AI English Translation, Pages 451-475
⟦illegible⟧
Your Excellency the President
I have also contacted today regarding
withdrawing the appointment letters for the required Levy employees
and the required draft, and I was answered by
Mr. Elias Labai, Secretary of the Committee for the Revocation of
Citizenship, that he is in the process of collecting them and will
send them to us on Tuesday
after presenting the matter to the Committee for the
Revocation of Citizenship on Monday.
Your orders shall be obeyed
⟦signature⟧
11/5
Presidency of the Jewish Community
Number ⟦1100⟧
Date ⟦2 / 11 / 50⟧
Baghdad
9-AM
2 NOV
1950
BAGHDAD
3 FILS IRAQ POSTAGE
3 Fils Iraqi Postage
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Sender - Committee for Denaturalization and Deportation
Baghdad
25
Baghdad on ⟦...⟧ November ⟦...⟧
⟦...⟧
For preservation
To be preserved
⟦illegible⟧
2/19
⟦illegible⟧
Our Master of the Community
After greetings, this petition from the people of Al-Qurna has been submitted to us
and its witnesses are strong, along with verbal reports that reached you.
The Hawza is the custodian of the Torahs there, and this custodian
has passed away. According to what I have learned, the family of the custodians wish
to renounce their citizenship and they wish to transfer this custodianship to
a person on their behalf, even for a very small amount, and they have indeed found
a buyer. I want you to inform Al-Azhar for your sake that
selling this custodianship to buyers is harmful and a ⟦disaster⟧,
and that according to the rulings and Sharia, it is absolutely not permissible to sell
an endowment (Waqf). In fact, the buyers sold their livelihood as ordinary
custodians, not as it is in the states; in the Land Registry Department it is called custodianship
of this plot. So the community can prevent this custodianship
unofficially or by agreement with the judge and the official to sever the connection.
This is what was necessary, and please accept my greetings.
⟦illegible signature⟧
9/11/50
November 13
His Excellency the Vice President of the Lay Council, Mr. Naeem Zubaida, the Respected
After greetings,
I have the honor to present my following brief observations regarding the Menashi Saleh shelter, which you have taken
upon yourselves to supervise, as I see it as my duty to inform Your Excellency about how it is managed and its current
state. Due to the lack of time, I will suffice by mentioning its needs, deficiencies, and some brief information about it, and I will leave
what concerns the past for a detailed report that I will present soon, God willing.
The shelter currently consists of:-
Individuals whose Iraqi citizenship has been revoked in a special sequence for the shelter, and they are on the verge of traveling if not for recruitment difficulties.
Their number is 200 people. There are families from the people of Baghdad who were living in the Farha Somaykh synagogue adjacent to the Menashi
Saleh shelter. The previous committee was forced to provide them with subsistence after it decided to merge the aforementioned synagogue with the Menashi Saleh school.
The number of these is 107 people. There are families recently transferred from the Rachel Shahmoon and Albert Sassoon schools, numbering
300 people. There are Kurdish families who recently arrived at the shelter and are destitute, numbering 150
people. Thus, the total is 857, and this number has begun to increase due to the steady arrival of new families.
As for the past, the shelter previously continued a policy of providing food to all refugees present and did not wish,
despite the smallness of the current resource, to cut off food from those to whom food was previously distributed. Thus, the total
of those to whom food is distributed has become 450 people. As for the rest, numbering 407 (and as I mentioned previously, this number has begun
to increase), food is not distributed to them, and most of them are in dire need of it.
The subsistence of one person costs an amount of approximately 50 fils per day, and this is the minimum that can be spent
relative to the high cost of living at the present time. It is clear from this that our daily expenditure for living only for those
who currently receive food is estimated at 22.500 Dinars. Added to that are the expenses for cleaning and sanitary materials,
estimated at the present time at five Dinars per day, due to the unsuitability of the Menashi Saleh school to be a shelter
without some repairs being carried out on it to limit it to being a shelter that can accommodate approximately a thousand people. The
costs of these repairs are estimated at eight hundred Dinars, spent in one installment. These repairs are for sewage areas
and toilets, allocating a place for washing, making the kitchen more hygienic, and expanding the capabilities of the currently existing clinic.
The services provided by the shelter at the present time are:-
1- Feeding some refugees as I mentioned above.
2- Organizing the housing of these refugees in a manner consistent with health and moral rules.
3- Necessary care for cleanliness because most of these people were not accustomed to cleanliness previously.
For filing
Committee records
— 2 —
4— Their medical treatment — It has been proven that the shelter has provided medical services in this field thanks to the assistance
valuable provided by Dr. ⟦Rubin Gigi⟧ who offered his services to the shelter in an honorary capacity (although I do not wish to mention the name
of this person because he is my cousin, but the truth must be told). Measles and diphtheria spread among the children
during his time, and he overcame them with the help of God.
