Education

Transferring knowledge, concepts and skills during captivity.

Education has been considered the act of learning and teaching, which can be done in different ways. What we meant by education during captivity was the transfer of knowledge, concepts and skills through discussions, classes, lectures or systematic observation.

Knowledge and awareness rank as a virtue or merit, and man is intrinsically avid for knowledge. Also, inquisitiveness and willingness to learn are recommended by the Holy Quran. No wonder the early verses of the Quran touch on knowledge, reading, learning means and writing wares(specifically the pen).

Curiosity and inquisitiveness, existing in everyone to varying degrees, can be observed more prominently in the revolutionary and selfless generation of Iranians. Therefore, from the first opportunities presented during the captivity, the captives seriously tried to obtain information and broaden their knowledge. This matter, which followed Imam Khomeini's (RA) statement on the necessity of literacy and education, was also recognized and ordered by international conventions and agreements (such as the Third Geneva Convention). which, according to the requirements of time and place, was continued and generalized in the camps and worked out marvelously to the extent that the prison was turned into a university.

The motive of education

In addition to satisfying the sense of curiosity and entertainment, the motivation of education was to improve knowledge and insight, to strengthen communication and empathy, to overcome the atmosphere of discouragement and depression, to meet the daily needs and learn skills, to cheer up and to keep the courage up, but the most important incentive was the intellectual and internal jihad or conflict of captives in the stifling and oppressive atmosphere of captivity which the enemy tried hard to intensify, so that they would have both the body as well as the mind of prisoners under extreme control.

Materials and axes of education

Axes of education were so diverse, that usually many of captives were inclined to transmit their experiences to others, and there were also some with a variety of tastes and talents, who were willing to learn.

From one point of view, the main axes of educational materials can be divided into humanities, engineering and basic sciences, although information exchange and education prevailed in the field of humanities. In this area, literature and theology called for much more attention as the circumstances necessitated it .

Since the Quran is the hub of Islamic culture, in the holy defense, paying attention to the Quranic precepts was the first priority of the educational activities. This matter was the special attention of the prisoners, both during the captivity and in the camps, accordingly before everything else what the captives demanded the Iraqis to provide them with, was the Holy Quran. In order to strengthen the relationship with the Quran, learning, memorizing, understanding its translation, teachings and interpretations were followed by the prisoners by referring to more knowledgeable people. Except for oral activities and word of mouth transfer of knowledge and information between prisoners, which constituted the better part of educational activities at camps even among Christian Iranian prisoners, the practiced writing skill was centered around the Holy Quran which ,of course, incurred dire consequences such as corporal punishment and imprisonment.

After a while, the activities of this field had more extent and coherence. In this respect the formation of the Quran teaching unit, the memorization of the Quranic verses and holding competitions are noteworthy. A Quranic movement that started with the reading or writing of Qur'anic surahs using archives or perhaps pocket-sized Qurans kept from pre-captivity, was followed by persistent requests from the Iraqis and the agents of the Red Cross, and although it was faced with some threats and confrontations. at last, it led to the arrival of several Qurans, mostly with no paraphrases, in different camps, and thousands of reciters, memorizers, and those who knew the translation skill emerged, and as a result, the level of Quranic knowledge and persistence on Islamic culture and its values increased.

Similarly, the prayers, memorization, recital, and interpretation of the Quranic verses were pursued to the extent that many of better-known prayers were retrieved, set down, duplicated, and memorized. This particularly heightened with the advent of a limited number of prayer books and Mafati-hol-Jenan in the camps visited by the Red Cross. Of course, in the very camps the Mafatih editions were confiscated after six months, and yet its secret duplication enabled the captives to keep benefitting from it spiritually. Attention to Nahj al-Balaghah also went on with a slight difference that some of the Christian Iranian captives too happened to receive some copies of the book. The teaching and theological exegesis, especially practical branches (Sharia rules), beliefs, ethics and history of Islam and some other branches of Islamic theology such as logic and principles, which were mostly associated with debate, were among the other fields of educational activity in the camps. Immediately next to Islamic theology, literature and translation formed the most important axes of education, especially given the particulars of modern times learning the new languages to communicate with other people was necessary and unavoidable. The foreign languages in order of priority included Arabic , English , French, Spanish and Russian . With a variety of tastes and interests, hundreds of captives gained mastery of translation after learning the foreign languages, and they probably took on the role of simultaneous translators for others and had excelled in several modern languages by the time they were released.

The artistic activities such as story-telling, poetry, singing, dramas and painting formed the other educational efforts made with different approaches ranging from social to religious, political,etc. To make the best of given opportunities, some of the dramas, and singings were performed in foreign languages or at least, in combination with one foreign language.

In some cases, educational and sports activities were absolutely prohibited , and some stages, specifically martial arts were prohibited. In this respect, facilities such as ball, tennis table and volleyball net were provided in a limited way. All the same, body-building and martial arts such as judo and karate were practiced stealthily and with a great deal of caution.

Teaching engineering and learning the technical skills were the other educational activities. Some of the engineering lessons were taught too. Many items were required and as captives had no access to them, they were forced to contrive or invent some devices by themselves. Making sewing and knitting needles or tools such as an awl, scissors, etc. out of a needle-head or barbed wire as well as teaching how to make bags, shoes, hats, socks, gloves, and... etc. constituted the other creative activities of captives. Sewing, embroidery, xylography and lapidary were some of the skills whose acquisition was welcome and sought by the captives at camps. The other educational efforts were focused on the subgroup of basic sciences specifically mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, which were followed with minimal facilities. For example, there was a biologist among captives in Camp 12 Tikrit who had once set up his dissection laboratory under the canopy of room 7 for those interested, using a razor blade and an unlucky frog that they had caught somewhere in the yard.

