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The Jewish Exodus from Iraq, 1948-1951 by Moshe Gat. London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp.viii + 209, abbreviations and bibliography, index. L35.00/$47.50 (hardback); L16.00/$18.50 (paperback).
Moshe Gat's book is a well-researched and documented three-years drama of the decline and fall of a 2,500-year-old community which prospered and languished, and shared the woes and fortunes of the population of Mesopotamia, known recently by the name of Iraq, under the Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Arabs, Mongols, Turks, British and finally Arabs again.
Brought to the rivers of Babylon by their Babylonian captors in 586 Bc, the Jews followed their Prophet Jeremiah's exhortations to build houses, plant gardens and multiply and not be diminished, and to seek the peace of the country to where they had been carried. When Cyrus King of Persia allowed them to return to Jerusalem and build the second Temple, most of them elected to remain in the country of their captivity. They compiled the Babylonian Talmud and laid the bases of religion, instituted colleges and houses of learning, and excelled in trade, banking and the professions.
Hundreds of years passed, but in Baghdad, the new capital of the Abbassid Kingdom, the Jewish community continued to live and flourish headed by the Gaons and Exilarchs. After many more cycles and changes of government, for better or worse, the British defeated the Turks in 1917 and captured Baghdad. Four years later the new Arab Kingdom of Iraq came into being with the Amir Faisal of the Hejaz installed as king. A new era was opened for the Jewish community which held in its hands most of the county's trade. Sasson Heskel was appointed the first minister of finance in the new government. Prominent Jews acceded to other high offices as magistrates, directors-general, accountants, engineers, teachers, senators and deputies and even served in the army and the police force.
When the partition of Palestine was decided by the United Nations in 1947 and the State of Israel was created, the Jews of Iraq were suddenly persecuted, jailed...