Omid Memorial
The men and women whose stories you can read on this page are now all citizens of a silent city named Omid ("hope" in Persian). There, victims of persecution have found a common life whose substance is memory.
Omid's citizens were of varying social origins, nationalities, and religions; they held diverse, and often opposing, opinions and ideologies. Despite the differences in their personality, spirit, and moral fiber, they are all united in Omid by their natural rights and their humanity. What makes them fellow citizens is the fact that one day each of them was unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. At that moment, while the world watched the unspeakable happen, an individual destiny was shattered, a family was destroyed, and an indescribable suffering was inflicted.
Shapur Bakhtiar…
Born in a tribe in Lorestan, home to one of Iran’s oldest tribes, he was loyal, strong headed, and courageous. But, he was also humble: “I am first a human being, then an Iranian, and then a Muslim.”
Tatavous Michaelian…
Reverend Tatavous Michaelian chaired the Council of Protestant Ministers in 1994. It was a time of extraordinary pressure on Christian clergy.