Resources and textbooks

Resources of education were diverse too. Sometimes the memories of captives formed our only resource. As the necessity of education was more seriously and deeply felt, little by little, through practice and repetition, all the items and components learnt by heart, were categorized, and came out as pamphlets and textbooks, and began to serve educational purposes. Later on, especially after the camps were visited by the Red Cross representatives, some of the books were brought in. After some captive pilots asked them for storybooks, the other captives requested some other books. Moreover, with Iraqi permission the Holy Quran, Nahj al-Balagha, Mufatih al-Janan, dictionaries, Hafez book of poetry, Kalileh and Damneh( a collection of classical fables), general resources of foreign languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian) textbooks for different levels of education in Iran or– at least some levels – were made available by the Red Cross representatives to all the captives( roughly 19000 persons). As a result, they allowed the captives to use some small rooms or chambers as the library, and a limited number of the above-mentioned books was provided at each sanatorium. However, there were some l In the secret or unregistered camps, except for limited copies of the Quran without translation - for example, one copy for each sanatorium with 100 or 150 capacity- no books were made available for education.

Using books and educational opportunities was different according to the circumstance and seriousness of the people, since even for teaching the textbooks brought into camps by the Red Cross representatives, no educational facilities such as a classroom, or blackboard existed, and to begin with, the captives were not even given the required permission to convene. What the Iraqis preferred us to do was studying the books by ourselves and to avoid the formation of group discussions. As a matter of rule, holding classes and having stationaries (writing wares) were forbidden. However, there were some exceptions like what happened at Anbar camp where about 400 young captives were selected to attend a class with a female teacher from outside, so that the Iraqis could shoot a film. (Ramady 2 camp, young and teenaged captives)

Despite restrictions and unpleasant circumstances, the education movement was constantly progressing, and wherever there were more serious teachers and learners, a wider range of lessons and subject-matters was covered, and more skills were acquired, and as those true seekers of knowledge advanced further, some even got certificates, issued by some cultural organization, which proved very persuasive. Obviously, there was no official acknowledgement of these educational efforts, and yet, as they had acquired those skills wholeheartedly and with an unwavering faith in the face of all problems and restrictions, what they ultimately achieved, was of profoundly sentimental value to them.

In secret camps, even the educational resources were not provided. So, what constituted educational resources in effect, was a series of concise pamphlets, based on what captives had learnt by heart, particularly those highly intelligent ones amidst captives. The pamphlets in question dealt with such topics and themes as the Quran, prayers, Islamic precepts and literacy. Of course, the Arabic or English newspapers which were normally available, were used to teach foreign languages and translation. Some books (translations of Saddam’s lectures) propagandized publications of the enemy such as ‘The truth or the crusader’, which were available were also used for teaching Persian language. The discovery of educational booklets and pamphlets according to their content culminated in punishment.

The importance of stationary items at captivity is simply inconceivable to us today. In that place where having a pen and a piece of paper was criminalized, besides attempting to make the most use of any writing-wares one could get his hands on, captives, also, tried to come up with certain make-shifts for stationaries, for instance they utilized battery charcoals for a pencil, wood splinters for calligraphy pens, water for calligraphy ink, the ground ( cobbled or asphalted) for blackboard and used envelops for paper. It is also worth mentioning making a fountain pen using a syringe and preparation of ink using some plant or bug, or designing a kind of board using cardboard, toothpaste, fabric and plastic.

In some official camps, a limited number of pens and paper was provided after a delay and following a request from the agents of the cross, iagents of the cross provided about every two months, were seized again.

Teachers

Captive teachers were all those who had some knowledge, motivation and initiative to teach. Most of the volunteers were clergymen and and about the dangers of ignorance in captivity, and the variety of educational plans imposed on captives by enemies with the help of various

Systematic but secret training

Given the different dimensions of educational process and its dangers, gradually a cultural - educational organization with the participation of the above-mentioned classes formed. This organization which was the most extensive and efficient one at that time, had well-organized planning and far-stretching activities. Owing to enemy sensitivity towards educational activities, sessions were held more gingerly on a networked scale and as inconspicuously as possible. Of course, the difference in age, intelligence and knowledge of the learners caused the classes to be held at different levels.

As gatherings in large numbers were dangerous and forbidden, depending on the conditions of educational programs, sessions were held with a few students sometimes from one sanatorium and at other times from the whole camp with constant vigilance as the invariable policy. On some occasions when sitting was irritating, the educational program was carried out on the move that is, with the teacher in the middle flanked by the learners.

Among the programs that had a deep educational function were prayer meetings, congregational praying, conferences and ceremonies commemorating national religious occasions with speeches, storytelling, performances, etc. The cultural council of the camp, on the eve of each occasion, predicted and made some of the preparations such as the main program (including text, hymns, poems, plays, etc.), actors, time and place of performance, competition and prizes, and the possibility and manner of reception. Among the national occasions, Fajr decade and Nowruz days had a privileged position, and so did religious ceremonies, in particular Ramadan, Muharram and Safar. Especially, in these situations, the motivation for honoring increased and possibly the care and pressure of the enemy diminished.

See also

• Educational resources and texts in captivity
• Materials and axes of education
• Ramadi camp 2
• monograph
• Adolescent and young prisoners
• Red Cross Initiatives and creativity
• Sport
• Literature and art