Supplementary Report

See picture. [BN No 169 Jul 1944 p8]

One of his daughters, Dame Robin White, is a New Zealand painter and printmaker, recognized as a key figure in the regionalist movement of 20th-century New Zealand art. Her art is the subject of a book called Robin White: Something is Happening Here by Dr Sarah Farrar, Dr Nina Tonga and Jill Trevelyan.

“Your magnificent international services exemplary devotion and now this signal service impel me inform you your elevation rank Hand Cause Bahá’u’lláh. You are first be told this honour in lifetime. As to time announcement leave it my discretion”. [BW13p135]

Anwer Cadir was one of Sri Lanka’s earliest civil engineers, who served under Lord Mountbatten in the Royal Engineering Corps at Peradeniya Gardens during World War II. After the war, he later worked for the Ceylon Public Works Department before traveling to Burma (Myanmar) to work as an engineer and there he married a Burmese lady. In Sri Lanka, he worked on the Gal Oya project and on the Norton Bridge Dam project. In Nigeria, he worked on the Niger River dam project,

On February 9, 2025 was the day of the launch in Sri Lanka of the biography, The Lamp of the Company Above – the life story of Anwer Cadir of Dehiowita. The author, Ian Bayly, came from Australia for this special occasion after releasing his book in India, Myanmar, Thailand and Nigeria, which were also countries in which the late Anwer Cadir lived in and served their communities. The book launch was held at Hill House, Pirivena Road, Dehiowita, which was Mr. Anwer Cadir’s family home, where he was born and passed away. [Sunday Observer]

His arrival here had been an adventure. The Argentine ship that he had boarded in Los Angeles had burned and sank in Acapulco while he was ashore and he lost all his personal belongings. The shipping company sent him to Mexico City where they returned the cost of his ticket and left him stranded. Travel was difficult during the War years. After 5 days of travel via DC-3, stopping every night, he reached Santiago where, after a delay, he secured a passage to Punta Arenas that took another 5 days.

On the 4th of April, 1945, he got a telegram from the Guardian, advising him that he expected an Assembly would be formed at Ridván. At this time there were only two declared Bahá'ís in Punta Arenas with 8 contacts who were assisting them with their weekly radio program production. Artemus and Esteban met with the contacts and explained the situation. To their delight all agreed to enroll. [The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America: Some Remembrances by Artemus Lamb]

She passed away in Bogota on the 15th of August 1986. See her obituary at BW20p838.

The first believer in Bolivia was Madame Yvonne de Cuellar. [The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America: Some Remembrances by Artemus Lamb]

Note:Amir Kabir was the 19th century Iranian Qajar minister who ordered the execution of many members of the early Bahá'í movement. [Iran Press Watch 1407]

Note: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918-1929) was later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929-1941). As could be expected, the amalgamation of these states created a religiously pluralistic society. The legally recognized religions were the Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Churches, the Orthodox Church, Islam and the Greek Orthodox Church. In May 1941, a new law was passed rendering it easier to change religion. People could fill in a form and simply submit it to the authorities, which then issued a certificate of religion. [State of Governance of Religious Communities in Former Yugoslavia and the Developments of the Bahá’í Community and Jehovah’s Witnesses Status by Aleksandra Zibelnik Badii p58]

"Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups."

This study was an elaboration of ideas he first proposed in 1933 in his address to the Fifth International Conference for the Unification of Penal Law (1933), which argued that attacks on racial, religious and ethnic groups should be considered international crimes. Important for the prosecution of the Nazis, it helped to establish the framework for all subsequent efforts to punish crimes against humanity.

When Lemkin proposed a treaty against genocide to the United Nations in 1945, he defined it as follows:

"The crime of genocide should be recognized therein as a conspiracy to exterminate national, religious or racial groups. The overt acts of such a conspiracy may consist of attacks against life, liberty or property of members of such groups merely because of their affiliation with such groups. The formulation of the crime may be as follows: "Whoever, while participating in a conspiracy to destroy a national, racial or religious group, undertakes an attack against life, liberty or property of members of such groups is guilty of the crime of genocide."

The Moslem World publication described itself as being a "A Christian quarterly review of current events, literature and thought among Mohammedans." One of its editors, Miller, is among other things, a missionary, an ordained minister, and the author of such books as Islam-A Challenge to Faith, and Mohammed or Christ. Of ten associate editors, five bear the title of "Reverend," a sixth having the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

The author of this article, himself a missionary, explains at the outset why it has written. He says, "There are a number of centers in America where Bahais (sic) have been conducting meetings and working for their cause for a number of years, and it sometimes happens that people who come in touch with them wish to know more about the movement." After recommending a study of our literature he says that the editors of The Moslem World have requested the writing of this article "to meet the need of those who wish to consider the movement Issfrom a different point of view." [World Order Vol 7 Issue 2 May 1941 p46-63]

The Bahá'í Radio Hour, "Words and Music" was broadcasted every Sunday from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM and a program called "Bahá'í Echo" three times a week Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:15 to 9:30 PM. [Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 p5]

Around 1925 she became a member of the Bahá'í Faith after having learned of the Faith at the 17th World Congress in 1925 in Geneva where she met Martha Root who was already well known among the Esperantists. Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel gave a short talk in Esperanto in which he explained Bahá'u'lláh's teachings and cited 'Abdu'l-Bahá's praises of Esperanto and of Dr Zamenhof. In late 1937 she went to the United States to teach that religion as well as Esperanto. In December 1938 she had to leave the United States as that country's Immigration Service declined to extend her visa for the illegal "paid labor" of teaching Esperanto. She returned to Poland, where she continued to teach and translate many Bahá'í writings.

