The entire Jewish world has heard of Krystallnacht. Yet very few have even heard of the Farhud, where Nazi sympathizers in Baghdad, killed, maimed and committed numerous atrocities aginst the Jewish population on the two days of Shabu’oth in 1941.

For the past three years, Midrash BEN ISH HAI has provided lectures on the subject of the Farhud to increase awareness of this tragic event and to help all our Jewish brothers and sisters remember and, hopefully, avoid similar occurences in the future, G-d forbid.

A synopsis of this year’s lecture, with additional historical information is provided here.

By Mr. Hayim V. Habousha
 

The lecture was attended by Jews of all backgrounds,  Ashkenazi and Sephardi, as well as those of Babylonian Jewish descent who were directly affected by the Farhud.	The Farhud took place Sunday and Monday, June 1st and 2nd 1941, the two days of Shabu’oth. The word Farhud denotes the breakdown of law and order, where life and property are in peril.  Jews lived in Babylonia (modern Iraq) for over 2,400 years, since the destruction of the first Beth Hamiqdash. Jews were treated tolerantly by the Moslems and, while abuses (such as hooliganism, snatching of men’s fez caps and even murders) had been recorded from time to time, the Farhud is the only sad event of sizable magnitude.  Jews lived mainly in Baghdad and, in 1870, started moving to other towns such as Amarah, Ali Agharbi, Qalaat Salih and Basrah.
Mr. Naim Dallal spoke in depth about his experiences in Baghdad and Iran and thanked Dr. Khabbaza for information he provided for his speech	The development of Basrah which started to flourish again after the opening of the Suez Canal, adversely affected Aleppo in Syria and northern Iraq.  The fact that the majority of the Jewish community was concentrated in Baghdad explains why the Baghdadi Jews bore the brunt of the Farhud. Some reasons for the farhud:   A) Political: under British occupation (1914/1918--1922) Jews gained confidence, felt secure and did not tolerate any mockery or physical abuse. Some went as far as to proclaim themselves British citizens or proteges -- this was strongly resented by the Moslems.
Mrs. Rachel Manasseh spoke eloquently about the Farhud and the events that led up to the Farhud.	B) Economic: Jews were very active in all trade and finance fields -- at the same time they were a sizable percentage of the civil service staff.  On August 27, 1934 numerous Jews were dismissed by Arshad Alumari, Minister of Economics and Communication, and an unofficial quota was set up for Jews to be appointed in the civil service and for Jews to be admitted into secondary schools and colleges.  C) Hatred of the Jews: stirred by several organizations headed by such prominent officials as Dr. Fadil Al Jamali (Inspector General of the
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