals per passport, would mean that Sardari managed to save 2000 – 3000 Jews.
