On Fire in an Eyewitness account of the destruction of an ancient Jewish community

“Judah has gone into exile because of suf- fering and harsh toil. She dwelt among the nations, but found no rest; all her pursuers overtook her in narrow straits.” Eichah 1:3 “He burned through Jacob like a flaming fire, consuming on all sides.” Eichah 2:3 Eichah: How? Alas!

arhud—violent disposses- sion—an Arabicized Kurdish word that was seared into Iraqi Jewish consciousness on June 1 and 2, 1941. As the Bagh- Fdadi Jewish communities burned, a proud Jewish existence that had spanned 2,600 years was abruptly incinerated. As a nine-year-old, I, Sabih Ezra Akerib, who witnessed the , certainly had no understanding of the monumental consequences of what I was seeing. Nev- ertheless, I realized that somehow the incomprehensible made sense. I was born in Iraq, the only home I knew. I was proud to be a Jew, but knew full well that I was different, and this difference was irrecon- cilable for those around me. That year, June 1 and 2 fell on Sha- vuot—the day the Torah was given to our ancestors and the day Bnei Yisrael became a nation. The irony of these two historical events being intertwined is not lost on me. Shavuot signified a birth while the Farhud symbolized a death—a death of illusion and a death of identity. The Jews, who had felt so secure, were displaced once again. We had been warned trouble was brew- ing. Days earlier, my 20-year-old brother, Ezekial’s Tomb at Kifel Edmund, who worked for British intel-

64 AMi Magazine // august 3, 2011 / 3 av, 5771 Steven Acre as told to Effy Fisher

ligence in Mosul, had come home to lord sitting by our door, wearing his dis- filled my nostrils—together with the smell warn my mother, Chafika Akerib, to be tinctive green turban. He was a hajji, of burning flesh. I will never forget those careful. Rumors abounded that danger considered a holy man because he had smells. was coming. Shortly after that, the red made the mandatory pilgrimage (hajj) to How long was I up there—one hour, hamsa (palm print) appeared on our front Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Demanding, raging two hours? I finally jumped down onto door—a bloody designation marking our men were remonstrating with him, and the roof, running into my mother’s arms. home. But for what purpose? then, inexplicably, they moved on. For Shaking, she slapped me—a slap of love. Shavuot morning was eerily normal. some reason, our home was left undis- We later learned that after leaving My father Ezra had died three years ear- turbed. Only later were we told that our Dahana, these teeming masses of men, lier, leaving my mother a widow with landlord had explained to the men that a joined by others, went on to rampage the nine children. I had no father to take me widow with nine children lived inside and other impoverished neighborhoods, later to synagogue; therefore, I stayed home had asked for his protection. Kindnesses making their way into the wealthier dis- with my mother, who was preparing the abound when least expected, and for this tricts. The red hamsa signified their targets. Shavuot meal. The rising voices from the I thanked G-d. All along Baghdad’s main Rashid Street, outside were at first slow to come through The horrors continued to unfold. The Jewish shops that were closed for Shavuot our windows. However, in the blaze of the afternoon sun, they suddenly erupted. Voices—violent and vile. My mother gath- ered me, my five sisters and youngest On the narrow dirt road, 400 to 500 Muslims carrying brother into the living room, where we machetes, axes, daggers, and guns had gathered. huddled together. Her voice was calm- ing. The minutes passed by excruciat- ingly slowly. But I was a child, curious and killing of men and children and attacks were broken into and robbed. What the impatient. I took advantage of my mother’s on Jewish women were rampant. Four mob couldn’t steal, they destroyed. The brief absence and ran upstairs, onto the doors down—at the home of Sabiha, my multitude of synagogues lining the streets roof. mother’s good friend—a Muslim emerged were equally ravaged—sifrei Torah going At the entrance to the open courtyard carrying what appeared to be a bloodied up in smoke. The destruction was absolute at the center of our home stood a 15 foot piece of meat. We learned afterwards that and relentless. date palm. I would often climb that tree. Sabiha had been killed and mutilated. My On June 2, the second day of the Farhud, When there was not enough food to eat, mother’s sorrowful refrain would later ring an eerie calm descended. Again, I ran those dates would sustain us. I expressed out: “Sabiha! They attacked her! They cut upstairs and climbed the tree. In the dis- gratitude for that tree daily. I now climbed her throat! They mutilated her!” tance were airplanes buzzing and bombs that tree and wrapped myself within At the same time, Jews were scamper- dropping. The British, who had camped its branches, staring down at the scene ing over the roofs, running for their lives. on the outskirts of town as our communi- unfolding below. What I saw defied imagi- If not for the looting taking place below, ties burned, were finally moving into the nation. more would have been murdered. No city and reclaiming what had so tragically On the narrow dirt road, 400 to 500 authorities came to help; barbarism ruled. gone awry. But for the Jews of Baghdad this Muslims carrying machetes, axes, daggers, All the anger and jealousy that had been was too little, too late. What had been wit- and guns had gathered. Their cries—Iktul pent up over the centuries erupted in these nessed and experienced during those 24 al Yahud, Slaughter the Jews—rang out horrific moments. Neighbors with whom hours would ring the death knoll for Iraqi as bullets were blasted into the air. The we had shared a nod, a smile—and even Jewry. Many of us now understood that shrieks emanating from Jewish homes attended their sons’ circumcisions—had after 2,600 years, it was time to move on. were chilling. I hung on, glued to the metamorphosed into sub-humans intent branches. I could hear my mother’s frantic on annihilation. f f f cries: “Weinak! Weinak!” (Where are you?) And then, the fires started. Houses were But I could not answer, terrified of calling being torched amidst the cries of their As is the case with most acts of sense- attention to myself. destroyers. Black smoke ascended towards less violence, the Farhud did not erupt in Amidst the turmoil, I saw our land- the heavens. The putrid smell of smoke a vacuum. It was a well-planned pogrom

