- 1849-05-10 —
The end of the siege of the fort at Shaykh Tabarsí. Two hundred and two Bábís were tricked into leaving the shrine. [BW18:381]
- DB400 says they accompanied Quddús.
- They were not conducted to their homes as promised but were set upon by the Prince's soldiers. Some are killed, others sold into slavery. The fortifications around the shrine were razed to the ground. [DB403–4; MH283]
- See DB414–29 for a list of the martyrs of Tabarsí.
- Among those who gave their lives at Fort Tabarsi was Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat and the first to embrace the Faith in Isfahan. [AY58]
- 1932-11-23 —
The passing of George Adam Benke (b. Fredericksfelt, south Russia in 1878) in Sofia, Bulgaria. Shoghi Effendi declared him to be "the first European martyr. [BW5:416–418, LDG1p263]
- He had become a Bahá'í as a result of the visit of Harlan and Grace Ober to Leipzig in 1920 and the further efforts of Miss Alma Knoblock. [BW5p416]
- He translated the works of Bahálláh that had been translated into Russian by Thomansky and Rosenberg.
- In June of 1931 he was called upon to help Marion Jack in Sofia where is knowledge of Russian facilitated his efforts. He stayed for three months.
- Again in 1932 he was asked to go to Sofia where he passed away after a very short period of discomfort.
- Shoghi Effendi called him the first European martyr. [LDG1:263; MC359]
- Photo 1 of his gravesite in Sofia.
- Photo 2 of his headstone.
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