the hamlet of Hurmuzak, to the beating of drums and
the sounding of trumpets, and, armed with spades and axes, fell upon a
family of seven, the oldest eighty, the youngest nineteen, and, in an orgy
of unrestrained fanaticism, literally hacked them to pieces.

Following closely upon this heinous crime, the like of which has not been
witnessed since the close of the Heroic Age of the Faith, an official
order has been issued by the Prime Minister's office in Tihran, placing an
interdiction against the employment of any Baha'is in government service,
and ordering the instant dismissal of all who insist on adhering to their
faith.

APPEALS TO THE AUTHORITIES OF IRAN AND TO THE UNITED NATIONS

These tragic, swiftly succeeding events have stirred the Baha'i world to
its foundations. Counter measures were immediately taken, and more than a
thousand appeals were addressed by national and local assemblies as well
as groups in all continents of the globe to the highest authorities in
Persia, including the _Sh_ah, in the hope of stemming the tide of
persecution threatening to engulf the entire Persian Baha'i Community.
Furthermore, a wide-spread campaign of publicity was initiated in
expectation that its repercussions would exert a restraining influence on
the perpetrators of these monstrous acts. An appeal was moreover lodged
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the President of the
Social and Economic Council, copies of which were delivered to the
representatives of the member nations of the Council, to the Director of
the Human Rights Division, as well as to non-governmental organizations
with consultative status. More recently, President Eisenhower, who, as
reported in the press, was the first to make mention of the attacks
launched against the Faith, was appealed to by the American National
Spiritual Assembly as well as by all groups and local assemblies
throughout the United States, to intervene on behalf of the victims of
these persecutions.

A WHOLLY DEDICATED, INFLEXIBLE RESOLVE

Faced with this organized and vicious onslaught on the followers, the
fundamental verities, the shrines and administrative institutions of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah in the land of His birth, the American Baha'i
Community cannot at this hour relax for a moment in the discharge of the
multiple and sacred responsibilities it has pledged itself to fulfill
under the Ten-Year Plan and must indeed display a still grea