Bahá’í News/Issue 515/Text

←Previous

Bahá’í News Issue 515

Next→

Proofread onceReturn to PDF view

[Page -1]

---

No. 515

BAHA’I YEAR 130

FEBRUARY, 1974

---

On Lady Blomfield

by O. Z. Whitehead

A Pioneering Context

The Cost of Constancy

by Ugo and Angeline Giachery

[Page 0] page seven

page fourteen

page eighteen

CONTENTS

Messages from The Universal House of Justice	1
Around the World	2
Lady Blomfield: an aristocrat of the spirit	7
In Memoriam	13
A Pioneering Context: Bluefields, Nicaragua	14
The Cost of Constancy: impressions of Lydia Zamenhof	18

COVER PHOTO

Bluefields Bay. Most transportation is limited to boats, such as the ones on the cover. Bluefields is six hours by bus from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Air travel is possible, but expensive, and the schedules are extremely limited.

CORRECTIONS

Bahá’í News regrets the unfortunate misplacement of four paragraphs in the article by Ugo Giachery, Birth and Development of the World Centre, printed in the December, 1973 issue. On page 3, column 3, the paragraph beginning, “I could then fully share...,” through the paragraph beginning, “The golden threads...,” were inadvertently shifted from their true position at the end of the article.

On page 1, Bahá’í News, January 1974, in the title to an article by A.Q. Faizí, Toward the Unity of East and West, the name of the Sháh was misspelled. The accepted spelling is Muẓaffari’ d-Dín Sháh.

POSTAL INFORMATION

Bahá’í News is published for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community.

Bahá’í News is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee.

Material must be received by the twenty-fifth of the second month preceding date of issue. Address: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091, U.S.A.

Change of address should be reported directly to Membership and Records, National Bahá’í Center. 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. U.S.A. 60091.

[Page 1]

Cablegrams

Design for building accepted

JOYFULLY ANNOUNCE ACCEPTANCE EXQUISITE DESIGN CONCEIVED BY HUSAYN AMANAT FOR BUILDING TO SERVE AS PERMANENT SEAT UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE MOUNT CARMEL DECISION MADE TO PROCEED NEGOTIATE CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION THIS NOBLE EDIFICE SECOND THOSE BUILDINGS DESTINED ARISE AROUND ARC CONSTITUTE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER BAHÁ’Í WORLD.

FEBRUARY 8, 1974

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Passing Karen Bare announced

DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY DEATH VALIANT DEDICATED MUCH LOVE MAID SERVANT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH KAREN BARE. HER DEVOTED SERVICE PIONEER FIELD SPLENDID EXAMPLE OTHER YOUTHFUL BELIEVERS; ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICES. PRAYING SACRED THRESHOLD RICH REWARD BLESSING ABHA KINGDOM.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Passing Philip Marangella marked

DEEPLY GRIEVED LEARN PASSING PHILIP MARANGELLA DEVOTED SERVANT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH STEADFAST SUPPORTER COVENANT HIS PIONEER SERVICES TIRELESS WORLDWIDE TRAVELS BEHALF FAITH MOST PRAISEWORTHY PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICE.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Passing Anna Kunz announced

DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING ANNA KUNZ STEADFAST DISTINGUISHED HANDMAID BAHÁ’U’LLÁH HER ASSOCIATIONS BELOVED MASTER DEVOTED PIONEERING SERVICES EUROPE OVER EXTENDED PERIOD UNFORGETTABLE ADVISING GERMAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERING MOTHER TEMPLE EUROPE PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA ‎KINDOM KINGDOM‎.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE.

[Page 2]

Around the World

Argentina:

Television broadcast

An estimated 20 million people in Argentina recently learned something of the Bahá’í Faith from a popular national television program, “Lunching With Mirtha Legrand.”

Miss Legrand, whose 90-minute show is broadcast from Buenos Aires, invited a representative of the National Spiritual Assembly to explain the beliefs of Bahá’ís to her viewers. The Legrand show, featuring a round-table conversation with five important and unusual people, is aired each weekday. The show is pleasantly staged, and the questions are in excellent taste, according to the Argentine Proclamation Committee.

Miss Legrand twice read the quote, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” on the air. She placed the Bahá’í representative at the head of the table and asked him the first questions.

At the end of the program, she spontaneously embraced her Bahá’í guest and remarked that the Faith would now be known throughout Argentina. More than 30 telephone calls and telegrams on the Bahá’í Faith were received at the studio while the show was still in progress.

Jamaica:

Island-wide proclamation

More than 150 prominent citizens of Kingston, Jamaica, attended the inaugural meeting of the second annual Tell the News Campaign, at the National Bahá’í Center, on 3 November.

The 22-day campaign, which ended 24 Nov. was coordinated by the National Youth and Child Education Committee of Jamaica. Its purpose was to stimulate Bahá’í youth activities on the island and to teach the Bahá’í Faith.

Among the dignitaries attending the Kingston meeting was Senator Paul Miller, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Community Development, who seemed very interested in the proceedings, according to the National Assembly. Auxiliary Board member Hopeton Fitz-Henley was the public speaker.

Displays were developed by the Kingston Youth Club and distributed to eight communities with the request that they be exhibited in public places such as libraries, store windows, banks, etc.

Forty information kits on the Bahá’í Faith, offering a Bahá’í speaker, were sent to secondary schools, colleges, and the University in Jamaica. Seven institutions requested Bahá’í speakers as a consequence of this mailing. At Meadowbrook High School in Kingston, for example, 250 students were assembled for a talk on the Bahá’í Faith.

The Youth and Child Education Committee estimates that more than 1,000 persons were directly contacted during the three-week campaign.

International Youth Conference

Bahá’ís attending an international youth conference near Alajuela, Costa Rica, sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors in Central America. Approximately 120 people attended, including Counsellors Artemus Lamb and Alfred Osborne, and Auxiliary Board member Rodrigo Tomás of Costa Rica. Participants at the 26-30 December conference were from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, and the U.S.

[Page 3] Canada

Teaching conferences

The Continental Board of Counsellors for North America has initiated a novel project to help strengthen Canada’s Local Spiritual Assemblies. The elements of this project are a pledge and a challenge. The pledge: to commit their entire personnel and resources to the task of helping to develop vigorous local teaching plans throughout Canada. The challenge: a call to every local institution to commit itself to matching the effort invested in this project by the Counsellors themselves.

This project was formulated by a committee of Hands of the Cause, Continental Counsellors, and Auxiliary Board members at their annual meeting in Chicago last September, after hearing a representative of the Canadian National Assembly describe his country’s interim year plan to stimulate more local initiative in teaching the Faith.

To carry the plan into effect, the Counsellors have been conducting a series of weekend teaching conferences throughout Canada to inspire the friends to be more active teachers. By Riḍván, they will have participated in 70 such conferences.