3 av, 5771 // august 3, 2011 // AMi Magazine 65 know how we would have survived. What had been witnessed and experienced during those Our house consisted of a tiny kitchen, fi ve bedrooms, and a living room sur- 24 hours would ring the death knoll for Iraqi Jewry. rounding an open courtyard. We had dirt fl oors and no electricity. The kitchen had one tap and an open coal pit where organized by nationalistic Arab-Nazis nantly Jewish neighborhoods, the Dahana my mother would cook rice and potatoes, and carried out under the direction of neighborhood, where we resided, held a our staples, that also included goat cheese, Nazi Arabist and diplomat Fritz Grobba mixture of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. peanut butter, and bread. She suffered in cooperation with the Arab and Islamic I always walked to my school, the Alli- more than all of us. She went from being a world. It inspired an international Arab- ance Israelite Universelle, with my head wealthy lady with servants and a carriage Nazi alliance. Leading this alliance was down, hurrying through the Muslim areas to a woman forced to wash her family’s Hajj Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, the as quickly as possible. I remember the clothes by hand in a pot on the roof of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and Iraqi Prime day a Muslim spat at me and called me a house. Minister Rashid Ali al Gilani. Yet, I believe dirty Jew. If a Muslim did not like you, he However, to me my mother was the the Farhud was an equal consequence of could easily call the police and denounce repository of our traditions. She would theological and historically-based atti- you for cursing Mohammed. It would then sing us the songs and tell us the stories of tudes toward Jews. be your word against his. We were there- our heritage—stories of Eliyahu HaNavi Under Muslim rule, Jewish existence fore consistently on the alert. Kidnapping and countless other Torah personalities. and welfare were extremely precarious. was prevalent. There were many cases of She had the answers to all my questions. For Jews living in Iraq, as well as through- burlap bags being thrown over the heads My mother also taught us the meaning out the rest of the Middle East, much of Jewish children who disappeared and of eib—shame: that one should never do depended on the goodwill of the caliphs. were never heard from again. I would pro- something shameful. Even today, when I Some caliphs were tolerant and offered tectively hold onto my younger brother’s am tempted to act in questionable ways, the Jews economic and political freedom, and sisters’ hands until we were at school I remember that word and my mother’s while others were violently disposed or back home. Everyday going to and from voice, and I refrain. toward them. school was an ordeal. The education I received from my However, even in the best of times—as When my mother married my father, mother bound me to my Jewish heritage. under the rule of Faisal I, the Hashemite Ezra Akerib, he was a wealthy produce When Zionism was prohibited in 1935, appointed in 1921 by the British during exporter. During , while the the Hebrew language was outlawed, their Mandate to preside over the King- British were bombing Basra, my father’s except for Torah studies. There were no dom of Iraq—times were very challenging. ships were destroyed. Shortly afterwards, yeshivos per se in Baghdad. My brothers Under Faisal’s rule, Jews were given abso- a fi re consumed his warehouse. He was and I would attend cheder for one hour a lute freedom to participate in Iraqi life, never able to prove it was sabotage. In day after school. We would learn to recite but, even so, it was universally acknowl- order to pay his creditors, my father was the Torah directly from the Torah scroll. edged by Muslims that Jews were second- forced to sell all his assets, including all of The intention was pragmatic—to teach us class citizens. We were always dhimmis my mother’s jewelry. Financially depleted, to read from the Torah in the synagogue. living under the protection of the mon- we moved from Basra to Baghdad, leaving No higher education was offered. There arch. In their view, we were unquestion- behind my mother’s family. My father died were those who studied Torah privately in ably inferior. when I was six. the synagogue, but to qualify one had to Our Jewishness was visible. We had Although Jews made up a large section pay. My family’s situation made my partici- our own dialect and we dressed in West- of the Iraqi middle class—many were law- pation impossible. For this same reason, I ernized clothes, although, when leaving yers, doctors, judges, merchants, bankers, did not have a bar-mitzvah or put on tefi l- the house, the women would put on the and economic advisers—we were desti- lin until I was in my twenties and living required black chador or abaya, a cloak tute. If not for the support of my eldest in Israel. Given our illustrious heritage— that covered the body from the shoulders brother Edmund and a wealthy aunt living having produced the Talmud Bavli and, as down. While most Jews lived in predomi- in the Baghdad district of Senak, I don’t such, redefi ned Jewish identity in exile—

