The Baghdad Hangings of 1969

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW OF FAIZA SAIGH. GRANDMOTHER FROM MILL HILL AND SISTER OF DAOUD GHALI YADGAR, ONE OF SEVERAL YOUNG JEWISH IRAQI MEN HANGED IN 1969, ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR ISRAEL. THE INTERVIEW WAS DONE BY JEWISHNEWS.CO.UK

SHE IS ALSO THE MOTHER. GRANDMOTHER AND AUNT OF MANY YOUNG MIZRAHI JEWS.

ONE OF WHICH I HAD THE HONOR TO MEET OVER INSTAGRAM. THEY HAVE ASKED ME TO SHARE THEIR FAMILIES STORY. HE IS NOT NAMED OR TAGGED DUE TO PRIVACY AND SECURITY CONCERNS.

"WE LIVED IN IRAQ ALL OUR LIVES, PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS... JEWS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY, NOT EVEN SOMEONE DYING OF CANCER. WE LIVED IN BASRA, ME, MY MOTHER. MY FATHER. MY YOUNGER SISTER AND MY BROTHER DAOUD. MY OLDEST BROTHER FAOUD WAS STUDYING IN ENGLAND. BUT THE GOVERNMENT LATER SAID ANY JEWS STUDYING ABROAD MUST RETURN OR HAVE THEIR CITIZENSHIP REVOKED, SO MY FATHER TOLD HIM TO STAY. IT WAS DIFFICULT. WE WERE LIVING IN TERROR. EVERY KNOCK AT THE DOOR YOU FELT WAS SOMEONE COMING TO TAKE YOU AWAY. WE HAD A COMFORTABLE LIFE, MY FATHER WAS A BANKER AND MY BROTHER WORKED WITH HIM IN THE BUSINESS. THERE WAS A JEWISH COMMUNITY THERE IN BASRA. OTHERS LIVED IN BAGHDAD."

"I WAS IN MY FINAL YEAR AT UNI WHEN I CAME HOME ONE DAY TO FIND SOMETHING NOT RIGHT. I WAS TOLD THE POLICE HAD COME TO TAKE DAOUD AWAY. THEY SAID IT WAS JUST A FEW HOURS, JUST A FEW QUESTIONS, WE'LL BRING HIM BACK. WHEN THEY DIDN'T MY MOTHER STARTED SEARCHING FOR HIM. WE HEARD DAOUD WASN'T THE ONLY ONE. A FEW DOORS DOWN ANOTHER JEWISH MAN OF A SIMILAR AGE TO MY BROTHER HAD BEEN TAKEN TOO. SOME WERE HUSBANDS. SOME FATHERS.

ONE MAN HIS WIFE WAS PREGNANT. THE POLICE SAID THEY HAD ALL GONE TO BAGHDAD.'''

"ONE NIGHT, ME AND MY SISTER WENT TO SLEEP AND MY FATHER STAYED UP LISTENING TO THE RADIO AS ALWAYS. WE HAD A TV BUT MOST OF THE NEWS CAME THROUGH THE RADIO. THAT'S WHEN HE HEARD THE TRIAL BEING BROADCAST, THAT NIGHT. DAOUD AND THE OTHERS CONFESSING TO SPYING FOR ISRAEL, WE WENT HERE, WE DID THIS.. THEY CONFESSED AND THAT'S WHEN THE JUDGE ORDERED THEIR DEATH BY HANGING. THEY WERE KILLED THERE AND THEN. EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, BEFORE 5AM. THEIR BODIES WERE PUT IN THE SQUARE. IT ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY.

"WE HEARD THEY TORTURED THEM. IT WAS FREEZING IN THOSE TWO WINTER MONTHS, SEVERE COLD, AND I HAD A DREAM ONE NIGHT THAT DAOUD WAS SLEEPING ON A BLOCK OF ICE [BREAKS DOWN CRYING]. WE USED TO BUY ICE FROM A VAN IN THE STREET AS WE DIDN'T HAVE FREEZERS. I DREAMT HE HAD TO SLEEP ON ONE OF THOSE BLOCKS. WE HEARD THEY WERE TAKING THEIR NAILS OFF. THEY MADE THEM CONFESS".

"MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD US WHAT HAPPENED NEXT, BUT I FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER SHE DIED IN 2012. WHEN MY MOTHER HEARD THAT THEIR EXECUTION HAD BEEN ORDERED, SHE DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD HAPPEN, SO SHE WENT TO TAKE A TAXI TO THE AIRPORT TO FLY TO BASRA. THE SON OF THE COHEN FAMILY, DAVID COHEN, WAS TOLD TO GO WITH HER TO THE ROAD TO GET A TAXI. HE WAS 15 AT THE TIME. HE NOW LIVES IN ENGLAND AND TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED. MY MOTHER ASKED THE DRIVER TO TAKE HER TO THE AIRPORT.

HE LOOKED AT HER AND SAID LADY, DON'T YOU KNOW?

THEY'RE HANGING THE SPIES IN LIBERTY SQUARE. ALL THE ROADS ARE BLOCKED. WHERE CAN I TAKE YOU? AT THIS POINT, DAVID TOLD ME THAT MY MOTHER ASKED THE DRIVER TO TAKE HER TO THE SQUARE. THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. SHE WENT AND SAW THE BODIES, THE PEOPLE DANCING UNDERNEATH. SHE NEVER TOLD US."

"PEOPLE DIDN'T TREAT US BADLY BUT THEY WERE TOO SCARED TO SHOW SYMPATHY. I FELT DIFFERENT, LIKE A BLACK SHEEP, THE SISTER OF THE SPY. THEY ALL KNEW IT'S NOT TRUE BUT WHO CAN SAY ANYTHING? THEY WERE VERY SAD FOR ME. I COULD SEE, BUT EVEN JEWISH FRIENDS WERE SCARED TO COME TO SEE US, THEY WERE WORRIED THEY WOULD BE SEEN AND ASSUMED TO BE SPYING THEMSELVES. EVENTUALLY THE FAMILIES GOT TOGETHER. WE WERE ALL IN THE SAME SITUATION. THE WAY WE WERE BEING TREATED, IT WAS LIKE THE GESTAPO. I GOT MARRIED 1970. MY HUSBAND WAS IN BAGHDAD SO WE LIVED THERE FROM 1970-71. I HAD A BABY GIRL, WE LEFT WHEN SHE WAS THREE MONTHS OLD, IN 1971, WE ESCAPED THROUGH THE KURDISH AREAS IN THE NORTH AFTER WE HEARD SOMEBODY WAS ARRANGING IT. WE LEFT EVERYTHING. WE JUST HAD A SMALL SUITCASE, LIKE GOING TO SCOTLAND FOR A SHORT HOLIDAY.

WE HAD TO LEAVE SENTIMENTAL THINGS LIKE PHOTOS. WE CAME TO ENGLAND BECAUSE MY BROTHER WAS HERE. FAOUD FIRST FOUND OUT ABOUT DAOUD WHEN HE READ IT IN THE NEWSPAPER AND HE FAINTED."

"WHEN I LOOK BACK, THEY THOUGHT NOTHING OF KILLING THE JEWS. IT WAS TO SCARE US, TO SCARE EVERYONE. AFTER THEY FINISHED WITH US, THEY BEGAN KILLING EACH OTHER. NOW, 50 YEARS LATER. IM STILL SCARED. I WAS SCARED TO DO THIS INTERVIEW, SCARED TO THINK WHO MIGHT READ IT. BUT I DECIDED TO DO IT, WITH THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF MY SON. I HAVE TO SAY WHAT HAPPENED."