The first day of these two-day meetings is devoted to consultation on teaching with the entire Bahá’í Community from the two or three localities invited to attend. The second day is spent in intensive, action-oriented consultation with the Local Assemblies from these communities to work out a specific teaching plan the Assemblies will commit themselves to follow. The Counsellors, the Local Assembly members, and representatives of the National Assembly take part in this session.

“This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a Continental Board of Counsellors and the National Spiritual Assembly have decided to collaborate on such an ambitious and closely integrated nationwide consolidation program,” a report in the Canadian Bahá’í News commented. “The program is also unique in the effort it is making to involve every one of Canada’s 200 Local Assemblies,” the report added.

Virtually every National Bahá’í administrative agency in Canada, as well as the Local Spiritual Assemblies, is intensively participating in this experimental project.

The initial conference of the series was held in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on October 20. The National Assembly representative there said of the conference: “The most significant impression I received from participating in this conference is that there is a new strength building, a deeper insight, and a much broader scope of the Local Spiritual Assembly’s potentialities.”

Historic meeting in Wilmette

A series of historic meetings between the Canadian National Assembly and the National Assembly of the United States took place in Wilmette, Illinois, between Feb. 15-18. The Canadian National Assembly is shown above with the members of the Continental Board of Counsellors.

Bulk sales increasing

A dramatic indication of growth in the Canadian Bahá’í community was given in a recent report from the National Treasurer showing that sales of Bahá’í literature jumped from $7,500 in 1964 to $68,400 in 1973.

The Canadian National Assembly has also established a construction fund for a new Hazíratu’l-Quds; “the largest single project undertaken by the Canadian community to date,” according to the treasurer’s report.

United States:

Conference planned

More than 6,000 people are expected to attend a conference in St. Louis, Missouri, from August 29 to September 2, planned by the National Assembly of the United States to launch the forthcoming five-year international teaching plan. The St. Louis conference may become one of the largest gatherings in Bahá’í history.

A 10,000-seat auditorium in downtown St. Louis has been reserved for the occasion, and preparations for the four-day program are now well underway.

The St. Louis conference will afford an opportunity for the National Assembly to share with the friends the goals of the new plan to be won by the United States.

A special program for children will be a feature of the conference, as will a major exhibit of Bahá’í art.

[Page 4]

Energy conservation

An energy conservation plan for Bahá’í properties in the United States has been developed by the National Spiritual Assembly to cooperate with government efforts to conserve critically short fuel supplies.

The most striking feature of this plan has been to eliminate the nighttime use of floodlights around the Temple. The House of Worship’s dramatic lighting system has not been used since November 26. This action has been noted in press reports around Wilmette, where the House of Worship is considered a local landmark.

An exception to the new policy will be made by the National Assembly on Bahá’í Holy Days, when the lights will be turned on during the evening hours. Some of the walkways circumscribing the building also remain lighted at night as a safety and security precaution.

Other energy conservation measures have included the lowering of room temperatures in National Center offices and at Bahá’í properties in South Carolina, New Jersey, Michigan, and Maine.

Dr. Rexford Parmelee, secretary of the National Bahá’í Properties Committee, said the new energy program “should in no way reduce school and institute sessions or the volume of teaching activities.”

He said a policy of economy is not foreign to Bahá’í administration. “National committees have consistently striven for moderation and economy,” he said.

While only three or four dollars a day is saved by keeping the outside lights off, the measure serves to pointedly demonstrate the high sense of public responsibility felt by the National Assembly, Dr. Parmelee said.

The Bahá’í Home for the Aged, also in Wilmette, has not been included in the conservation program because of the special health needs of its elderly residents. The use of fuel and other energy there remains at approximately the same level as before.

U.N. Day observance

The Bahá’ís in the United States have observed United Nations Day and UN Week since 1947, when the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada first established an official relationship with the United Nations Office of Public Information.

To observe the anniversary of the inauguration of these observances, the UN invited political leaders and press representatives from 30 nations to a one-day symposium on the pressing economic problems of developing nations. Non-governmental organizations were also invited to attend. Representatives of the Bahá’í International Community and the National Assembly of the United States were present for the observance.

In an opening address, UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim said the purposes of the UN Charter—“to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”—cannot be regarded separately.

“They are part of our mandate,” he said. “Improvements in the social and economic fields cannot be achieved in circumstances of war and tension. Severe social and economic imbalance are, in themselves, a threat to international stability.”

He said the UN’s International Development Strategy, a cooperative undertaking with developing nations to improve the living standards of their peoples, is “the most comprehensive attempt yet made to see development not as a ‘problem’ of the developing countries, nor as the subject of a new appeal to the generosity of the industrialized nations, but as a condition of fundamental world imbalance which can be, must be, and can only be righted by the international community acting in concert.”

The Secretary-General ended his presentation by restating the essential goal of the world organization: “The principal purpose of the United Nations is the restoration and maintenance of peace,” he said.

“We cannot achieve a lasting peace in a world of glaring economic, social, and human imbalances,” he continued. “To correct this imbalance is therefore an urgent challenge confronting the world community. It can be met. It cannot wait.”

Following Mr. Waldheim’s remarks, 111 of the Non-Governmental Organizations, among them the Bahá’í International Community, presented to him a statement of support for the goals of national and world development. The document was presented at a ceremony attended by ministers of planning and government officials from developing nations, international press representatives, and educators.

“As organizations devoted to humanitarian causes, we recognize that on this increasingly interdependent planet, societies can no longer remain isolated—the rich from the poor, the advantaged from the disadvantaged,” the statement said in part. “Too many problems are common to all mankind—pollution of the air and waters, epidemics, drug abuse, the threat of overpopulation, dwindling mineral and food resources, to name but a few. Unless the nations of the world unite to overcome these problems, the nations themselves will surely be overcome.”

[Page 5] India:

Proclamation weeks

Roberta Barrar

Proclamation weeks are a time of great joy in India. Well ahead of time, permission is secured for the placement of banners throughout the towns; lists of offices and banks to be visited are compiled, and maps are drawn; prayer sessions are held, and invitations to neighboring communities to participate are mailed.

In Poona, during my recent visit there, the Bahá’ís arranged for an exhibition at one college of a series of posters describing the Faith. The community set up a table and gave out flyers and information. In the afternoon, there was singing and a talk by Narulla, formerly a Sikh, whose entire family is now Bahá’í. A singing group visited a number of elementary schools to sing songs and give the Message. Hundreds of children sat patiently on the floor listening, then they sang songs to return the favor. Teaching teams visited the hostels of several colleges and gave the Message.

In the south, Bangalore-Mysore, the friends have about 600 people on a mailing list for a correspondence course on the Bahá’í Faith. During a week of proclamation there, the teaching teams on one occasion went to a college cafeteria to take a short break. Within ten minutes, a crowd gathered at three ‎seperate separate‎ tables near them to learn about the Faith.

In Sholapur, in Western India, the teaching team took its meals and shared the evening entertainment with the village deepening conference being held there simultaneously. One villager told the story about a band of gypsies that had come near his village. His neighbors were terrified. They closed their shops and went home. But he went to investigate for himself and discovered that they were a group of harmless families, nomadic because of famine. He brought them home to meet the townspeople. He suggested that independent investigation was one method that could be applied worldwide to help bring about understanding and peace.