66 AMi MAgAzine // august 3, 2011 / 3 av, 5771 Sabih Ezra Akerib also known as Steven Acre in his youth and today this was deplorable. Jews after the Farhud was over. Everyone the Mufti himself, constantly reached Iraq. As an impoverished child, there were who could afford to do so immediately Iraqi Jews, one-third of Baghdad’s popula- few activities with which to occupy myself. secured a passport. Many people, how- tion, proclaimed their steadfast allegiance So I created my own entertainment. One ever, chose not to leave. To me, these were to Iraq by publicly denouncing Zionism. of my hobbies was capturing pigeons and the homing pigeons, programmed, as it Yet, more than Zionism, anger was training them as homing pigeons. I would were, to always return home for rice and simultaneously being directed at British shorten the feathers on one wing to keep water. Others, like me, who could not colonialist presumption and perceived the pigeons from fl ying away, and then afford passports were like kites, seeking arrogance, especially with regard to Iraqi feed them rice and water. After the feath- victory over those plotting to cut us down oil reserves that Britain expropriated. ers grew back, they would always fl y back while longing to break loose. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, ini- to be fed. In time, there were 40 pigeons Why did the Farhud happen? It likely tiating World War II, many Arabs, headed residing on our roof. resulted from a deadly combination of by the Mufti, turned to Hitler and the Nazi Another activity was kite running. My historical Jew-hatred and viciously anti- Party as the answer to both these issues. kite had a cord 100 meters long with tiny Zionist and anti-British sentiment—all As a young boy, I was unaware of the bits of glass glued onto it. When I fl ew inextricably intertwined. undercurrents of Muslim contempt of the my kite, it would cut the cords of other Britain’s stance in support of a national Allies and their pathetic presumption that kites, turning them loose. At night, my homeland for the Jewish people in Pales- the Germans would be better. All I can kite would be tied to the little iron bed that tine was a factor that cannot be overstated. assume is that hatred of both the Jews and was put on the roof during the summer As an ardent Arab nationalist and virulent the British blinded them to the reality of months. When I awoke in the morning anti-Zionist and anti-Semite, the Grand the Germans and their primal contempt and saw that it was still there—that it Mufti of Jerusalem was personally respon- for all Semitic peoples, including the hadn’t been cut by others—I considered sible for instigating revolts and violent Arabs themselves. that a great victory. pogroms against the Jewish populations of I was born in 1932, the year when Brit- In some strange way, these activities Palestine, and would later establish a close ain’s Mandate offi cially ended and Iraq became symbolic in my mind of the con- alliance with Adolf Hitler. Rumors replete acquired nominal independence. Ironi- trasting attitudes that characterized Iraqi with Jewish conspiracy theories, sown by cally, immediately after signing the League