Under the German occupation regime of 1939, her home in Warsaw became part of the Warsaw Ghetto. She was arrested under the charge of having gone to the United States to spread anti-Nazi propaganda, but after a few months, she was released and returned to her home city where she and the rest of her family remained confined. There she endeavoured to help others get medicine and food. She was offered help and escape several times by Polish Esperantists but refused in each case. To one Pole, well-known Esperantist Jozef Arszennik, who had offered her refuge on several occasions, she explained, "you and your family could lose your lives, because whoever hides a Jew perishes along with the Jew who is discovered." To another, her explanation was contained in her last known letter: "Do not think of putting yourself in danger; I know that I must die but I feel it is my duty to stay with my people. God grant that out of our sufferings a better world may emerge. I believe in God. I am a Bahá'í and will die a Bahá'í. Everything is in His hands." [JewAge]

Shoghi Effendi called her "the spiritual mother of Canada" and Montreal the "mother city of Canada". [OBCC35]

The Tablet of Naw-Rúz 101 has been named Lawh-i-Qarn (Tablet of the Centennial). It was unveiled in a solemn pilgrimage ceremony at the House of the Báb in the presence of the 91 delegates exactly one hundred years after the visit of Mullá Husayn.

A partial English translation of this Persian document can be found in Tablet of the Centennial by Shoghi Effendi translated by Khazeh Fananapazir. This paper also makes reference to the article below.

Dr 'Alí Muhammad Varqa's article, Le Style persan du Gardien, was presented at the Association for Bahá'í Studies 9th Annual Conference in Ottawa in 1984 and can be found in the book of the proceedings of that conference, The Vision of Shoghi Effendi p209. In his paper he quotes from a number of Tablets to describe the style of Shoghi Effendi's writing in Persian, one of them is the Tablet of the Centennial.

On 28 November 2023 the Universal House of Justice, in a message to the Bahá'ís of the world, provided a review of the previous 100 years of the Formative Age.

See Ruhiyyih Khanum's account of Shoghi Effendi's writing of taken from The Priceless Pearl on Blogspot 7 April 2025.

After Abdu'l-Fadl passed away in early 1914 the American believers, in gratitude for the contribution he had made to the American Bahá'í community, collected a sum of money for the construction of a suitable monument for his grave. The work was interrupted with the Ascension of the Master and the money collected was reverted the National Fund. That money was now sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt. [BW9p89]

The homefront goals were:
  - To establish two new Spiritual Assemblies in Australia
  - To establish nineteen groups in Australasia

1. Consolidation of all local Bahá'í communities.

2. Reestablishment of 62 dissolved Assemblies. (93 LSAs formed)

3. Formation of 22 groups. (37 established)

4. Creation of 13 new centres. (24 localities established)

5. Development of Assemblies from groups in three adjoining countries, namely in Kabul, Afghanistan, Mecca, Arabia and Bahrein Island, Persian Gulf.

6. The formation of groups in four localities on the Arabian Peninsula.

7. The sending pioneers to India and 'Iráq to assist in the formation of new groups.

The Bahá'ís of Tehran were called upon to send out 50 families into the pioneer field. (160 arose) Every individual Bahá'í was included in the operation of the Plan-as a volunteer, by deputizing a pioneer, by contributing funds, by circuit teaching or by providing hospitality to students whose parents had become pioneers. [BW4p34-35; BW11p34-36]

The goals were:
   -To increase the number of Bahá'í centres
   -To complete the construction of the National Hazíratu'l-Quds
   -To raise contributions to support the National Fund
   -To establish ten new Local Assemblies
   -To encourage Bahá'í communities in the south of the country

The notion of a Jewish state evolved during the nineteenth century and in the aftermath of the French Revolution, which generated the idea of nation states and nationhood in the modern sense. The first plans came from non-Jewish sources. Napoleon Bonaparte suggested the settlement of European Jews in the Suez region to safeguard a canal project he had envisaged. Lord Palmerstone, British Foreign Secretary from 1830-1841, seeking to halt French advances in the East, planned the establishment of a British-backed Jewish client-state in Palestine to stop their advance and block Muhammad Ali´s progress. Plans of this kind set up by the Powers for safeguarding their own interests were quite numerous. When the Germans were constructing the Berlin-Baghdad Railway in the years before its completion in 1940, plans were made to settle Jews in Asia Minor alongside the rails or bestow an Ottoman Pashaliq (Territorial administrative division) upon the territory occupied by them.