Hawaii:

Television series

A television program on the Bahá’í Faith, featuring the Hand of the Cause William Sears, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Garcia, and the new Bahá’í Chorus, was broadcast throughout the Hawaiian Islands on December 24.

The program was the first of a series of 13 shows the National Assembly of Hawaii has scheduled for broadcast. It is hoped they will begin to air in time to inaugurate the new global teaching plan at Riḍván.

The half-hour, color program was telecast during prime viewing time by the American Broadcasting Corporation in Hawaii.

The New World

Gina Garcia

We barely had time to weed our vegetable patch after returning from New Zealand before we received a call from the Hawaiian National Assembly. Hand of the Cause William Sears was going to Hawaii to work on some television programs, and the National Assembly wanted us to assist in their production.

The series is entitled “The New World.” It consists of thirteen informal half-hour programs that feature brief talks, songs by the chorus, and beautiful slides. We completely filmed and recorded two shows in color, and enough music for the remaining 11 shows has been taped. Future programs will feature Bahá’í entertainers such as Vic Damone, Seals and Crofts, and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as outstanding Bahá’ís in other fields such as education or law. There was a great spirit of cooperation among the friends working on the project. We recorded over 70 Bahá’í songs. We rehearsed during the day, and the shows were filmed between midnight and 5 a.m. at the only time the television studio was available. ABC (Channel 4) in Hawaii has already previewed the first program featuring Hand of the Cause Sears and has agreed to show the entire series, one program each Sunday. Individual shows or the entire series will be available for purchase through the National Spiritual Assembly of Hawaii. An announcement will be made when they are available.

[Page 6] Togo:

Youth project

On Sunday, November 25, the Bahá’í youth of Togo, West Africa, set out on a project to the neighboring community of Agouévé. The trip was intended to promote fellowship and enable the youth to serve in another community.

Joined by Agouévée Bahá’ís, the youth visited the homes of believers and talked to passers-by.

Following lunch, two youth gave talks on the covenant and various other Bahá’í topics. There was singing throughout the day. The atmosphere of fellowship and unity made the young believers reluctant to gather their belongings and leave for home at the end of the day.

Botswana:

Bushman Assembly

The all-Bushman Local Spiritual Assembly of Tshasane, in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana, was elected at Riḍván, 1973. From left to right, standing: Ci-!Gau; !’ea, treasurer; Titi, chairman; Siolo, secretary; Kaka. From left to right, seated: Matshipa; N!!g’’ae-!Nobo; Baberi; Mpalo. The Local Assembly of Tshasane was first formed in 1972.

N!!g’’ae-!Nobo, seated second from left, died in childbirth since this photograph was taken. Realizing that a Bahá’í burial was necessary, the Bushman Bahá’ís complied. They read the “Remover of Difficulties” prayer, which they had memorized in their own language, and interred the body with the head facing north, toward the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land.

Philippines:

Quezon City Assembly

For the first time in the history of the Faith in the Philippines, Quezon City, the national capital, elected a Local Spiritual Assembly last Riḍván. Happily, this has resulted in the holding of regular meetings and the development of teaching plans. The Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone visited the community in August 1973 and met with about 50 Bahá’ís and visitors. Mr. Featherstone and his wife also visited the cities of Baguio and Naga, where he addressed hundreds of students and faculty members at different colleges in each city. The President of the University of the East in Baguio was so impressed with what he heard in Mr. Featherstone’s talk that he invited the Bahá’ís to return to share their teachings with the rest of the school population of 60,000 students.

Great Britain:

Gillespie tour

Mr. John “Dizzy” Gillespie, the celebrated American jazz trumpeter, played a successful three-week engagement in Great Britain recently. He not only attracted the jazz fans and music critics there but also considerable publicity for the Bahá’í Faith.

One of Britain’s leading newspapers, the Manchester Guardian, printed a long feature article on Mr. Gillespie. Thames Television broadcast a late-night interview on his Bahá’í beliefs and their effect on his music.

Many of the friends attended performances by Gillespie’s quintet. One of their compositions is called “Olinga,” in honor of the Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga.

Operation HAMPER

Operation HAMPER, based in London, has been involved in three missions to date and has already netted almost $200 from its activities.

HAMPER is a catering service that got its name by combining the initials of its four founders—Hazel, Ann, Mahnaz, and Pamela. Its business is to prepare and serve food and refreshments to Bahá’í gatherings at prices that are at once modest but still high enough to provide a moderate profit. The profit goes to the National Bahá’í Fund.

[Page 7]

Lady Blomfield: an aristocrat of the spirit by O.Z. Whitehead

[Page 8] In a stimulating introduction to her inspiring, richly informative book The Chosen Highway, Lady Sara Louisa Blomfield (designated Sitarí Khánum by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá), has given an account of the first time that she and her daughter Mary (called Parvine by the Master) heard the Bahá’í Faith mentioned. It was at a reception given by Madame Lucien Monad at her house in Paris, early in the twentieth century. An attractive young guest, Miss Bertha Herbert, after seating herself between them, said to the Blomfields, “We have been taught to believe that a great Messenger would again be sent to the world. He would set forth to gather together all the people of goodwill in every race, nation, and religion on the earth. Now is the appointed time! He has come! He has come!”¹ Lady Blomfield was impressed. “These amazing words,” she has affirmed, “struck a chord to which my inner consciousness instantly responded, and I felt convinced that the portentous announcement they conveyed was indeed the truth. Great awe and intense exaltation possessed me with an overpowering force as I listened.”²

Assured by Lady Blomfield that she and Mary were deeply interested, Miss Herbert soon made an appointment for them to meet Miss Ethel Rosenberg, a distinguished painter and the second woman of the British Isles to enter the Cause, and Hippolyte Dreyfus, the first French believer. These two remarkable people gave the Blomfields much information about the Faith.

On their return to London, they became acquainted with Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper, the first Bahá’í of the British Isles. She and Ethel Rosenberg met with the Blomfields to make plans for spreading the Message.

From the time Lady Blomfield first heard of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, her foremost aim was to serve His Cause. Late in August 1911, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was still in Egypt but preparing to leave for Europe, she sent Him an invitation to stay at her home at 97 Cadogan Gardens in London. A few days later, she received the following telegram in reply:

‘Abdu’l-Bahá arriving in London 8th September. Can Lady Blomfield receive Him?³

Lord Balfour ordered Allenby to protect ‘Abdu’l-Bahá once Haifa was taken by the British army.

