Preserving the “Iraqi Jewish Archive” By Doris A. Hamburg and Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler

ne of the rewards of our work at the and books, including those damaged during ONational Archives in preserving the an emergency. records of the federal government comes from learning the fascinating human sto­ ries that relate to the records. Arriving in Baghdad, This is the story of how the Na­ Stabilizing the Records tional Archives Preservation Pro­ Arriving in Baghdad via a C-130 cargo plane, grams staff was called upon to the first stop for the conservation team was rescue and preserve records and Saddam Hussein’s ornate Republican Guard books that came from the once- Palace. Next, we went to a nearby warehouse vibrant Iraqi Jewish community on the bank of the Tigris River, where Reserve and had been damaged during Maj. Corinne Wegener oversaw 27 metal the 2003 war in Iraq. trunks filled with the distorted, wet, and In June 2003, upon receiving moldy books and documents, primarily in an urgent request for help from Hebrew and Arabic. the Coalition Provisional Author­ As we climbed the ladder into the freezer ity in Baghdad, the National truck holding the trunks, we noticed that Archives arranged for us, as two the smell of mold permeated everything. of the agency’s preservation experts, Freezing the collection had stopped further to travel to Baghdad to assess an mold growth, however, and provided time to important group of very damaged plan the next preservation steps. and moldy books and docu­ Each trunk held a largely frozen mass of ments that had been rescued documents and books. While some pam­ from the flooded basement of phlets, books, and document files appeared Saddam Hussein’s intelligence to be intact and complete, many others headquarters in Baghdad. existed as fragments with loose and missing The Preservation Programs components or covers. Overall, the collec­ staff has extensive expertise in ad­ tion was in moderate to poor condition. dressing preservation of documents As we assessed the materials in the trunks,

A Zohar—a central text of kabbalah (Jewish mysticism)—with a hand-drawn page, from 1815. The Iraqi Jewish Past In a Variety of Forms

The roughly 2,700 books rescued from the flooded basement date from the 16th through the 20th centuries. The Hebraica includes an eclectic mix of materials, rang- ing from holiday and daily prayer books to Bibles and commentaries, some frag- ments from scrolls, books on Jewish law, and children’s Hebrew-language and Bible primers. The Jewish books were printed in a variety of publishing centers, including Baghdad, Warsaw, Livorno, and Venice; most are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Languages represented in the IJA include Hebrew, Arabic, and Judeo- The contributions of the Babylonian Jews Arabic, with a few items in English. The and their Iraqi descendants influenced reli- tens of thousands of pages of documents A 1918 letter to the Chief Rabbi in Baghdad from gious scholarship and observance, interna- include both handwritten and printed the military governor before treatment (left) and after treatment (right). tional economic development, and music items pertaining primarily to the Jewish and culture within the region and world- community of Baghdad. we unofficially named the collection “Iraqi wide. Today, Iraqi Jews recall that for many The Iraqi Jewish community in Baghdad, Jewish Archive” (IJA) for ease of reference. years the various ethnic groups in Baghdad— which had been as much as a third of the The Jewish books and documents rescued Jews, Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite population of Baghdad in the first part of from the intelligence headquarters are a di- Muslims, Kurds, and others—lived together the 20th century, by 2003 had dwindled rect link to the very rich and long history comfortably and respectfully as neighbors to about 15 people. We learned that efforts of the Jewish community that flourished for and as Iraqis. over 2,500 years in the region of Babylonia.

Discovery and Recovery Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage

By Gabriel Goldstein and Lisa Royse

n May 6, 2003, during the Iraq War, 16 American soldiers searching Ofor military intelligence entered the flooded basement of the Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. The basement housed thousands of documents and books that were un- der four feet of water, including materials related to Iraq’s Jewish commu- The documents are laid out to dry, May 2003

