The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933-1952 by Sara
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0 - ^ 5 The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933-1952 By Sara Beth Koplik Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, May 2003. | SPAS LIBRARY ProQuest Number: 11015825 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11015825 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This thesis examines the demise of the Jewish community in Afghanistan. In the early 1930s, an influx of Soviet refugees was a source of great concern for the Afghan government. Bukharan Jewish refugees were considered very dangerous, and potential Soviet agents. Afghan suspicion then extended to the local Jewish population. Security considerations were linked to the economic sector, and a series of discriminatory regulations were enacted against the entire Jewish community. Jews were forbidden from engaging in trade, and had to reside in Herat, Kabul or Kandahar. These policies caused impoverishment and an internal refugee crisis. The Afghan government based its plan for economic development on a monopolisation system, and much of the discrimination that the Jewish community faced was directed through the Ministry of National Economy and the Afghan National Bank. This strategy was adopted ostensibly as a way to limit Soviet influence in Afghanistan, and benefitted die Pashtun majority. Historiographically, the most contentious debate centres on the extent of Nazi influence in Afghanistan. ‘ Abd al-Majid Khan, the instigator of nativist economic policies, was also the primary negotiator with Berlin. The Third Reich influenced some aspects of Afghan policy, however it was predominantly indirect and confined to the economic sector. After World War II, the economy plunged, and a famine engulfed the region. When the state of Israel was established, Jews in Afghanistan saw it as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and most left as soon as legal emigration was authorized. This work shows that once nationalism appears on the horizon, and the processes of modem development begin, the condition of a very small, easily distinguishable, specialized group is endangered. It also examines the rich congruities between the political and economic history of Afghanistan and one of its smallest minorities. 2 Table of Contents Title page 1 Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Abbreviations for Archival Sources 6 Various Va’adot: An Explanatory Note 7 Glossary of Terms 8 Note on Hebrew Transliteration 11 Dedication 12 Acknowledgements 13 Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review 17 Encountering Nationalist Sentiments in Afghanistan 21 Contemporaneous Secondary Literature 26 Israeli Secondary Sources 34 Historiographical Trends 36 Archival Sources 41 Chapter 2: Jewish Settlement in Afghanistan: Origins and Customs 48 Theories on the Origins of Afghanistani Jewry 48 The Forcible Conversion of the Mashhadi Community 55 The Persian Siege of Herat 57 Daily Life among the Jews of Afghanistan 61 International Connections through Trade 79 Chapter 3: Outline of the Political and Economic History 83 of Afghanistan (1747-1933) Afghanistan’s Foundation 83 The First Anglo-Afghan War: 85 Encountering the British Empire Second Anglo-Afghan War: 87 Limiting Afghanistan’s Independence Shattering Afghanistan’s Ethnic Mosaic: 88 The Rule of the ‘Iron Amir’ Habibullah Khan: Edging Towards Full Sovereignty 94 World War I and its Political Legacy 98 Amanullah: Imagination without Grounding 100 Minorities under Amanullah: A Time of Tolerance 102 Reform and Revolt 110 Habibullah Kalakani: Reign of Terror 113 The Rule of Muhammad Nadir Shah: 119 Pacification and Consolidation Economic Policies: 122 The Bank-i Milli and the Rise of the Monopoly System 3 Chapter 4: Northern Afghanistan’s Soviet Refugee Crisis (1932-1936) 128 Causes of the Refugee Crisis 129 Consequences for Central Asian Jewry 130 Afghan Response to Refugees 132 Viewing Refugees as Spies: Afghan and British Perceptions 138 The Expulsion of the Local Jewish Population 142 Riot in Herat during the Summer of 1935 146 Implications of the Expulsion from the North 150 British Jewry’s Reactions to the Afghanistani Community 154 Official British Response 156 Chapter 5: Afghan Economic Policies in the 1930s 162 The Rise of the Shirkat System 162 Political Aims of the Monopoly System: 169 Limiting Soviet Influence Case Study: Jacob Pinhas 172 Consequences of the Monopoly System: 174 An Economic Downturn Successful Opposition to the Shirkat System: The Fruit Trade 177 Da Afghanistan Bank: 180 A Failed Check on the Power of the Bank-i Milli Chapter 6: World War II’s Impact on Afghanistan 183 Pre-War Anxiety 184 German Influence 194 The Nazi Party in Afghanistan 203 Nazi Influenced Anti-Semitism 205 ‘ Abd al-Majid