Mary Blomfield has described her mother as she was at that time: “She had the beauty of a mature soul. The molding of her face was lovely. Her facial expressions ever changing, reflected the spiritual harmony within. She wore garments with long flowing lines which made her seem taller than her natural height.”⁴

Lady Blomfield has written that when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá entered her house, “a silence as of love and awe overcame us, as we looked at Him. One saw as in a clear vision that He had so wrought all good and mercy that the inner grace of Him had grown greater than all outer sign, and the radiance of this inner glory shone in every glance and word and movement as He came with hands outstretched.”⁵

Every day the famous, the obscure, the talented, the ordinary, the rich, and the poor came there to meet the Master. With much charm and consideration, Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney and his wife, Laura, both of whom knew Persian, translated what the Master said into English for everyone to hear. Lady Blomfield has recounted touching stories of His deeply compassionate treatment of individuals in great distress, and stories that demonstrated His delightful sense of humor. On one occasion, He was asked whether the misery-laden world would ever attain happiness: “It is nearly two thousand years since His Holiness, the Lord Christ taught this prayer to His people: ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,’” the Master

[Page 9] replied. “Thinkest thou that He would have commanded thee to pray for that which would never come? That prayer is also a prophecy.”⁶ After a stay in London of almost four weeks, He left on 3 October for Paris, to live in an attractive, comfortable apartment that the Dreyfus-Barneys had located at 4 Avenue de Camoëns, near the Quai de Passy, and the Trocadero Gardens. Every morning in His sitting-room, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained the Bahá’í Teachings to the many people who came to see Him. He gave special attention to workers in humanitarian societies who were attempting to relieve the suffering of the poor. The Dreyfus-Barneys now translated what He said into French.

Lady Blomfield, her sister Ellinor, named Nuri by the Master, her daughter Mary, and friend, Miss Beatrice Platt, called Verdiyeh by Him, took notes in English on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s addresses. After the ladies carefully assembled their notes, they sent them to the Master for His consideration. Well pleased with their work, He asked for its immediate publication. As a result, during May of 1912, this collection of superlative lectures was released in England under the title Paris Talks, and somewhat later in the United States as The Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Owing to the devotion and efficiency of the book’s composers, who had the foresight to record the English translations of the talks, this volume will always serve as a priceless introduction to the Cause and as a source of illumination to the believers of the West.

The Master gave lectures not only in His own apartment but in many other places. On 22 October He concluded a most powerful address with these reassuring words:

“God leaves not His children comfortless, but, when the darkness of winter overshadows them, then again He sends His Messengers, the Prophets, with a renewal of the blessed spring. The Sun of Truth appears again on the horizon of the world shining into the eyes of those who sleep, awaking them to behold the glory of a new dawn. Then again will the tree of humanity blossom and bring forth the fruit of righteousness for the healing of the nations. Because man has stopped his ears to the Voice of Truth and shut his eyes to the Sacred Light, neglecting the Law of God, for this reason has the darkness of war and tumult, unrest and misery, desolated the earth. I pray that you will all strive to bring each child of God into the radiance of the Sun of Truth, that the darkness may be dissipated by the penetrating rays of its glory and the winter’s hardness and cold may be melted away by the merciful warmth of its shining.”⁷

“Have today taken Palestine. Notify the world that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is safe.”

On 2 December ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left Paris for Egypt. After spending the winter there, He sailed from Alexandria to New York City, where He arrived on 11 April. At the end of His historic journey throughout the United States, lasting almost eight months, He sailed for England on 5 December to arrive at Liverpool on 13 December,

Field Marshal Viscount Allenby.

[Page 10]

Any kind of suffering touched Mother profoundly, but the sight of young men maimed for life tortured her beyond words.

These three photographs at the right show Haifa around 1929 (left), Haifa in 1940 (center), and Haifa today (right).

and in London three days later, on 25 March 1912.

Staying with Lady Blomfield as before, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again received a constant stream of visitors. Hand of the Cause, Hasan Balyuzi, has reported this delightful incident that took place there: “When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat down to dinner on Christmas Eve, He said, playfully, that He was not hungry, but He had to come to the dinner table because Lady Blomfield was very insistent; two despotic monarchs of the East had not been able to command Him and bend His will, but the ladies of America and Europe, because they were free, gave Him orders.”⁸

One evening, in the drawing-room of her house, the Master asked Mrs. Gabrielle Enthoven, “What is your great interest in life?”

She replied: “The Drama.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “I will give you a play. It shall be called ‘The Drama of the Kingdom’.”⁹ Without notes, and only pausing for the translator to speak, the Master gave her the outline of a moving, elaborate pageant about the coming of the Promised One. Some years later, Mary Blomfield, by then married to Basil Hall, wrote a play based on the Master’s outline. In 1933, the Weardale Press in London published her play.

Lady Blomfield’s father-in-law, Dr. Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London for twenty-eight years, was once a tutor to Queen Victoria. Through him Lady Blomfield knew people at court. On 16 January, she gave the Master a statement which she had written about the Cause and the purpose of His visit to London. She asked His permission to send this statement to George V, to assist her in arranging a meeting between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the King. Although the Master liked her statement and thought it well worth making, He advised her not to deliver it. He was afraid that her sincere intention, if carried out, might result in misunderstanding. That same day, at her home, the Master gave an instructive talk, in which He said that the believers needed to develop wisdom, insight, and steadfastness, and should give their undivided attention to the Cause in order to achieve its advancement. On 21 January 1913, He left London to visit Paris for a second time.

When the First World War began, Lady Blomfield, Mary, and Ellinor were living in Geneva, Switzerland. Soon afterward, the trio moved to the Hotel d’Jena, in Paris, to work for the French Red Cross, at the Hospital Hotel Majestic. May has written: “Any kind of suffering touched my Mother profoundly, but the sight of young men maimed for life, and the new and horrible experience she had to endure during the dressing of their wounds, tortured her beyond words.”¹⁰

The Blomfields continued to help with the wounded in Paris until their hospital unit was transferred to another city in March 1915; at which time they returned to London. For the remaining three years of the war, Lady Blomfield served on relief committees, gave regular assistance at numerous hospitals, and kept an open house for wounded soldiers. Despite her vigorous wartime service, she never failed to support Bahá’í meetings whenever it was possible to hold them, and regardless of how many people attended.

In the spring of 1918, she received a deeply disturbing telephone message from an authoritative source: “‘Abdu’l-Bahá in serious danger. Take immediate action.”¹¹ Without delay, she went to Lord Lamington, a distinguished Scottish peer who admired ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She told him what she had just learned. He promptly wrote a letter to the Foreign Office, stressing the noble services that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was performing, not only for the people of Palestine but for all of humanity. He delivered this letter to Lord Balfour, the Foreign Secretary. Lord Balfour quickly sent a cablegram to General Allenby, which said: “Extend every protection and consideration to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His family, and His friends, when the British march on Haifa.”¹² As soon as General Allenby had taken Haifa, several days before he was expected to do so, he wired London: “Have to-day taken Palestine. Notify the world that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is safe.”¹³

Lady Blomfield learned afterwards that her old friend, Major Wellesley Tudor-Pole, had sent the terrifying message which she received by telephone. Upon learning that the Turkish High Command threatened to crucify ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mount Carmel if the Turkish army should have to evacuate Haifa, Major Tudor-Pole made every effort to ensure His safety. Although the influential men to whom he first appealed for help knew nothing about

[Page 11]

He gave special attention to those who attempted to relieve the suffering of the poor.