24 Prologue Fall/Winter 2013 to identify members of the Jewish commu­ nity who could possibly participate in the preservation of the collection had not been successful. Maintaining the books and documents in a freezer truck was a short-term solution; at a minimum, the materials needed to be dried in order to stabilize them. Inquiries to iden­ tify alternatives for preserving the collection in Iraq or the region at that time did not yield any promising options. In July 2003, the National Archives submitted its preservation report to Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. As a result, the The 19 printed calendars found in the intelligence headquarters basement (dating from 1959 to 1973) are National Archives and Records Admin­ among the last examples of Hebrew printed items to be produced in Baghdad. istration (NARA) received the request to provide preservation assistance for the col­ housing the collection for proper storage A Frozen Archive Arrives lection. and use in the future; digitizing the collec­ In America for Preservation The preservation report proposed the tion to provide access; and developing an steps needed to preserve the collection for exhibition. In late August 2003, the frozen Iraqi Jewish future generations: vacuum freeze-drying The Coalition Provisional Authority and Archive arrived in the United States, where the collection; remediating the mold so the National Archives, with the concurrence the National Archives assumed physical cus­ the materials could be handled; determin­ of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and tody. With funding from the Department ing the intellectual content of the collec­ Heritage, entered into an agreement to ship of State, the first phase of the preservation tion and its historical, archival, and curato­ the materials to the United States for preser­ work began; the materials were vacuum rial context; determining the conservation vation and exhibition, in the absence of local freeze-dried at a commercial facility in Fort and reformatting needs; performing con­ resources that could perform the work, and to Worth, Texas. servation treatment to allow reformatting; return the materials to Iraq upon completion. Vacuum freeze-drying allows the ice to be removed from the materials as water vapor

nity. Realizing the importance of this ma­ terial, the Coalition Provisional Authority, the transitional government in Iraq, asked the National Archives and Records Admin­ istration for help. In June 2003 the Archives sent a team of preservation experts to Baghdad. Because local options to treat and preserve the ma­ terials were limited, the books and docu­ ments were shipped, with the agreement of Iraqi representatives, to the United States

This volume of the Hebrew Bible, dating to 1568, is one of the earliest printed books discovered in the intelligence headquarters.

Prologue 25 A conservator inspects a volume at the National One of the 27 metal trunks filled with wet and moldy books and documents that were kept frozen and Archives. shipped to the National Archives. without going back through the liquid phase. Since the collection’s arrival in the Unit­ Daniel Dancis to work under the direction The dry items came out looking the same as ed States, NARA has provided for security, of the National Archives. they did when going into the vacuum freeze- preservation guidance, and oversight of the The conservation team unpacked the drying chamber (e.g., the books were still dis­ IJA. But because this is not a U.S. govern­ trunks, assessed and documented the condi­ torted, photographs were still stuck together). ment collection, NARA funds could not be tion of the collection, and housed the books While the vacuum freeze-drying had rendered used for this project. and documents in preservation-quality pa­ the materials dry and the mold inactive, much In late 2005, the National Endowment for per wrappers and boxes to provide improved work remained to be done. The trunks were the Humanities (NEH) awarded the Center storage. The presence of mold spores—even then transferred to the National Archives at for Jewish History approximately $98,000 though inactive—still posed a health risk. College Park, Maryland. to fund the second phase of the preservation Before handling or photographing the project. The center used the grant materials, staff cleaned off at least some mold to hire paper conservator Susan while working under a fume hood and using Duhl and conservation technician a filtered vacuum and soft brushes. The team

for preservation and exhibition; visitors were able to see 24 original docu­ they are being returned to Iraq in ments and books in Washington, D.C., in 2014. the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery at the Na­ The exhibition, in both English tional Archives. The remarkable survival of and Arabic, told the story of the this written record of Iraqi Jewish life pro­ documents and how they were vides an unexpected opportunity to better preserved and made accessible understand this community. worldwide. From November 8, From the first assessment of the wet 2013, through January 5, 2014, and moldy books and documents, the National Archives and its partners have Over 60 copies of this Hebrew elemen­ worked to ensure their preservation and tary school primer were recovered. It was the only title to be found with so accessibility. Through cataloging, conser­ many duplicates. vation, digitization, and posting online,

Fall/Winter 2013 assigned each item, whether a book or group of embassy in the United States participated as • Provide conservation treatment to sta­ documents, an inventory number in a database well. A copy of the database and the review bilize and allow safe handling of collec­ and attached digital photographs of title pages criteria were also provided to Saad Eskander, tion items selected for digitization, and, and book covers. Based on these photographs, Director of the Iraqi National Library and as needed, more extensive conservation Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking catalogers pro­ Archives (INLA) to solicit INLA’s perspec­ treatment for items to be exhibited. vided preliminary descriptive information and, tive regarding the item-level review. • Digitize all archival documents and where feasible, cataloging information. The third and final phase of the Iraqi Jew­ the priority books (those important for ish Archive Preservation Project, funded by their content, rarity, and other special the Department of State in 2011, set out the characteristics—less than 18 percent of Planning for Preservation and Access: actions needed to complete the project: the total). Advice from a Group of Experts • Complete and refine the collection cat­ • Create an exhibit with English and To help set preservation priorities, a group aloging and database. Arabic captions to be shown at the Na­ of experts knowledgeable in Jewish history, Iraqi and Middle Eastern history, the Iraqi Jewish community, and Jewish rare books and printing met in May 2010. Working from the database, they reviewed the collec­ tion and made recommendations regarding priorities for preservation, access, and exhi­ bition. The experts included Reeva Simon, Ye­ shiva University/Columbia University; Jane Gerber, City University of New York; Mi­ chael Grunberger, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Maurice Shohet, from the Iraqi Jewish community, later also from the World Organization of Jews from Iraq; Laura Leone, Center for Jewish History; and