Khan: Primary Negotiator with the Third Reich 210 Link between anti-Communism 216 and anti-Semitism in Afghan Policy Replacing German Specialist with Jews: 219 First Contact between Afghanistan and the Yishuv The Precarious Situation of the Jews 221 in Afghanistan during World War II The War-Time Economy: Stresses Masked 229 The Post-War Economy: Facing Scarcity and Famine 232 Chapter 7: ‘Aliya: Messianic Zionism and Leaving Afghanistan 239 First Contact with the Israeli Government 240 Religious and Economic Rationale for ‘Aliya 245 Anger at an Inefficient Bureaucracy and 252 Enquiries by the World Jewish Congress 4 Refugee Crisis in India: 255 A Precarious Medical and Legal Situation Conflict between the Jewish Agency and Afghanistani Va’adot 264 in Eretz Yisrael Legal Emigration from Afghanistan: 268 The Role of Jewish Organisations Afghan Rationale for Legal Emigration: 272 Gaining Support for Pashtunistan Prejudice against the Jewish Community lessened through 276 Afghan Myth of Ethnogenesis Emigration Commences 281 Afghanistani Jews Entering and Languishing in Iran 284 Situation Improves After 1952 292 The Last Two Jews in Kabul 296 Conclusion 298 Appendix 1: Patterns of Jewish Correspondence in the 1930s 304 Appendix 2: 305 Letter from Jewish community in Herat to the Israeli government Bibliography 307 5 Abbreviations for Archival Sources AIU Alliance Israelite Universelle, Paris BoD Board of Deputies of British Jews, records located at London Metropolitan Archives CDJC Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, Paris CZA Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem DGFP Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945. (London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1954.) IOL India Office and Library, part of the British Library, London PRO Public Records Office, Kew Gardens Q d’O Quai d’Orsay, Foreign Office, Paris USNA United States National Archives, College Park, Maryland 6 Various Va’adoti An Explanatory Note Va ’ad (va ’ada [f.], va ’adot [pi.]) is a general term in Hebrew used to describe any committee. While the most commonly known va ’ad outside of Israel is the Va ’ad Leumi , or Executive Committee of the Yishuv , many other organisations appear in this work, most notably those of Afghanistani Jews in Palestine and later Israel. The firstva ’ad active amongst the Afghanistani Jewish community was founded in Jerusalem. In the 1930s, it was known as the Va ’ad Edat Yehudei Afghanistan b ’Eretz Yisrael. Its English name was the Committee of the Afghanistan Jewish Community in Palestine. Here it is called the Jerusalem Va’ad. The second Afghanistani va ’ad was founded in Tel Aviv in the late 1940s, and called the Va ’ad Hitahadut Yehudei Olei Afghanistan . In English, its title was translated as the Committee of Jewish Immigrants of Afghanistan in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. (In Hebrew, however, the term refers to a united organisation.) This work will refer to the committee as the Tel Aviv Va’ad. After the Afghanistani community began to arrive in Israel en masse , a second va ’ad was formed in Tel Aviv. It was called: Ha-Va ’ada 1 ’Tipul b ’Olei Afghanistan , the Committee to Care for Immigrants from Afghanistan. It is not known if this was a fully independent organisation, or an offshoot of the first Tel Aviv Va’ad. At any rate, this committee did not engage in much political activity, and it is not referred to in an abbreviated format. Also mentioned in the text is the Va ’ad Edat Sefardim , the Committee of the Sephardic Community, an umbrella organisation for Asian and African Jews in Eretz Yisrael. 1 Glossary of Terms Ahl al-dhimma People of the covenant, protected people. (Arabic) ‘Aliya ‘To ascend,’ or immigrate to Israel. (Hebrew) Allah Daad ‘G-d gave,’ refers to 1839 forcible conversion of Mashhad’s Jewish community. (Persian) Anus (Anusim, pi.) One who is forcibly converted, or raped. (Hebrew) Ashkenazi Jewish community originating in Eastern Europe and Germany. (Hebrew) Badal Blood feud. (Pashtu) Beit Din Law court. (Hebrew) Chala ‘Half-Baked,’ derisive term for forcible converts to Islam in the Emirate of Bukhara. (Tajik) Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel. (Hebrew) Erev Evening, often refers to the eve of a holiday. (Hebrew) Firman A royal or governmental decree. (Persian) Galut Exile, Diaspora. (Hebrew) Gzerah Evil decree. (Hebrew) Halachah Jewish religious law. (Hebrew) Hammam Bath, often public. (Arabic) Hevrah Kadishah ‘Holy Society,’ association that prepares a body for burial. (Hebrew) (Ha-) Histadrut ha-Tzioni ha-‘01amit World Zionist Organisation. (Hebrew) Jadid al-Islam ‘New to Islam,’ term for new converts, most often refers to Mashhadianusim. (Arabic) Jadidim The Hebraicized plural for those who became Jadid al- Islam. 8 Jizya Tribute or poll tax levied on non-Muslims.