The center photograph of Haifa shows the city ‎shortyl shortly‎ after it was bombed by Italian warplanes on July 15, 1940. One person was killed and several injured during the air assault.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá and saw no urgent reason to assist Him, the Major finally found one officer with important connections who showed some interest in the matter. With his help, the Major was able to send a message to the British Foreign Office.

At the end of the war, domestic affairs at home kept the Blomfields from making their intended pilgrimage.

Around 1920 Lady Blomfield made the decision to spend part of each year in Geneva, Switzerland. While in Geneva that year, she became a close friend of Eglantine Jebb, founder of the “Save the Children Fund.” Miss Jebb established the fund with her sister’s help after witnessing the tragic situation of great numbers of children in Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the war. It was intended to provide relief and assistance to starving and refugee children from all over the world. Deeply interested in this noble work, Lady Blomfield established a parallel “Blomfield Fund” in Geneva, “... to finance workrooms for children or for other relief work of a constructive character, which will increasingly constitute a more and more important part of the activities of the ‘Save the Children Movement.’”¹⁴ A Tablet which Lady Blomfield received from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on July 23, 1921, served as a perfect foreword to her pamphlet. He said in part, “To contribute towards the cause of these pitiful children and to protect and care for them is the highest expression of altruism and worship, and is well-pleasing to the Most High, the Almighty, the Divine Provider.”¹⁵

In early July 1920 Shoghi Effendi arrived in England from Haifa to attend Balliol College, Oxford. He brought with him Tablets from the Master to Lady Blomfield, Lord Lamington, and Major Tudor-Pole; the three of whom arranged for Shoghi Effendi to meet distinguished professors and Oriental scholars, from both Oxford and London Universities. During his sixteen months’ stay in England, the future Guardian became close to Lady Blomfield, among others.

On 29 November 1921, at midday, in the office of Major Tudor-Pole in London, Shoghi Effendi read in an open telegram the heart-breaking news that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had passed away. When, a moment later, the Major entered the room, he found Shoghi Effendi in a state of collapse. Miss Grand, a believer, took him to her home nearby and put him to bed for several days, where she, Lady Blomfield, the Guardian’s sister, Rouhangeze, and some others, did what they could to comfort him.

After a delay of some days because of passport difficulties, Shoghi Effendi, Rouhangeze, and Lady Blomfield sailed from England for Egypt on 16 December. From Egypt, they went by train to Haifa, arriving on 29 December. Mary Basil Hall felt sure that her mother’s companionship on this journey was of great help to the grief-stricken Shoghi Effendi.

During her first weeks in the Holy Land, Lady Blomfield had the great privilege of collaborating with Shoghi Effendi, now Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, on a pamphlet entitled “The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” composed of an account of the tragic event, and reflections on this agonizing development.

In one most eloquent passage, they have written: “The eyes that had always looked out with loving-kindness upon humanity, whether friends or foes, were now closed. The hands that had ever been stretched forth to give alms to the poor and the needy, the halt and the maimed, the blind, the orphan, and the widow, had now finished their labor. The feet that, with untiring zeal, had gone upon the ceaseless errands of the Lord of Compassion, were now at rest. The lips that had so eloquently championed the cause of the suffering sons of men were now hushed in silence. The heart that had so powerfully throbbed with wondrous love for the children of God was now stilled. His glorious spirit had passed from the life of earth, from the persecutions of the enemies of righteousness, from the storm and stress of well-neigh eighty years of indefatigable toil for the good of others.”¹⁶

In March 1922, Shoghi Effendi called together a group of Bahá’ís from various countries, including Lady Blomfield, to consult with them on vital matters concerning the development of the Cause, particularly about the possibility of electing The Universal House of Justice at that time. He decided that The House of Justice could not possibly be established until the Local and National Assemblies were functioning in those countries where Bahá’í communities existed.

For the first three years of his ministry Shoghi Effendi carried out with no

[Page 12]

Lady Blomfield worked constantly on her book, overcoming great difficulties to do so.

The house at 4 Rue Camoens, in Paris, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed during his visit there.

Interruptions in his manifold and overwhelming tasks, despite his almost unbearable grief over the passing of the Master, and the strain and suffering caused by the plotting of the Faith’s enemies. On 5 April 1925, however, he left the Holy Land for Europe, where he would remain until he could regain sufficient physical strength and spiritual energy to resume his work of service. Before departing, he stipulated that Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, was to “administer in consultation with the family of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and a chosen assembly, all Bahá’í affairs during his absence.”¹⁷

Lady Blomfield remained in the Holy Land for several months after Shoghi Effendi’s departure. She heard thrilling stories about the Heroic Age of the Faith from The Greatest Holy Leaf, Munírih Khánum, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s widow, Túbá Khánum, his daughter, and several other survivors of those early years. Lady Blomfield took comprehensive notes during these meetings, hoping to include these stories in an intended book.

Munírih Khánum wrote to Basil Hall during this period: “We are all very glad to have the honorable lady, Sitárih Khánum, Lady Blomfield, in our midst. Her presence gives us much joy. We look upon her, not only as a friend, but as one of our dear family.”¹⁸

In 1930 Lady Blomfield made a second journey to the Holy Land to gather more material for the book she now definitely planned to write. At the end of this visit she returned to England, where for the rest of her life she shared a house in Hampstead, a district of London, with the Basil Halls. For several years, Lady Blomfield worked constantly on her book, overcoming great difficulties in doing so. She finished it a few weeks before her death on the last day of 1939.

The Hand of the Cause, Hasan Balyuzi, who at her request wrote the preface, has declared: “ ‘The Chosen Highway’ will forever remain the greatest monument to the achievements of its author... and to generations yet unborn it will hand a message rich in enlightenment.”

While going through her papers Mary was surprised to find how much she had written. With no apparent thought of publication, in diaries and in engagement books, Lady Blomfield had described her dreams and visions. Mary felt that a prayer, written faintly in pencil on an old piece of paper, expressed well the theme of her beloved mother’s beautiful and saintly life:

O God! My Beloved!

All my affairs are in Thy hands.

Be Thou the mover of my actions,

The Lodestar of my soul,

The voice that crieth in my inmost being,

The object of my heart’s adoration!

