Full Breakdown
85th Anniversary Commemoration of Iraq’s 1941 Farhud Pogrom Highlights Memory and Ongoing Antisemitism Concerns
6/3/2026, 4:26:49 AM
Commemoration Overview
On 1 June 2026, President Isaac Herzog hosted an 85-year remembrance of the Farhud, a June 1941 pogrom in Baghdad that killed dozens of Jews. The ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem featured a candle-lighting, an excerpt from David Kahtan’s documentary series *The Long Journey Home*, an exhibition of 80 black-and-white portraits by Rona Olshevsky, and a panel of survivors, scholars, and musicians. Kahtan, whose father survived the Farhud, organized the event.
Background & Context
Jewish presence in Iraq dates to the sixth-century BCE exile to Babylon. By the early twentieth century, roughly 180,000 Jews lived in Iraq, many in affluent, civic roles. Nazi propaganda entered Iraq in the 1930s, and rising Arab nationalism culminated in the Farhud on 1-2 June 1941, during Shavuot. Sources report 179 Jews killed (President Herzog) and about 200 killed (other accounts). Homes, businesses, and synagogues were looted; women were raped. Ten years later, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah (1952) air-lifted about 120,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel; overall, 850,000 North African Jews were displaced.
Why the Event Matters
Organizers framed the commemoration as a corrective to the limited visibility of Arab-Jewish histories in Israeli education. President Herzog linked the Farhud to contemporary antisemitic spikes, noting that “the waves of antisemitic hatred continue to rise.” Survivors also drew parallels between the 1941 violence and the October 7 2023 Hamas attack, arguing that collective memory can inform present-day security and societal resilience.
Official Statements & Responses
President Herzog asserted that the Farhud “did not always receive its place in Israeli national consciousness” and called for teaching both the Farhud and the broader heritage of Babylonian Jewry. Kahtan emphasized urgency, stating that “as the sun sets on my father’s generation, the last witnesses of the Farhud… must be recorded before their voices are lost.” Musician Gil Shohat described performing Beethoven’s “Tempest” movement interwoven with the Arabic song “Enta Omri” as a tribute to his father, a Farhud survivor. Historian Esther Meir-Glitzenstein traced the pogrom to the erosion of Iraq’s liberal monarchy after 1932, the spread of Nazi propaganda, and the 1941 Rashid Ali al-Gaylani revolt supported by Haj Amin al-Husseini.
On-the-Ground Accounts
Survivor Edmond Mor recalled that “it was organized” and described mobs marking Jewish houses before attacking. Nadia Cohen, widow of spy Eli Cohen, recounted her family’s forced departure from a wealthy Baghdad life to a transit camp in Israel. Hadassah Lazar, sister of Shlomo Mantzur—who survived the Farhud and later perished in the Oct 7 hostage crisis—said “the writing was on the wall in Iraq” and later “the writing was on the wall here,” underscoring perceived continuities of existential threat.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the Farhud death toll: Herzog cites 179 victims, while other accounts estimate around 200. Documentation of individual experiences remains limited, as the surviving eyewitness pool rapidly diminishes. No official Israeli memorial specifically dedicated to the Farhud existed before this event.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It is no secret that many of you feel that the events of the Farhud did not always receive their place in Israeli national consciousness,” — Isaac Herzog, President of Israel
- “Memory is an act of resistance,” — David Kahtan, documentary filmmaker
- “It was organized,” — Edmond Mor, Farhud survivor
- “The writing was on the wall in Iraq,” — Hadassah Lazar, sister of Shlomo Mantzur
What’s Next
The full *Long Journey Home* documentary will air on 25 June 2026, accompanied by additional oral-history recordings. Organizers intend to make the commemoration an annual observance, aiming to integrate Farhud education into Israeli curricula and public discourse.
