In June 2014, a tragedy is scheduled to occur. An extensive archive containing numerous records documenting the life of the Jewish community in Iraq is scheduled to be sent from Washington D.C., where it is currently housed, to Iraq, where it is likely to be destroyed.

Many readers of this article may not be aware that Iraq used to have a large Jewish population. In fact, prior to 1948, there were almost a million Jews living in both Arab and non-Arab countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf — including Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia and Syria. Iraq boasted one of the largest communities, as well as a rich and vibrant history dating back to 597 B.C.  

In 1940, the Iraqi Jewish community numbered approximately 140,000 people. Jews made up more than a quarter of the population of Baghdad. Iraq was considered a major center of Jewish learning, and one of the most important books in Judaism — the Babylonian Talmud — was written there. Jews were central to the Iraqi economy and served in many prominent professions, such bankers, doctors, lawyers, professors, and engineers.

But all that changed when the Nazis rose to power in Europe. The Iraqi government cultivated close ties with the Nazis, and there were subsequent attacks on the local Jewish population. By 1950, most Iraqi Jews had fled the country, mainly to Israel. Forced to abandon their private and communal property, their possessions became hostage to the regime. In Baghdad, only one synagogue remained in operation. The Jews brought all the communal documents and holy books there for storage.

In 1985, Saddam Hussein’s government seized the Jewish archive. It was stored in the cellar of the headquarters of Saddam’s mukhabarat, or secret police. Harold Rhode, a recently retired U.S. Defense Department cultural expert, was the first American official informed of the existence of the archive. In May 2003, with support from Iraqi leader Ahmed Chalabi, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the archive — which included everything from school records to 500- year-old copies of the Bible — was saved and sent to the United States.

The U.S. State Department has spent $3 million restoring the 2,700 books and tens of thousands of documents. In the meantime, back in Iraq, there are still hundreds of Torah scrolls languishing in a government cellar, inaccessible to the public, and in a horrible state of disrepair.

The archive is scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in June 2014. There is no precedent, however, to suggest that the Iraqi government will act to preserve this important archive. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the Iraqis may desire to erase any historical records related to the history of Jews in Iraq. 

I implore readers of the Light to help safeguard this historical treasure. Please write our elected representatives and ask them to act to prevent the transfer of the archive to the Iraqi government. Either the archive could continue to be maintained in the U.S., or alternatively, it could be transferred to the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, which is the only museum in the world dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the 2,500-year-old Jewish community of Iraq.