Ezzat Janami Eshraghi - Bahá'ís of Ireland

Ezzat Janami Eshraghi was born near Isfahan, Iran in 1926. When she was 22 she married Enayatollah Eshraghi and they had five children. Náhíd, Vahíd, Sa’id, Roya and Rosita. For many years they had a good life. The children were happy and healthy, Enayatollah worked for the National oil company and Ezzat stayed home and looked after her family.

The three oldest Eshraghi children grew up and emigrated, Enayatollah retired and the family moved settled in Shiraz where Roya was at university studying to be a vet and Rosita was still school. At first things were peaceful enough in Shiraz but after the Revolution everything changed. Enayatollah lost his pension because he was a Baha’i. And shortly afterwards, Roya was expelled from university also because she was a Baha’i.

Then on the 22nd of November, 1982, the Eshraghi household was raided and Enayatollah, Roya and Ezzat were arrested.

Ezzat was heartbroken that her 23 year old daughter, Roya was in prison and she was worried about her youngest daughter, Rosita who was only seventeen and now all alone in the world. But she wasn’t just worried for her own daughter she was also very frightened for all of the young women in prison with her. Every night Ezzat sat watch while the young women slept saying silent prayers that the guards wouldn’t come for them and take them away to torture them - or worse.

Many of the Baha’is were interrogated sometimes for days at a time after their arrest. Some people were badly beaten and tortured but the Eshraghi’s were subjected to severe psychological torture in the hope of breaking their spirits, wearing them down and forcing them to renounce their beliefs. They often brought all three together into an interrogation room where they were blindfolded, forbidden to look at or speak to each other and forced to listen as their loved ones were insulted and mocked. At other times they would tell them individually that the others were being tortured or that they had recanted. And they often took Roya away for hours to put pressure on Ezzat so that she would worry about what was happening her daughter.

Then one day Rosita came to the prison to see her parents and to seek permission to marry. Ezzat was delighted to see Rosita living her life though she feared for her safety as the Guards constantly told her that they were going to arrest Rosita.

Though Ezzat was sad not to be able to attend Rosita’s wedding she asked her friend, Mrs. Mahmudnizad, who had been released just before the wedding, to represent the family at the wedding and to bring along a red carnation for every woman jailed with them.

Soon after that Ezzat and Roya heard that Enayatollah had been hanged on June 16th along with 5 other Baha’i men. Ezzat was sad but she was also glad his suffering was over and she knew by then that she and Roya would most likely join him soon.

Ezzat Janami Eshraghi was 57 when she was hanged with her daughter, Roya, and 8 other Baha’i women.

*Wherever there is a hyperlink on Ezzat's name (hover over her name to find it) you can connect with art work produced for the #OurStoryIsOne campaign.

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