3 av, 5771 // august 3, 2011 // AMi MAgAzine 67 Rashid Ali and the Mufti abandoned Iraq … when leaving the house, the [Jewish] women would on May 29 and stole across the border to Iran. put on the required black chador or abaya, a cloak that The plan to annihilate Baghdad’s Jews covered the body from the shoulders down. had been put into place weeks earlier. On May 28, self-appointed governor al- Sabawi summoned Baghdad Chief Rabbi Sassoon Kadoori and ordered him to of Nations’ Protection of Minorities Dec- need for oil. He therefore had his eye on instruct the Jews to lock themselves in laration, Iraq unleashed a barrage of vio- Iranian and Iraqi oil, whose pipelines ran their houses for three days and prepare for lence against its minorities—first against through , Lebanon, and Palestine. deportation to detention centers. But there the Assyrian Christians and then against This need, combined with anti-Jewish were no detention centers. In reality, we the Jews. animus, explained Hitler’s willingness to Jews had already been marked for exter- That same year, Fritz Grobba, Germany’s join with the Mufti and Muslim national- mination days before, when the red hamsa charge d’affaires, arrived in Baghdad and ists. Given that Iraq had declared “absolute had first appeared. Keeping us inside our immediately began publishing install- neutrality” during the war, chances were homes would assure our annihilation. ments of an Arabic translation of Mein strong that these oil fields were not guar- Stunned, Chief Rabbi Kadoori, together Kampf in a Christian Iraqi newspaper. Sig- anteed to Britain and France, and that the with other leading members of our com- nificantly, all references to “anti-Semitism” Nazi war machine would gain access to munity, immediately requested an audi- were replaced by the words “anti-Jewish.” them. This access would have been cata- ence with Baghdad mayor Arshad Umari. In this way, the Nazi ideology of Jewish strophic to the Allies’ war efforts. When he entered the room, Rabbi Kadoori conspiracy and international manipula- Matters came to a head between Brit- dramatically threw his turban on the floor tion infiltrated Iraqi society. In market- ain, Iraq, and the Third Reich at Hab- as a sign of deep consternation. After places, flyers were posted proclaiming: “In baniyah, a base near Fallujah, explaining the situation, Rabbi Kadoori heaven, Allah is your master. On earth, it Iraq. Fearing Hitler’s acquisition of the oil begged Umari to intercede. Umari picked is Adolf Hitler.” fields, Britain was determined to destroy up and returned Kadoori’s turban, assur- The consequences for the Jews were them. Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali was ing him all would be well. severe. Minor government job losses determined to prevent Britain from doing On May 29, Umari rescinded al-Sabawi’s quickly escalated to bombs and grenades so. On May 2, Iraqi troops breached Hab- powers and paid him to leave the country. being thrown at synagogues and Jewish baniyah, and fierce air battles broke out The following day Umari assumed control schools. Following King Ghazi’s death in between British and Iraqi troops. of Baghdad. Contrary to plan, no radio 1941, a coup led by the “Golden Square” At first, the British were vastly outnum- announcements calling for the extermi- —four fiercely nationalistic and militantly bered and barely hung on. Hitler declared nation of the Jews were made. Instead, it anti-British Sunni military men—and by support for Iraq and sent in German was announced on May 31 that the regent pro-Nazi Rashid Ali al-Gilani, attempted fighter planes bearing Iraqi insignia. Fear- would be returning to Iraq the following to overthrow the Iraqi royal family. The ing the worst, London issued orders to day. The Jews heaved a collective sigh of British hastily spirited away the five-year- destroy the oil fields and pipelines. Before relief. old King Faisal II and his regent, Prince doing so, however, British troops suddenly Since June 1 was Shavuot, many Jews al-Ilah, to Jordan. Their absence enabled began gaining ground. Once , the had been up all night studying Torah. Rashid Ali to establish himself as prime British land troops consisting of Jewish Dressed in their festive clothing, they went minister. To add to the turmoil, the Mufti soldiers and loyalist Arabs, moved in, the out to greet the regent, Prince Abd al-Ilah, escaped house arrest in Beirut and settled Iraqis were roundly defeated, leaving the on his way to the palace. However, as this in Iraq. The stage was now set to trans- oil fields intact. The British troops then group approached the al-Kurr bridge, they plant Hitler’s solution to the “Jewish prob- hurried back to Baghdad with the inten- met soldiers returning from their dismal lem” to Iraq and the Middle East. tion of reinstating the king and his regent. defeat at Habbaniyah. The sight of the Jews Hitler was acutely aware of his country’s Terrified of rumored British reprisals, sparked a frenzied, murderous response,