I praise Thee that Thou hast enabled me To turn my face unto Thee,

That Thou hast set my soul ablaze With remembrance!²¹

1. The Chosen Highway by Lady Blomfield (Sitárih Khánum), Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois. 1967. Page 1.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid. Page 149.
4. Bahá’í World. In Memoriam Sitárih Khánum (Sara, Lady Blomfield) by Mary Basil Hall. Page 149.
5. The Chosen Highway. Pages 149-150.
6. Ibid. Pages 171-172.
7. Paris Talks. Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 27 Rutland Gate, London S.W.7. Pages 32-33.
8. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, by H.M. Balyuzi. George Ronald, London. Page 350.
9. The Chosen Highway, Page 155.
10. Bahá’í World, Page 652.
11. The Chosen Highway, Page 219.
12. Ibid. Page 219.
13. Ibid. Page 221.
14. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Page 436.
15. Ibid. Page 436.
16. “The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” published privately in 1922 by Lady Blomfield with Shoghi Effendi’s approval.
17. The Priceless Pearl by Ruḥíyyih Rabbani. Bahá’í Publishing Trust 27 Rutland Gate, London S.W.7. Page 57.
18. Bahá’í World Page 653.
19. Ibid.
20. The Chosen Highway Preface Page V.
21. Bahá’í World, Page 656.

[Page 13]

In Memoriam

Karen Bare

Mrs. Karen Bare was in Hawaii in 1969 waiting for news of her husband, an officer in the Air Force serving in Vietnam, who had been reported missing in action. When an urgent call came from Haifa for pioneers to travel to the Republic of Cameroon, in Africa, she volunteered immediately. Within a few weeks, she was at that post, arriving June 20, 1969, and settling in a part of the country that had the greatest need for pioneers. Her activities as a pioneer were steadfast and varied, including serving as ‎Secretart Secretary‎ for that National Assembly, traveling and teaching, offering friendship and hospitality to believers and visitors.

Mrs. Bare was killed in an ‎automoble automobile‎ crash while on a visit to her family in the United States in early January. In commenting on her life and services, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Cameroon Republic said:

“The tragic news of the death of our dearly-loved young Bahá’í sister, member of our National Spiritual Assembly and of a number of National Committees and ardent promoter and protector of the Bahá’í Faith, came as a great blow to our Bahá’í Community. The friends in Cameroon are grief-stricken and even before receiving the inspiring cable from our Supreme Body, memorial meetings have been held in a number of places.

“Karen Bare was especially loved by the Cameroonian women and children, on whom she poured her love. She forgot ease and comfort and even during the Fast, in the heat of the day, would walk several miles to visit villages around Victoria for teaching and deepening.

“Her home was the home of all visitors and pioneers who came to Victoria. The Persians are famous for their hospitality but several remarked that they had seen none to equal hers.

“When the Bahá’ís of Cameroon read the cable message from The Universal House of Justice, they will feel some comfort for their sorrowing hearts. We hope that the youth will be inspired by ‘her devoted service (in the) pioneer field (and) splendid example’ both here in Cameroon and in her motherland.”

---

Anna Kunz

Mrs. Anna Kunz, a pioneer in Switzerland for over twenty years, passed away in Berne on 10 August 1973 after a brief illness. Her daughter, Mrs. Margaret Ruhe, recalls events in the life of this “distinguished handmaid of Bahá’u’lláh.”

Mother was born in Switzerland, the eldest of ten children of the Reverend Adolph Bolliger of the Reformed Church. Her father was a professor of theology at the University of Basel and a pastor of the New Meunster Church of Zurich.

As a young girl, Anna enrolled in a Home Economics school in Berne and, after graduation, taught there for a year. At the age of 24, she married Dr. Jakob Kunz, professor of physics at the University of Illinois. She moved to Urbana, Illinois, with him where she lived for 36 years. My sister and I were born there.

Almost the first year of their marriage, my parents began attending Bahá’í meetings. Mother recognized Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for this day at once. She became a Bahá’í about 1914 and remained loyal and steadfast throughout her life.

In 1921, my parents sailed to Egypt and then on to Haifa for pilgrimage at the Holy Shrines. They first met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Tiberias in March 1921, and later again in Haifa. That experience was the spiritual pinnacle of my mother’s life. She adored ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His Teachings.

In Urbana, Anna Kunz served for many years on the local Assembly, much of that time as chairman. She enjoyed administrative work and was a good executive. At the age of 50, she learned to type to better serve the Faith. After her husband died, she went pioneering back to Switzerland. She lived there for 23 years, served on the NSA for 16 of those years and as secretary for 10. When she passed away, the Universal House of Justice cabled their sorrow at the passing of a “steadfast, distinguished handmaid of Bahá’u’lláh.”

My mother was a strong personality. She demanded the highest standards of performance of herself and of those around her. She was family-oriented; the integrity and warmth of the family circle were important to her. All her life she remained close to her daughters and their families, adored her five grandchildren and was proud of her distinguished sons-in-law, one a lawyer with the United Nations, and the other a doctor serving on the Universal House of Justice.

Our home was a haven of peace, rest, and hospitality for all who came there. Scientists and poets, among them Rabindranath Tagore, visited us. Louis Gregory, Dorothy Baker, Dr. Zia Baghdadi, Corinne True, Allen McDaniel, and Madame Orlova, were our guests on many occasions.

Mother was respected for her knowledge of the teachings, her wisdom, and sound judgment. She was thoughtful and always knew how to bestow special love on her family and friends, by being perceptive of their needs and wishes. At 43, she learned to drive and often went from house to house to pick up friends for the meetings.

In the personal and intimate details of her life, she was a Bahá’í. Cleanliness, neatness, frugality, and meticulousness were her hallmarks. She knew the power of prayer, and her prayer book was always at her side.

Mother served the Faith with distinction, dedication, and dignity for almost 60 years. Up to her last day, she maintained a deep interest in every detail of the growth and development of the Faith. Her love and encouragement of the friends were shining beacons to all who knew her. I think she truly “lived the life” that we all aspire for.

“Grant then, O my God, that Thy servant may consort with Thy chosen ones, Thy saints and Thy Messengers in heavenly places that the pen cannot tell nor the tongue recount.”

Bahá’u’lláh

[Page 14]

A pioneering context: Bluefields, Nicaragua

compiled by Roberta Smith from

letters to the U.S.

International Goals Committee

from Richard and Kristine Wilson

[Page 15] We arrived in Bluefields, Nicaragua, in April 1969, during the dry season. Bluefields is a town of 17,000 people, and a major Nicaraguan port on the Caribbean. It is situated at the mouth of the Bluefields River, poised on the edge of a vast swamp, and surrounded by beautiful but stifling tropical forests.

The town was settled in the 18th century by the British, who intended to establish plantations to grow and export bananas. It got its name from the Dutch pirate Bleuwfeldt. The banana business flourished for awhile, until the trees became diseased, and buyers went elsewhere for their fruit. Today, relatively few bananas are exported from this region. Instead, the people on this coast are engaged in cultivating cocoa, lumbering certain hardwoods, and processing shell fish, all for export. About 80 percent of the people are Creoles; the remainder, Chinese, and Indians.

The National Assembly of Nicaragua had asked us to assist in consolidating and forming assemblies in coastal areas, where the majority of Bahá’ís live. We soon learned that the people were very friendly, but they had many problems. Large numbers were unemployed and were very poor. They sought escape through liquor and gambling; the crime rate was high. Carnivals and week-long rum parties were a major form of entertainment.

