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.
Ali Reza Madadpur…
Alireza Madadpur, a senior student of accounting, was hired as a janitor to provide for his family and his education.
Mohsen Shekari…
“We have been through hell, now we are in purgatory, be sure that we will get to heaven and we will talk to the God of freedom!” These were the last words of Mohsen Shekari, to one of the customers of the café where he worked -the words of a young man who saw in the name Dante a Persian-language acronym: "Enemy of humanity, your destruction is my only goal."