By Denise Hassanzade Ajiri
My Assyrian great grandfather, Yushia Bet-Daniel, was supposed to become a priest but became a communist instead. He was hanged in Urmia, the capital of Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, for his political activities. That’s what I’ve heard many times from my family and relatives.
My research has added a little bit more detail to this. Yushia Bet-Daniel, mostly known as Rabi Yushia, was affiliated with the Azerbaijan People’s Government. (Rabi, “teacher,” is an Aramaic honorific for a learned person.) The Azerbaijan People’s Government, founded in November 1945 in Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, was a short-lived communist regime. As soon as it was toppled in December 1946, the Shah of Iran began arresting and executing its leaders and collaborators. As a result, Rabi Yushia was hanged in Urmia during the winter of 1946-47.
To find out more about who Rabi Yushia was, I turned to Hannibal Gevargiz. Born in 1931, Gevargiz is an Assyrian historian and scholar from Urmia who now lives in Los Angeles. He has a personal library of more than 3,000 books that are mostly about Assyrian history. Gevargiz has written multiple books about Assyrians including The History of Assyrian Journalism and Famous Assyrian Women. All the older Assyrians from Urmia know of Rabi Yushia, so I knew that Gevargiz could provide me with some information.
Where was Rabi Yushia born?
Rabi Yushia was born in Urmia but as a child he moved to Russia with his family.
When and why did they move to Russia?
I don’t know the exact date, but in general, going to Russia was common among the Assyrians. In 1828, Iran signed a treaty with Russia which allowed Iranian and Russian citizens to freely travel back and forth. After that Assyrians would usually travel to Russia for work.
Later, in 1915 [during the First World War], after Russia brought back its soldiers from Iranian soil, some Assyrians went with them to Russia. Back then Russians were Assyrians’ only protector, so when they left, around 20,000 of Assyrians went with them and resettled in Russia. That’s probably when Rabi Yushia’s family also left Iran.
What did Rabi Yushia do in Russia?
He studied in Tbilisi [then part of the Russian Empire]. The communist revolution [of October 1917] had a significant impact on him and he became a communist. Later, in the 1930s, many Assyrians were forced to return to Iran, so probably Rabi Yushia also returned to Iran around that time.
Why were they forced back?
I think because they were not Russian citizens. They were still Iranians. Therefore, the Russians told them that they need to leave.
Where did Rabi Yushia live after he moved back to Iran?
In Urmia. He lived in the same building that back in 1905 the Russian Orthodox Mission used it as its publishing house.
Was the Russian [Orthodox] Mission active in Urmia in the 1930s?
No. When Reza Shah took power [in December 1925] he ordered the closure of all the missions in Iran.
Going back to Rabi Yushia, could you explain a bit more about how he got in contact with communists in Iran?
Rabi Yushia spoke Russian, so in 1941 when the Russian army entered [Iran’s part of] Azerbaijan [to protect Iran’s oil fields during World War II], Rabi Yushia got in contact with them. In 1945 when Azerbaijan People’s Government was formed, Rabi Yushia started his cooperation with one of the government’s leaders called Mohammad Amin Azad Vatan.
He also cooperated with Mohammad Biriya [Culture Minister of Azerbaijan People’s Government] on changing the language of the elementary school books from Persian to Azeri.
What happened next?
Azerbaijan’s government lasted only for a year. After its fall, the [central government’s] army entered Iran’s Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan’s government’s officials ran away to Iraq and Russia. Rabi Yushia and some other communist Assyrians tried to cross the border into Iraq. It was winter and cold. There was a lot of snow and Rabi Yushia and some of other communists were going on back-country roads. At some point they couldn’t go any further. Rabia Yushia’s feet were in severe pain, therefore he and some others returned to Urmia.
Who else was with Rabi Yushia when he returned?
Malcom Amir-khas, Rabi Babajan Ashouri and Rabi Tidi. They were all arrested as soon as they returned.
What happened to them?
All of them, except for Rabi Yushia, had some connections with the officials and were released, but Rabia Yushia didn’t know anybody and also had a great pride. Therefore he was executed. He was hanged.
Who executed him?
There was a person called Ahmadi who was an official in Urmia. He didn’t let him have a trial. He ordered for [Rabi Yushia’s] immediate execution.
Is there anything else about Rabi Yushia that you want to add?
It is said that Rabi Yushia was the only Assyrian who had studied the communist philosophy properly. He was tall and thin. He was a good, quiet man.
After my interview with Hannibal Gevargiz I started searching for Rabi Yushia’s name. I had done it before, but had no success. This time I searched his name along with some Iranian communist names that Mr. Gevargiz had provided me, and was successful. His name was mentioned – with typos – in a book called Azerbaijan National Government by Hossein Alizadeh, under the list of “Martyrs of Urmia.” He was actually mentioned twice, as two separate people. With one of his names, his execution is mentioned, but the wrong place is given:
“Rabi Yushid Daniel – Assyrian”
and,
“Daniel Yushi-A, an Assyrian from Urmia, was born in 1265 [1886-87]. He was a member of Central Committee of Azerbaijan Party, and the member of Azerbaijan National Parliament. He was martyred in Tabriz.”