Bernard Cooperman, University of Mary­ From left: Doris A. Hamburg and Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler of the National Archives and Reserve Maj. land. Baidaa Abdulhareem from the Iraqi Corinne Wegener.

these books and documents will be acces­ dad Jewish communal organizations, such ciety, with an Islamic majority composed sible throughout the world to all who are as the Chief Rabbi’s office, hospitals, and of both Sunnis and Shi’ites and significant interested. schools. Kurdish, Christian, and Jewish popula­ Over 2,700 Jewish books and tens of The recovered documents provide a vivid tions. As Iraq modernized, Jews formed thousands of documents, dating from the and unparalleled record of Baghdad’s Jew­ an important segment of the middle and mid-16th century to the 1970s, were re­ ish life from the end of the Ottoman era to working classes—active in business, gov­ covered. These documents and books were the early 1970s. Iraqi Jews lived in a land ernment, professions, academics, music, expropriated by the Baath Party regime that was physically and culturally linked literature, and trades. By 1949, an esti­ from synagogues and communal organi­ to Judaism’s central sacred texts. Babylo­ mated 130,000 Jews lived in Iraq, primar­ zations, although it is unclear what they nia in Ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day ily in Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul. hoped to learn from these Jewish commu­ Iraq) is embedded in biblical lore. For The unraveling of Jewish life in Iraq be­ nity records and religious texts. Almost all centuries, Jews were well integrated into gan in the 20th century, accelerating after the recovered documents relate to Bagh­ Iraq’s generally tolerant, multicultural so- the advent of Nazism to power in Germany

Preserving the “Iraqi Jewish Archive” Prologue 27 mit safe scanning, but in most cases, conserva­ tion treatment does not eliminate the evidence of the water and mold damage that resulted from materials being submerged in the flooded basement. All collection items were placed in cus­ tom-made boxes to provide safe, rigid sup­ port while expediting access to them later. Especially for books that did not warrant mold remediation and digitization, the cus­ tom boxes will also help contain any residual debris and, equally important for the mold- damaged materials, provide some environ­ mental protection from fluctuating tempera­ ture and relative humidity. The Department of State funding ($2.97 million) allowed the National Archives to hire a superb team to

The volumes and documents were cleaned with execute the final phase by 2014. soft brushes and a filtered vacuum. Project manager Sue Murphy manages the day-to-day project and its many parts. of the Iraqi Jewish Archive Preservation Conservation work is performed by conser­ The flooded basement of the Mukhabarat headquar­ ters, location of Saddam Hussein’s intelligence direc­ Project. vators Anna Friedman and Katherine Kelly torate, May 2003 • Provide fellowships for Iraqi conserva­ as well as by conservation technicians Pat­ tion professionals. rick Brown and Meris Westberg, who also tional Archives in Washington, D.C., • Box, crate, and return the materials to provides custom housings. and in Iraq. Iraq. Hebraic Librarian Dina Herbert devel­ • Create a website to provide access to the ops cataloging information, integrates work listing of all of the IJA contents, image Physically distorted files of the digitized items, an online ver­ items have been flat­ sion of the exhibitions, and a description tened enough to per-

and the proliferation of anti-Jewish propa­ Iraq was publicly ex­ ganda. In June 1941, after the defeat of the ecuted for the alleged pro-Nazi Iraqi regime, an anti-Jewish attack, crime of treason. known as the “Farhud,” broke out in Bagh­ Although losing citi­ dad during the Jewish festival of Shavuot. zenship and assets, An estimated 180 Jews were killed, and Iraqi Jews rushed to hundreds were injured, while great numbers emigrate, and be- of Jewish homes and businesses were looted and destroyed. This 1977 letter explains how the Jewish Commu­ As Iraq entered the war against the newly nity of Baghdad worked founded State of Israel in 1948, Iraqi Jews with Revolutionary-era government officials to were increasingly arrested and persecuted. allow for the transfer of In September 1948, a prominent Jew in a Torah scroll to England.

