My Heart-rending reflections on the tour of Ebrat Museum – Ebrat means "lesson."

Look Inside the dreadful SAVAK Prison – The House of Fear and a notorious torture chamber.

I had heard and read about the Ebrat museum, but I was curious to discover what lies behind the walls of this ancient palace turned prison during the Reza Shah Pahlavi.

I was eager to hear stories from the former inmates who led the tours for us. So, on Monday, Oct 17th, 2022, I set out to explore it.

I have visited Alcatraz prison often called “The Rock” built on the small rocky island in the bay of San Francisco. It is famous for its impenetrable escape and for holding  dangerous inmates like Al Capone.

The inmates of Alcatraz prison had at least four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care, but the political prisoners at Ebrat did not have any of these rights.

For me, the visit to the Ebrat museum was really fascinating and a highlight of my Tehran visits. Below is my experience which is embedded in my mind.

What Is Dark Tourism?

It is tourism that involves traveling to places associated with death, grief, suffering, and tragedy. Some call it “black tourism” or “grief tourism” as well.

Such places create bitter and sad feelings in us. However, when people take tours to such areas, stricken by earthquakes, floods, wars, etc. gives them a better perspective of history. 

When visitors learn about human genocide or catastrophes, and unpleasant situations, they will appreciate the blessing of Allah and be thankful for what we have.

Such sites in Iran are the Shohada Museum: the martyrs of the war imposed by Zionists against Iran by Iraq, the earthquake city of Bam, Museum of Islamic revolution, the Ebert and Qasr prison.

 During the time of Shah Pahlavi when someone was sent to prison, in Farsi they would say  “rafteh âb-e khonak bokhore.” (He has gone to drink cool water.) How sad!

I can understand some people’s reluctance to visit such a place, but at the end of the day, it is part of Islamic revolution history, and it is worth a visit in my opinion  to see the scale of torture by SAVAK

History of Ebrat Museum:

The Ebrat Museum is in downtown Tehran, and once served as a prison facility run by the highly notorious SAVAK (Mossad) secret police prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The SAVAK is a Farsi acronym for the security of the nation created in 1957 with the help of CAI and Mossad in the wake of the coup of 1953  known as “AJAX” to overthrow Prime Minister Mossadegh.

The museum is known as a dark tourist destination, which takes visitors on a bitter and unpleasant journey to witness countless cases of abuse of political prisoners.

The site puts on a spectacular display the statues of famous personalities and inmates who were held here.

The mannequins silently portray and depict the horrific act of torture that the prisoners endured at the facility.

The building was designed as circular architecture with nested, narrow corridors designed to make any escape end in failure just like Alcatraz.

The high iron railings and concrete walls are also proof of the building’s terrifying impenetrability and soundproof which made it a perfect place for SAVAK to secretly torture the inmates with impunity.

Due to the lack of time, we did not get an opportunity to visit Qasr prison (castle in Persian) which was initially built as a Qajar-era palace.

The QASR has extensive gardens and flower grounds, but during Shah's time, it was turned into a political prison for thousands of women.

The Qasr prison 2012 was converted into a museum and has now become a film location for films like Shahrzad, a historical drama set around the 1953 coup d'état.

If one is interested in knowing about the crimes and torture of  SAVAK then one should visit the Ebrat museum. The visit will be educational, plus the ex-inmate is an English-speaking tour guide.

I was very impressed that the Iranian have choreographed, preserved, and documented their history very appropriately with pictures, and documentary film.

My visit was an eye-opener for the challenges the Islamic Republic of Iran is facing with propaganda and fake news by the Anglo-Saxon Imperialist Zionist Media. I was there and I witnessed it.

From what I have read about Savak, the current prison is an accurate portrayal of the suffering that occurred there, plus hearing it through a person who was held captive was remarkable justice inseparable from truth.

This place should be on your "must-visit" list. Visit to Ebrat museum does not explain the history Islamic Revolution, but it gives a good idea of the brutality of the Savak, trained, and backed by the CIA and Mossad.

Unfortunately, the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques were used at Abu Garib and Guantanamo prison – GITMO. Torture and abetting the abuse are wrong. American, all Americans should know better

A must-read for all the 712 pages detailed unredacted Senate Report of June 2019 of the brutality and the treatment of 119 prisoners at GITMO.

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRPT-113srpt288.pdf

This is the textbook blueprint used by the CIA and Mossad for the detention and interrogation of political prisoners such as Palestinians and Kashmiris.

The type of torture used are waterboarding, sleep deprivation, stress positioning, short shackling, walling, small confinement box, and solitary confinement.

The CIA may have put these methods on pause, but Mossad continues to use them and is now training the Indian army for use in Kashmir.

There is no secret about CIA and Mossad agents training SAVAK in surveillance and interrogation techniques.

Fardoust, Hussain. in his book The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardoust writes:

CIA officials carefully guarded their training manuals, and Mossad officials translated Hebrew materials into Persian, which enabled the SAVAK to become more brutal and merciless.

Seeing such methods of torture, disclosed by a former prisoner gives you goosebumps and cold shivers.

While touring Iran, this is the only place I saw the pictures of the Shah and his entire entourage hung on the wall of the Ebrat prison.

After purchasing the tickets, the tour guides will take you to the amphitheater, where a short film that contains English subtitles will be played.

This film contains interviews with men and women that were imprisoned as well as a short introduction to the history and concept of the prison.

After the amphitheater, the tour guide led us upstairs, to the registration room that contained notebooks with all the inmates’ names logged.

After taking the picture with the two survivors, and as I was walking away from them, I wondered how these two inmates felt and the former inmates felt coming back to this place by giving tours.

Maybe it was a form of therapy. . I asked them did you ever think you would come out of this prison or that this prison will become a museum.

I could see some tears in their eyes: They said “No, but it is Allah making…To Allah do we belong, and to Him do we return.” One said “I do have dreams and hear the screams of the inmates.