The Oral Memoirs of Roald Matveyev about life in Iran from 1941 to 1945

The recollections of Roald Matveev, recorded in a series of personal interviews from 2012 to 2013, provide a unique window on life in the Iranian city of Pahlavi (now Bandar-e Anzali) and the activities of the Soviet mission there during the Second World War. Roald is the son of former Soviet Consul General Fyodor Matveyev, who was stationed in Pahlavi from 1941 to 1945. Before the war, the elder Matveyev worked in Baku as Commissioner of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, or Foreign Minister, of Azerbaijan. In late 1941, he was reassigned to the city of Pahlavi, where he later became Soviet Consul General. Roald's reminiscences include striking details of life in the embassy compound, his school days, the military and political situation in Iran, and the variety of tasks his father was engaged in while the
Soviet Union was at war.