28 Prologue Over the life of the project, Gary M. bition will also be available online at www. Stern, NARA general counsel, has been a key ija.archives.gov. adviser. Throughout the project, many staff In many ways, the project has proved itself to at the National Archives have contributed be a successful model for international partner­ invaluable expertise, support, and assistance ships and interagency teamwork, as well as gov­ on legal, database, personnel, financial, web, ernmental and nongovernmental collaboration. contracting, security, technology, conserva­ The National Archives and Records Ad­ tion, digitization, video, photography, and ministration, Department of State, Govern­ congressional and public affairs matters. ment of Iraq, Iraqi National Library and We greatly appreciate their many important Archives, Department of Defense, Center contributions to the project. for Jewish History, National Endowment for the Humanities, World Organization of A key project goal was to digitize all archival docu­ Jews from Iraq, American Jewish Commit­ ments and priority books and make them all freely Historic Documents Available available online by mid-2014. tee, B’nai B’rith, United States Holocaust On Archives Website Memorial Museum, Library of Congress, done by staff with Arabic language expertise A key accomplishment of the preservation proj­ and other organizations and individuals have (Ryann Craig, Huda Dayton, and Jeffrey ect is making the IJA books and documents free­ contributed in different ways. Together they Abadie), and provides assistance and guid­ ly available online to the broadest possible audi­ have achieved the goal of ensuring the preser­ ance in developing item-level priorities and ence worldwide. The website www.ija.archives. vation and worldwide access to these special metadata creation. Daniel Feeley provided gov launched in November 2013 with a portion books and documents that evoke the collec­ administrative and lab support. of the collection; all IJA materials will be added tive memory of the ancient and vibrant Iraqi Project digitization staff consists of two by mid-2014. Jewish community. P preservation imaging specialists, Noah Dur­ The exhibition “Discovery and Recov­ Authors ham and Jennifer Seitz, and three imaging ery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage,” Doris A. Hamburg is the Director of Preservation Programs technicians, Christine Huhn, Randy Sulli­ also discussed in this issue of Prologue, at the National Archives. She directs the Iraqi Jewish Archive van, and Norris White. The imaging special­ provides another fascinating window onto Preservation Project for NARA. ists selected equipment, developed efficient the books and documents, the work to pre­ Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler is the Chief of Conservation at workflows and protocols appropriate to the serve them, and the long, vibrant history the National Archives; she has directed the conservation project goals, and have been leading the of the Iraqi Jewish community that is now work and other facets of the Iraqi Jewish Archive Preserva­ work to develop the IJA website. dispersed throughout the world. The exhi­ tion Project.

tween 1950 and 1951, almost 120,000 Jews 1958 and the rise of the Ba’ath party in Authors left Iraq, leaving only a small number behind 1963, culminating in the public hanging Gabriel Goldstein, a museum consultant and indepen­ to continue the community’s 2,600-year-old of nine Jews in January 1969. dent curator, served as guest curator for the “Discovery presence. Iraqi Jewish heritage continues as a vi­ and Recovery” exhibition. He is a specialist in Jewish his­ tory, art, and material culture and worked for over two The community continued to function brant and living tradition in Iraqi Jewish decades at Yeshiva University Museum in New York. He is from 1950 through the 1970s under sig­ communities worldwide. Rituals, lan­ the Adjunct Curator of Judaica at the North Carolina Mu­ seum of Art in Raleigh, and consults for many museums. nificant constraints. These recovered books guage, recipes, songs, and literature flour­ and documents provide a vivid picture of ish in synagogues, homes, and communal Lisa Royse has worked in the museum field for over 30 years the persistence of Jewish organizational organizations. The carefully preserved both in the private and public sectors. At the National Ar­ life in Baghdad despite the dwindling books and documents discovered in the chives, she has been the curator at the Lyndon Baines John­ son Library and Museum and is currently the National Mu­ numbers of Jews and increasing insecurity. Iraqi intelligence headquarters in 2003 seum Programs Coordinator in Washington, D.C. Lisa is the Jews and other minorities faced ongoing also help continue the heritage of Iraqi project manager for the exhibition “Discovery and Recovery: persecution following the Revolution of Jewry. Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage.”

Preserving the “Iraqi Jewish Archive” Prologue 29