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When Iraq Kicked Out Its Jews

(Times of Israel) Edwin Black - From the moment Hitler took power in 1933, Iraq had distinguished itself throughout the Arab world as a top Nazi ally. When World War II broke out in 1939, Nazism became a fervent cause among many Iraqis. On July 19, 1948, Zionism itself became a crime in Iraq, punishable by up to seven years in prison. Only two Muslim witnesses were needed to denounce a Jew, with virtually no avenue of appeal. Thousands of Jewish homes were searched for secret caches of money thought destined for Israel. On September 23, 1948, the single wealthiest Jew in Iraq, Ford automobile importer Shafiq Ades, was publicly hanged in Basra. More arrests, executions, and confiscations followed. In October, all Jews were dismissed from government positions. An estimated 130,000 Jews lived in the Iraq of 1949, with about 90,000 residing in Baghdad. Household by household, Jewish families finally almost unanimously realized that their 2,600-year existence in Iraq was over. In wave after wave, groups of refugees left the country, first via Iran and then in an airlift to Israel in 1950-51. The writer is author of The Farhud, Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust.
2016-06-01 00:00:00
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