68 AMi Magazine // august 3, 2011 / 3 av, 5771 and the Jews were viciously attacked with were terrifi ed that another Farhud would On my third try, together with my older knives and axes. This spontaneous assault erupt—and that this time there might not brother Joseph and 14 other boys aged 16 instigated the barbarism that would be another Arshad Umari to back us. to 24, I fi nally escaped Iraq. We spent that become known as the Farhud, the plans In 1942, the underground movement fi rst night at my aunt’s house in Basra. The for which had been in place weeks earlier. named The Babylonian Pioneer Movement next morning, an Arab driver came to take While Baghdad’s Jews were being was founded. We referred to it simply as us to the Iranian border. hacked to death, the British remained Tenuah (Movement). Hundreds of young He never got us there, abandoning us camped a mere eight miles outside the city. Jewish boys joined. At 16, I was among midway. We had no choice but to move Sir , disregarding an them. forward on our own, going eastward, fol- express order from to At this point, our family had moved to lowing the stars. We walked by night and secure the city, refused to move in. Instead, a more modern house in the quieter Kar- slept by day. We had only dates to eat. as Jewish communities burned and Jews rada district. One day, Alfred Somekh We were fortunate enough to encounter perished, he went back to his residence, from Tenuah arrived and helped me build Arab farmers who housed us and fed us in had a candlelit dinner, and played a game a “slick”—a dug-out under the fl oor tiles exchange for gold coins. After two days, of bridge. that contained a container in which he they placed us in long, narrow boats and placed six hand grenades and a revolver covered us with tarpaulins and hay. The f f f with 30 rounds of bullets. The tiles cover- river was infested with sharks. We recited ing the slick hid it. I was taught how to use Shema Yisrael the entire way to Iran. We never found out what the total body these weapons. When we fi nally reached the Iranian count was. Some sources claim it was 180 This was in April 1948, and the State border, Tenuah representatives took us to a Jews. The Israeli-based Babylonian Heri- of Israel was on the verge of becoming a Jewish home in Abadan, where we stayed tage Museum avers that an additional 600 reality. The government began recruiting for a week. Then we took a train to Tehe- unidentifi ed Jews were buried in a mass volunteers to go to Israel to kill Jews, for ran. It was October, and a snowstorm was grave. Our Jewish establishment wanted which they offered 15 pounds a month. raging. It was the fi rst time I had ever seen to keep things as quiet as possible. How I was left alone to watch over my mother snow. we continued to go on after that, I don’t and sisters. “What if I should run out In Teheran we were brought to the know. I could see hatred in the eyes of of ammunition?” I asked my brother Jewish cemetery at the outskirts of town, the Muslims as I walked the streets. Their Edmund. He ominously answered, “Rather where hundreds of tents had been set eyes told me: “We were not successful this than allow our mother and sisters to be up. Thousands of young Iraqi boys from time—but there will be a next.” assaulted and mutilated, you will know Mosul, Basra, and Baghdad were already It was apparent to all of us that we what to do.” From all my memories, that there. Two months later we boarded planes needed to protect ourselves. Given the is the hardest to bear. Thank G-d, I never for Israel. For us, 2,600 years of Jewish persistence of the Palestine issue, we needed to use those weapons. Iraqi existence had come to an end. •

3 av, 5771 // august 3, 2011 // AMi MAgAzine 69