After the French Revolution the Jews of Central and Western Europe now felt that they were citizens of their respective countries. Orthodox Jews refused the idea of a Jewish state believing that only when the Messiah came that such a state could be founded.

But then anti-Semitism was on the rise in Europe from the early and mid 1800s with such beliefs as Social Darwinism, Eugenics, Scientific Racism, Racial Hierarchy: the Nazi Racial Theories and the lingering concepts of colonialism and imperialism. The horrors of the Holocaust played a significant role in discrediting and rejecting these racial and biological ideologies that were not based on sound scientific findings.

Jews had started to immigrate into Palestine after the first anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia in 1881 and more especially after the establishment of the World Zionist Organization in 1897, it was of a different, a political nature. The Jewish immigrants came now with the explicit aim to establish a state of their own and to the exclusion of the Arab inhabitants of the land.

"The Jewish Colonial Projects in Palestine" refer to the efforts by Jewish individuals and organizations to establish settlements and communities in the region of Palestine, primarily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These efforts were part of the broader Zionist movement which aimed to establish a Jewish homeland in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and later became the British Mandate of Palestine. These projects played a significant role in the eventual establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

First Aliyah (1882-1903): The First Aliyah was a wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine that began in the early 1880s. During this period, many Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia settled in agricultural communities, known as "moshavot," in various parts of Palestine. They aimed to establish self-sustaining agricultural settlements and escape persecution in their home countries.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild's Support: Baron Edmond de Rothschild, a wealthy European financier, provided financial support to many Jewish settlers in Palestine. His contributions were crucial for the development of Jewish agricultural communities and wineries in the region.

Second Aliyah (1904-1914): The Second Aliyah brought another wave of Jewish immigrants to Palestine. Many of these immigrants were inspired by socialist and labour-oriented ideologies. They established kibbutzim and collective communities, which emphasized communal living and shared resources.

Jewish National Fund (JNF): The JNF, founded in 1901, played a pivotal role in acquiring and developing land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. It purchased and reclaimed land, planted forests, and financed infrastructure projects.

Balfour Declaration (1917): During World War I, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. This declaration laid the foundation for future Zionist aspirations.

British Mandate Period (1920-1948): After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain the mandate to govern Palestine. During this period, Jewish immigration and settlement continued, despite tensions with the Arab population. The Arab-Jewish conflict over land and political control intensified.

Haganah and Israel Defense Forces: Jewish settlers organized defense forces, such as the Haganah, in the 1920s to protect their communities. They provided defence for Jewish communities and countered Arab attacks, facilitated the illegal immigration of Jewish refugees to Palestine, coordinated the various Jewish paramilitary groups and were involved in the acquiring and stockpiling of weapons and military equipment. These groups later evolved into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

1948 Arab–Israeli War (1947-1949)

With the British Mandate coming to an end, the United Nations approved the partition plan for Palestine, leading to the declaration of the State of Israel on the 14th of May 1948. The following day a military coalition of Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, invaded Israel to prevent its establishment. They took control of the areas designated for Arabs and attacked the Jewish forces and settlements. As a result of the war Israel got all the lands mandated to them by the UN and 60% of the territory meant for the Arabs as well as the area that had been meant for an "international zone". Israel had retained its independence and had expanded its territory.

This period is known as "Nakba" ("catastrophe" in Arabic). Some historians estimate that around 720,000 out of the 900,000 Palestinian Arabs that had lived in the land that was to become Israel were expelled. Another estimate says the 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. [The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe; Palestinian Expulsion and Flight]

Further details on the conflicts, Causes, Key Events of the War, as well as Outcomes and Consequences can be found here.

The UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) is a UN agency established in 1949 that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. It's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Palestine War and subsequent conflicts, as well as their descendants, including legally adopted children. As of 2023, more than 5.9 million Palestinians are registered with UNRWA as refugees. [UNRWA]

Every year on 9 December, the United Nations marks the adoption of the Genocide Convention, which is also the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. [Ratification of the Genocide Convention]

The crime of genocide has three elements: 1. Acts of genocide committed with, 2. intent to destroy, in whole or in part, 3. a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. For more detailed information see Genocide Watch. On that site Dr Gregory Stanton lists the ten states of genocide: Classification, Symolization, Discrimination, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Preparation, Persecution, Extermination and Denial. [Ten Stages]. iiiii

The inability, under restrictions imposed by the war, to hold Convention sessions this year challenged the National Spiritual Assembly to maintain the important functions of the annual meeting through other means. Steps were therefore taken to provide for Voting by mail, with a committee of tellers to serve in the customary way, to conduct a public meeting or Bahá'í Congress in Foundation Hall during the Riḍván Period, and to provide the delegates with subjects for written suggestions and views. [BN No 174 April-May 145 p2]

"Sister Mehrangis [Mehrangiz] followed example Ruhi's sister. Justice demands announce believers her expulsion."(UD149)

There were nine indigenous believers in the city. [The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America: Some Remembrances by Artemus Lamb]