Last letter of an Iraqi Jew executed in Baghdad on charges of spying for Israel
foto: PUBLIKA.MD
The last letter of an Iraqi Jew executed in Baghdad on charges of spying for Israel was revealed for the first time 50 years after the fact, according to a report in Israel's Yediot Ahronoth, writes jpost.com.
The letter was revealed at Friday's annual event for the families and descendants of Jews executed by the Iraqi regime, held at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda on Jan. 30.Iraq was once home to one of the world's oldest Jewish communities, whose history dates back to the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C. In the first half of the 20th century the city of Baghdad was 1/3 Jewish. After the State of Israel declared independence, the Iraqi regime persecuted its Jewish subjects, leading to a mass exodus of Iraqi Jewry to Israel that continued into the early 1970's.
In 1969, 14 people were hanged in Baghdad's Tahrir Square after they were found guilty of spying for Israel. One of them was Naim Hatchuri Halali, who wrote the aforementioned letter just days before his execution.
Halali did not use the letter to dwell on his fate. Instead, he asked after the health of his family, and even tried to reassure them that he was doing well, apart from the fact of his separation from his parents and siblings.Addressing each family member individually, he came to his brother Sami and wrote, "You know how much I love you. You're even a part of my soul...I ask that you bless all of my friends in my name and kiss them in my place."
Sami Halali and his family were able to flee Iraq to Israel in 1971. Sami explained that the family hid the letter in their house after they received it in Iraq, but read it only once because of the pain it caused.
He decided to reveal the letter, he continued, "the letter has a strong Zionist value...[in it, Naim] asked my mother to immigrate to the land of Israel."
The letter was revealed at Friday's annual event for the families and descendants of Jews executed by the Iraqi regime, held at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda on Jan. 30.Iraq was once home to one of the world's oldest Jewish communities, whose history dates back to the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C. In the first half of the 20th century the city of Baghdad was 1/3 Jewish. After the State of Israel declared independence, the Iraqi regime persecuted its Jewish subjects, leading to a mass exodus of Iraqi Jewry to Israel that continued into the early 1970's.
In 1969, 14 people were hanged in Baghdad's Tahrir Square after they were found guilty of spying for Israel. One of them was Naim Hatchuri Halali, who wrote the aforementioned letter just days before his execution.
Halali did not use the letter to dwell on his fate. Instead, he asked after the health of his family, and even tried to reassure them that he was doing well, apart from the fact of his separation from his parents and siblings.Addressing each family member individually, he came to his brother Sami and wrote, "You know how much I love you. You're even a part of my soul...I ask that you bless all of my friends in my name and kiss them in my place."
Sami Halali and his family were able to flee Iraq to Israel in 1971. Sami explained that the family hid the letter in their house after they received it in Iraq, but read it only once because of the pain it caused.
He decided to reveal the letter, he continued, "the letter has a strong Zionist value...[in it, Naim] asked my mother to immigrate to the land of Israel."