Review I, Who Did Not Die, A Sweeping Story Of Loss, Redemption, And Fate

Haftland, Zahed & Aboud, Najah with Meredith May, I, Who Did Not Die, A Sweeping Story Of Loss, Redemption, And Fate, Regan Arts, 2017

 

I Who Did Not Die is a moving story about two soldiers on opposite sides during the Iran-Iraq War. Zahed Haftland was a 13 year old who joined the Basij because he didn’t get along with his father and wanted a direction in life. Najah Aboud was a businessman and ex-soldier who was drafted back into the army when the war began. By chance the two came across each other on the battlefield when Zahed helped Najah. They then had harrowing tales of being prisoners of war. The fact that the two not only survived their ordeals but were re-united decades later is why you should read this book.

 

The story switches back and forth between the two characters and both are engaging from the start. Things begin with Zahed living in Iran and leaving home because of his constant conflicts with his father. One day he delivered supplies to the frontlines in the Iran-Iraq War and met a member of the Basij which was like the youth corps of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and he decided to join. He was initially a medic but later became a sniper. Najah on the other hand had been in the military before but was running a successful restaurant in Baghdad called the Bruce Lee Café because he decked the walls with pictures of the Kung Fu star. He was drafted back into the army for the war and joined a tank unit.

 

The story is based upon the fact that Najah’s unit was overrun and he was shot and wounded when Zahed came across him. He had orders to kill all Iraqi prisoners but when Zahed took out a Quran and showed him a picture of his wife and child he decided to help the injured Iraqi.

 

The book really shows some of the brutality of the Iran-Iraq War. Zahed’s Basij unit for example was only given 2 weeks of basic training and then used as cannon fodder to weaken Iraqi defenses before the regular military was used. In one instance little kids including Zahed were sent to clear a minefield with their bodies. Zahed miraculously made it safely to the other side while many of his comrades were killed in the process.

 

Both faced several tragedies but the majority of I Who Did Not Die is about their time as prisoners. Najah refused to denounce his country and support the Iranian Revolution and was sent to various prisons for troublemakers like one in a mine where he only saw sunlight for a few hours a day through a hole in the roof of his cell. His fellow inmates slowly died from the poor conditions. Zahed was captured as well and was sent to one facility where the commander was intent upon torturing him to death. One time he was thrown into a pit of human waste and left there for the night. Both were tortured. It’s this part of the book which is the most moving because it’s a stark reminder of how the human spirit can survive the worst circumstances. Both were beat down and had times when they actually gave up and could’ve died but their spirits persevered.

 

I Who Did Not Die is a book full of tragedies. One bad thing after another happens to the two protagonists. It’s what keeps the reader’s attention to see what will come next and how Zahed and Najah would respond. It ends on a high note however which reaffirms people’s humanity. There are surprisingly few books written about the Iran-Iraq War and none that I know of that deal with accounts of combatants in English. It gives a personal touch to one of the most brutal wars in recent history.

 

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