Prince Reza Pahlavi Receives “Suleiman” Award in Poland
Prince Reza Pahlavi received the “Suleiman” award from the European Jewish Association during a visit to Poland in the city of Krakow; an award the association presented to him in recognition of his lasting friendship and support for the Jewish community. In the award ceremony, he described the Islamic Republic as a threat to the Iranian people, the Jewish community, and the security of the free world, and called for more serious action by European countries against the Tehran government.
Prince Reza Pahlavi received the “Suleiman” award from the European Jewish Association on Monday, November 9, corresponding to November 18 in the Persian calendar, in a ceremony held in Krakow. This honor, also known as the “King Suleiman Award,” was presented by the association in recognition of his support and friendship with the Jewish community and his positions against antisemitism. The ceremony was held on the eve of the anniversary of “Kristallnacht,” the night in November 1938 when organized Nazi attacks on Jews in Germany and Austria resulted in massacres, arrests, and the destruction of synagogues and Jewish businesses. He, along with his wife Yasmin Pahlavi, visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp on Tuesday, November 10, corresponding to November 19 in the Persian calendar, and paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.
In his speech upon receiving the award, Pahlavi described the Islamic Republic as a transnational, revolutionary, and jihadist movement, saying that this Iranian government has transformed Iran into a base for global terrorism. Referring to the suppression and killing of protesters in Iran, he said: “The people of this country are the first victims and hostages of the Islamic Republic, and their struggle for freedom extends beyond Iran’s future alone.”
In another part of his remarks, he stated: “The Islamic Republic is a transnational, revolutionary, and jihadist movement that has occupied Iranian soil and transformed it into a command center for global terrorism. The Iranian people are the first hostages of this regime, and today they fight alongside the free world against the same fascists who have targeted Jews.”
Reza Pahlavi further emphasized that European countries should not wait for another terrorist attack on European soil to counter the threats posed by the Islamic Republic. He viewed support for the Iranian people not only as a moral responsibility but as a necessity for the security of Europe and the world.
Recalling the historical bond between Iranians and Jews, he stated that the position of the Iranian people against antisemitism is clear, and the descendants of Cyrus and the children of Iranians who provided refuge to Polish refugees during World War II now stand alongside the Jewish community.
Prince Pahlavi also, referring to the historical experience of confronting totalitarian governments, called on European countries to abandon their policy of appeasement with the Islamic Republic and take more concrete measures to support the Iranian people. In his remarks, he emphasized freedom, human rights, and the right of the Iranian people to determine their country’s political future.
One day after receiving the award, Reza Pahlavi and his wife Yasmin Pahlavi visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex in Poland. This visit was made to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and pay tribute to the millions of people who lost their lives in the crimes of Nazi Germany.
Auschwitz was located near the city of Oswiecim in Poland and, during the Nazi occupation of the country, became the largest complex of forced labor and extermination camps. According to statistics from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Nazis deported approximately 1.3 million people to this complex, and at least 1.1 million were murdered there. Approximately one million victims were Jewish; alongside them, tens of thousands of Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and individuals of various other nationalities also perished.
The entrance gate of the main Auschwitz I camp was inscribed with the German phrase “Arbeit macht frei,” meaning “work makes one free,” which in practice, against the reality of imprisonment, torture, starvation, and murder of inmates, became a symbol of the deception and violence of the Nazi system.
Following the implementation of the policy known as the “Final Solution” for the destruction of European Jewry, Auschwitz-Birkenau became one of the principal centers of mass murder. Large numbers of Jews deported from various European countries, particularly in the gas chambers of this complex, were killed.
On January 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz camp. Thousands of remaining prisoners were found in severely deteriorated conditions in the camp; many other prisoners had also been forcibly transferred westward in death marches before the arrival of Soviet forces.
Prince Reza Pahlavi’s emphasis on the historical bond between Iranians and Jews refers to a relationship spanning several centuries. In the historical tradition and collective memory of Jews, the name of Cyrus the Great is connected with the end of the Babylonian exile and the permission for some Jews to return to their homeland and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
During World War II, Iran also hosted a number of Polish refugees who arrived in Iran via the Soviet Union. Among them were Jewish children who later became known as the “Children of Tehran.” This historical experience was one of the important themes in Pahlavi’s remarks at the Krakow ceremony.
The visit to Auschwitz also falls within this symbolic framework: a reminder of the catastrophe that targeted European Jews and other victims of Nazism, and an emphasis on the necessity of combating antisemitism, hatred, and organized crimes against humanity.
Receiving the Suleiman Award and attending Auschwitz formed the two main parts of Reza Pahlavi’s Poland visit; a visit that in his remarks was connected by the link between the freedom of the Iranian people, world security, and the necessity of standing against antisemitism.