There were only two factories in the vicinity of Bluefields, both owned jointly by Americans and the Nicaraguan government. When job openings did occur, lines of people would form, all clamoring for the dollar-a-day positions. Even children were employed to clean the shrimp vats and carry the endless tonnage of waste. My wife, Kristine, and I had to create our own work since there was none to be had in Bluefields. With the financial assistance we received from Bahá’ís in the U.S., we were able to stay.

Everything in Bluefields was expensive. All food, except rice, beans, and fruit, was imported from the United States. A teabag cost a nickel and soda pop fifteen cents; prices that were out of the reach of the local inhabitants. Consequently, infant mortality was high.

Opposite: On the main street in Bluefields, the most prominent building is the Moravian Church.

Below: A native of Bluefields and a boat builder, Lloyd Forbes was secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly.

[Page 16] high, and few people lived to old age. They were taught that modern concepts of medicine and health were evil, and so turned to the “bush doctor” for temporary relief from suffering.

The river water was undrinkable and the rainwater, though fairly clean, often had worms in it. Malaria, carried by the ever-present mosquitoes, was a constant problem. I was sick with it three times in ten months.

When we arrived in Bluefields there seemed to be no housing available. After some searching, we found a large frame house available for $75 a month rent. In the States, it would have been considered substandard, but in Bluefields, it was quite nice. We had a private outdoor toilet, a tank to collect rainwater, a yard with fruit trees, and an attic for guests to sleep in. Often Indian friends visited, once they became accustomed to our presence there. The large house was our only luxury, and we were fortunate to have it, as it served as a location for feasts and firesides.

The major means of transportation was waterborne: small riverboats packed with bananas, cocoanuts, and pigs, in temperatures that reached 100 degrees. In certain seasons, one could also walk along the miles of white beaches, with feet covered to protect them from the sand flies and other insects.

Continental Counsellor Artemus Lamb once gave us the idea of having a radio program. Each week I wrote a fifteen-minute script which was broadcast on Sunday afternoon. The program reached far into the interior of the country, possibly into Honduras and Costa Rica as well. As we traveled to the remote villages afterwards it was as if someone had gone before us. Many families in Bluefields were also reached in this way.

We learned some of the local Indian language and attempted to translate songs and some prayers for broadcasts. In the native language, the word “Bahá” means “that”. The term “Bahá’u’lláh” means, “that which is coming.” And the word “Bahá’í” means “that’s it.” Therefore, when we say, “Bahá’u’lláh has come,” we are saying, in the native language “that which is coming has come.”

Top Left: A Bluefields boy in a “barrel of fun.”

Left: Typical wooden frame house with tin roofs. Rain water, which is highly saline and contaminated with bacteria, is gathered on the roofs for drinking.

Below: Bluefields at dusk photographed from Bluefields Bay.

[Page 17] Top Right: Main dock in Bluefields. Most transportation to and from Bluefields is by water. The city is a major Nicaraguan port on the Caribbean.

Bottom Right: A young girl ponders whether to get back into the Bluefields swimming hole.

Opposition to the Bahá’í Faith in Nicaragua was widespread because of the many missionaries, anthropologists, and strong Catholic and Anglican organizations active in the country. Yet in time, they began to respect the Bahá’ís because of the earnest efforts that were made to explain the aims and beliefs of the Bahá’í Faith to all people.

Although the problems in Bluefields were great, the rewards of pioneering overshadowed the grief. Some of the indigenous Bahá’ís rose above the crippling influences of local conditions and held fast to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. They went on their own to villages throughout the region and told the people of the advent of the Promised One. Many accepted the Faith, and many wished to learn more.

On one occasion, we set off to visit an Indian village near Rama, an inland journey of 60 miles along the Bluefields river. It had been visited by Bahá’ís eight years before. We paddled up the river in a boat made from a hollowed log and reached our destination in six hours. The two Bahá’ís who lived there were still dedicated believers. They, and every other villager, came to greet us. Their home is so isolated that one of the Bahá’ís had never heard of the United States; and yet they gave us their house and four eggs to make our stay more comfortable. The eggs were the only ones in the village.

The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh can no longer be ignored in Bluefields. Our weekly radio program, the unceasing labors of Cecilia King from Panama, and the “shot in the arm” visits from Bahá’ís of other countries taught everyone on the coast that the Faith exists and that it is moving forward. It was respected by the people and often criticized by the churches. Even though the membership was numerically small, everyone was aware of the Faith and watchful of its progress.

Of course, the work has only begun. Bluefields needs more pioneers; it needs an institute, and a school for training local teachers. The challenges of this climate and country create unique problems for the pioneers. The rewards here are yet to be reaped.

[Page 18]

The Cost of Constancy:

impressions of Lydia Zamenhof

by Ugo and Angeline Giachery

[Page 19] Had she lived a normal life, Lydia Zamenhof might have reached her seventieth birthday on 29 January 1974. We met her in New York, in the autumn of 1937, and were captivated by her charm, culture, and consecration to the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The latter was a rare quality in an Esperantist; of all those we had met before, only a handful had shown any interest in the Bahá’í Faith.

From our first meeting, we were impressed with Lydia Zamenhof’s determination to foster the unity of mankind. She was armed with faith in Bahá’u’lláh and the universal language invented by her renowned father,¹ Ludwig Zamenhof.

The youngest of three children, Lydia Zamenhof was born in Warsaw, Poland², in 1904. Her parents were of Jewish ancestry, and they gave their children a sound education. Lydia’s brother Adam became a prominent ophthalmologist; her sister Zofia became a physician, and Lydia herself obtained a degree in law from Warsaw University.³

Lydia Zamenhof was born an idealist. In her parents’ home, love for humanity and a spirit of unity were permanent themes in the education of the three children.

When Lydia received her law degree in 1925, she decided not to pursue a legal career, but rather to promulgate the knowledge of Esperanto. She had received certification to teach from the Czech International Institute of Esperanto at The Hague.

In 1913, at the age of nine, Lydia took part in the universal Esperantist Congress in Bern, Switzerland. Her father, interviewed at the congress by a representative of the ‘Christian Commonwealth,’⁴ said, “I have deep interest in the Bahá’í Movement because it is one of the great world movements which, similar to ours, educates men to brotherhood and invites them to know each other better and learn to love one another.” He later added, “I highly esteem the personality of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and his work. In him, I see one of the greatest benefactors that humanity has produced.”

It was the unforgettable Hand of the Cause of God Martha Root who led Lydia Zamenhof to the Bahá’í Faith. Miss Root seized every opportunity to contact the Zamenhof family. In April,

Ludwig Zamenhof, creator of ‎Esperento Esperanto‎

[Page 20]

Her family accused her of betraying the Jewish Faith and for a time she was persecuted by them.

Polish Jews being marched away by German soldiers after the occupation of Warsaw.

1926, she was the official representative of the Bahá’í Faith at the dedication of the monument erected upon the grave of Dr. Zamenhof in Warsaw. On that occasion, Lydia told Miss Root, “It seems to me that Esperanto is nothing else than a school for future Bahá’ís. The Bahá’í Faith is a step forward, it is much deeper.”

