Iraq hosts the oldest Jewish Diaspora community in the world. It dates back to the sixth century BCE, when the ancient Judeans were exiled to Babylon following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.
That exile is recalled in Psalm 137: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept as we remembered Zion.” It is remembered to this day in verse and in song by Jews and Christians alike.
Less than a century ago, the Jewish community of Iraq was one of the largest in North Africa. Today, only a few elderly Jews out of a population that once exceeded 180,000 remain in Iraq, mostly in Baghdad. There are no spiritual leaders, but there remains one functioning synagogue.
Prior to the Farhud, the horrific pogrom of 1941, when Muslims suddenly turned against their Jewish friends and neighbors, Jews and Muslims coexisted very well in Iraq.
There were occasional outbreaks of antisemitism, but for the most part, many Jews were affluent and well educated. Some held important positions in economic, cultural, and civic enterprises, and they were also politically active.
One of the great legacies of Iraqi Jews is the Babylonian Talmud, which testifies to their culture and wisdom.
In the 1930s, Nazi propaganda began to filter through to Iraq, and Jews bore the brunt physically, emotionally, and economically.
The Farhud was a pogrom not unlike Kristallnacht in Germany and Austria. It overtook Baghdad on Shavuot, which was on June 1-2, 1941.
Jewish homes, businesses, and holy sites were looted and vandalized. Some 200 Jews were murdered, and many more were wounded. Jewish girls and women were raped.
Exactly 85 years to the day after the beginning of the Farhud, Iraqi-born Israelis, and Israelis of Iraqi parentage, on Monday crowded into the main hall of the President’s Residence to commemorate lives lost in the Farhud and to continue their tradition of telling the story so that it is transmitted to future generations.
Farhud marks end of Iraqi Jewish community
The Farhud marked the beginning of the end of a cohesive Jewish community in Iraq. Ten years later, in 1952, under the code name Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, the bulk of Iraqi Jewry left for Israel.
It is believed that some 120,000 Jews came to Israel under the auspices of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.
Monday’s event was the brainchild of David Kahtan, whose father was a child survivor of the Farhud.
Kahtan is well known for his four-part documentary series The Long Journey Home, which tells the story of the Jews of Iraq. It has been previously screened on KAN 11 (Channel 11) and will be screened again on June 25.
The earlier screening was accompanied by a photo exhibition featuring scenes from the series and photos from family archives of Israelis of Iraqi descent.
This time, the exhibition consists of some 80 black-and-white portrait images of child survivors of the Farhud that were photographed by Rona Olshevsky. Many of those who attended stopped to photograph the exhibition. One of the photographs was of a 101-year-old woman.
President Isaac Herzog likened the events that led up to the Farhud to what happened in Germany in 1938. He also hinted that they were not much different than the atrocities of the October 7 massacre in 2023.
Emphasizing the importance of preserving memory, and to keep telling the story so that it is not forgotten, Herzog said it was essential for everyone in Israel to know the history of the community of the other.
Kahtan said hatred, incitement, and extremist ideologies were still relevant today. For him, the displacement of Iraqi Jews has more than just historical importance.
Altogether, some 850,000 North African Jews were displaced, Kahtan said. He is now engaged in interviewing survivors of the Farhud and other forms of violent antisemitism before their voices fade forever.
“Memory is a form of resistance,” he said.
Farhud survivor shares memories
In a panel discussion, Iraq-born Nadia Cohen, the widow of master spy Eli Cohen, who was executed in Damascus in May 1965, shared her memories of the Farhud. She spoke about what it had meant to her large, well-educated, and wealthy family to leave everything behind and begin life in Israel in a transit camp.
Many of those present were familiar with such stories, and they undoubtedly heard them many times before, yet it seemed that each time was the first. Many literally sat on the edge of their chairs, heads craned forward, even though Cohen was speaking in a loud, clear voice.
She compared the Farhud to the situation in Iran, where the Americans had promised that help was on the way, but it didn’t come immediately, and thousands of Iranians were killed.
In Iraq, she said, the British military forces were present, “but they didn’t defend us. They were just fence-sitting.”
Cohen said she could not understand why.
Something else that bothered her was that in Israel, while great emphasis had been placed on remembering the Holocaust, very little attention was paid to the Farhud or to other dark chapters in the history of North African Jews.
In contrast, Arabs who had been displaced by Israel never forgot their homes, and they always carried the key to the door, Cohen said.
“They are able to treasure the memory,” she said. “Why can’t we?”