Several months later, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the 18th Universal Congress of Esperanto was held, in the same Freemason’s Hall where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had spoken in 1913 to the Esperanto Society.⁵ Miss Martha Root was again the official Bahá’í representative. She opened the Congress with a talk entitled, “The Positive Power of Universal Religion.”

This congress was the first gathering Lydia Zamenhof attended as a Bahá’í. Motivated by her belief in Bahá’u’lláh, she undertook the study of English to better understand the Sacred Writings being translated by Shoghi Effendi. From that time forward, she devoted her life to two purposes: the propagation of the Bahá’í Revelation and the teaching of Esperanto.

Her new religious beliefs created some difficulties for her. Members of her family accused her of betraying the Jewish Faith, and for a time she was persecuted by them. But she was deeply rooted in the love of God and met obstacles with a fortitude that increased her fervor and dedication.

She traveled widely, giving lectures and talks, and her skill as a translator was frequently invaluable. She translated the works of several Polish novelists into Esperanto, and as she became well-versed in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, devoted her varied talents fully to the Bahá’í Cause. She wrote articles in Esperanto and English for periodicals in many parts of the world. She translated into Esperanto the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi’s The Goal of a New World Order, A World Religion, and the Unfoldment of World Civilization. In her eagerness to share the Faith with her countrymen, she translated The Hidden Words, Some Answered Questions, and Esslemont’s Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era into Polish.

In 1937, at the suggestion of Shoghi Effendi, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada invited Lydia Zamenhof to visit America. Within a week of her arrival in New York on 29 September, she started a class on Esperanto. Later, she taught courses in Philadelphia, Detroit, Lima, Cleveland, and Eliot. She was heard many times on the radio, and she lectured often in colleges, churches, and other gatherings.

Public appearances before large audiences were always a sacrifice for Lydia Zamenhof, who was very reserved and preferred privacy to such grand exposure. But when anyone mentioned Bahá’u’lláh or her father’s language, she would become electrified, and her personality, as if by magic, would be totally transformed. Forgetting herself, her voice trembling, though convincing, she would tell of her life and her belief in Bahá’u’lláh. Her favorite subject was her pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During that time, she enjoyed moments of deep communion with the Greatest Holy Leaf⁶, conversed extensively with the Guardian, and spent sublime periods in prayer and devotion at the Holy Shrines.

On 28 November 1938, she returned to Poland. The political climate in Europe was rapidly deteriorating, and the fear of another global conflict was spreading. In view of the imminent danger, Lydia Zamenhof wanted to be with her brother and sister in Warsaw. It was there that she completed the translation into Polish of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, confiding to friends that Shoghi Effendi had urged her to hasten completion of the project.

[Page 21] In the last letter she sent to the United States, dated 18 August 1939, she wrote: “There are now five Bahá’ís in Poland. When I think of such a little number, I accept everyone with joy, knowing how important each one is.” In that same letter, she outlined her plans to attend the 19th Esperantist Congress in Lwow, in September, and then to go to Holland for a few weeks. Neither of those trips was ever begun. Two days after the letter reached its destination, Poland was invaded by the German army. Repeated efforts to obtain news of Lydia were unsuccessful even through the International Red Cross. Later, we learned indirectly that she and her family had first been confined with other Jewish citizens to the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1942, the Zamenhof family was shipped to a concentration camp where professional people were executed by firing squads. Dr. Adam Zamenhof was among the very first to be shot. In August 1944, Dr. Zofia Zamenhof was executed in the same manner. Some days later, Lydia was sent to the gas chamber in the Treblinka Concentration Camp, near Warsaw, and afterward cremated.

Until the very last moment, it was later reported, Lydia Zamenhof was concerned with the well-being and safety of others. When it became evident that all the Jewish prisoners confined in Warsaw would eventually be put to death, the non-Jewish Esperantists of the city (among them some Bahá’ís), contacted her to arrange her escape from Poland. She refused, saying she preferred to end her life with her family and did not wish to endanger the lives of her faithful friends.

We learned of this episode from the late Hand of the Cause of God Hermann Grossmann. One of the very first believers in Germany, he too was imprisoned and persecuted for his belief in Bahá’u’lláh, and was able to gather firsthand information on the death of Lydia Zamenhof. When he recounted this heartbreaking story to us, his body shook with great emotion, and tears ran down his face.

When we remember the altruism, the perseverance, and the love of Lydia Zamenhof, despite all of her suffering, we are reminded of the verses revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in one of his prayers:

“Blessed is he that hath set himself towards thee, and hasted to attain the Day-Spring of the lights of Thy face. Blessed is he who with all his affections hath turned to the Dawning-Place of Thy Revelation and the Fountain-Head of Thine inspiration. Blessed is he that hath expended in Thy path what Thou didst bestow upon him through Thy bounty and favor. Blessed is he who, in his sore longing after Thee, hast cast away all else except Thyself. Blessed is he who hath enjoyed intimate communion with Thee, and rid himself of all attachment to anyone save Thee.”⁷

1. Dr. Ludwig L. Zamenhof, a Polish physician and the creator of Esperanto.
2. At the time of Lydia Zamenhof’s birth, Poland was a Grand Duchy of Czarist Russia. This condition ended in 1918, after 87 years of Russian domination.
3. Equivalent to a Doctor of Laws degree.
4. “The Christian Commonwealth,” Sept. 3, 1913.
5. The Congress at Edinburgh, The Bahá’í World, Vol. II, 1926-28, p. 265-68. (Also can be found in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by Hasan M. Balyuzi, p. 363-64.).
6. Bahíyyih Khánum, sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
7. Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, New York 1938, pp. 33-34.

Lydia was armed with faith in Bahá’u’lláh and the universal language invented by her renowned father.

A shawled woman walks down a street in Warsaw, formerly lined by homes. This photograph was taken shortly after World War II.

[Page 22]

In our world, you can easily see
the forest for the trees.

If you have imagined that World Order magazine is only for Bahá’ís in the United States, you have been mistaken. Our field of coverage is as broad as our name implies. Our writers are from every corner of the globe. Our purpose is to explore the relationships between contemporary life and contemporary religious teachings, to give our readers a truer sense of the options and alternatives open to a society in the thrall of great historical forces, as it searches for lasting solutions. In short, we try to give you a glimpse of the forest of human endeavor, rather than of the single trees of its isolated developments.

In recent issues, we have published articles on such varied subjects as the generation gap, collective security in a nuclear age, the rights of women, ocean resources and their proper use, the dilemma of intellectuals in this troubled age, Pablo Casals at 91, Paul Tillich and his outlook, the Muslim clergy, the world’s search for peace—all, clearly, articles of international scope and interest. We think you may be interested in World Order.

World Order

A BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE

Overseas subscriptions to World Order are available at $5 for one year, $9 for two years. Payment must be in U.S. dollars by check, international money order, or by draft drawn on a New York bank, made to World Order, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, 60091, U.S.A.