6— Assisting refugees in following up on some of their transactions and guiding them in every matter that is difficult for them.
Furthermore, during the days when funds were available, the shelter used to send refugees to the baths once every two weeks after
agreeing with the owner of the Al-Amin bath to charge an amount of 20 fils per person and twenty-four fils
for each woman and ten fils for each child over three years of age. The shelter also provided soap and some
clothes to the refugees for free, and all of these have ceased at the present time due to the lack of resources reaching it, but we
see that these actions are necessary and urgent if the shelter continues, even if we are forced to deduct this amount from the value of the food
provided to the refugees.
The shelter (and it is winter time) is in need of the following materials, which I suggest be prepared as quickly as possible due to the severity
of the cold and the fear of rain falling. As for the materials, they are:—
1— Canvas — We have estimated our needs for it as follows:—
2348 square feet for the Farha Sawiri Synagogue
1718 " " for the Menashi Saleh School
Total 4066 square feet.
2— The shelter needs used blankets, the number of which is estimated at 300 blankets, because the families living in it are poor
and do not possess what protects them from the severity of the cold (and it is better to increase this quantity if possible).
3— Timbari— or what replaces it — and we need approximately 500 yards of it for the refugees to use instead
of mattresses, as most of them sleep directly on the ground. It is worth mentioning on this occasion that Mr.
Sassoon Nawi, a member of the previous committee, had donated a large quantity of Timbari, which is now being used by the refugees.
In conclusion to these observations of mine, I ask God Almighty to grant success to the current committee in its work to complete
what the first committee began in terms of services to humanity and duty.
We hope you accept our highest respects
Sincerely
⟦Raouf Hassad⟧
Director of Menashi Saleh Shelter
Number - 209
Department Copy
To the Presidency of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
Based on the request of the plaintiff Naima daughter of Eliyahu, I have conducted an audit of the civil status record and her house, and it appeared that her husband named Ishaq
Yal, residing in the Al-Sada neighborhood in the town of Kifri in the house numbered 2 / 11, died according to the death statement given to this department
numbered 147 / 26 and dated 1/28/1940, noting that the aforementioned was born in 1908, one thousand nine hundred and eight, and has a daughter named
Saida, born in 1938.
Civil Status Officer of Kifri District
11/14/1950
Number - T / 50/1619
Date - 11/26/1950
(To be referred to the Assistant for Denaturalization in Meir Tweig Synagogue)
For filing / Denaturalization
11 / 1 / 16
⟦illegible⟧
Acting Head of the Community
Head of the Lay Council
November 19.
His Excellency the Vice President of the Physical Council, Mr. Naeem Zubaida, the respected
After greetings
With reference to my observations submitted on November 13, 1950, I would like to clarify
the following points to your Excellency, which I consider important, most of which are quoted from the reports I used to submit to
the previous committee, and I hope you will help us solve them in the required manner: -
1- The shelter has become in a very miserable state from a health point of view - there are dirty water
outlets, toilets, and some overcrowded areas in the shelter that need repairs and cleaning,
without which it is impossible to live in the shelter without these nuisances posing a danger to the refugees and the neighbors
alike, in addition to the problems that have occurred and are still occurring between us and the residents of the neighboring houses, as
they intend to <del>submit</del> their complaints to the responsible health authorities, and this may lead to the closure of the shelter due to its
unsuitability from a health point of view, or we may be forced to repair it at exorbitant expenses.
2- The food we distribute to the refugees is extremely poor, and we are forced to
provide such food for the sake of economy. This bad food cannot be tolerated longer than the period that
has passed. We have become accustomed to distributing Zahdi dates to them daily without interruption, and a soup of mung beans or lentils with
a little rice at noon. Furthermore, we have been forced to distribute bread alone recently,
and we reduced the milk we used to distribute to the sick and refugee children after we cut it off from them
for a period of nearly two weeks. We were recently forced (on the last Friday and Saturday) to distribute
two meals of poor dates and bread to them each day, and we deprived them of the noon meal because
your Excellency ordered the payment of an amount of only twenty-five dinars to suffice for these two days and Sunday morning
with them. If we knew that the number of those to whom food is distributed is close to 450 individuals who eat
seven times during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, the number of meals would be as follows: -
450 x 7 = 3150, and this means that one meal per person should cost 7.93 fils.
If we knew that the price of one loaf of bread we buy for them is four fils, what do we distribute to them for 3.93
fils, bearing in mind that we must take into account the cleaning supplies that the shelter must provide for the toilets
for preservation.
His Excellency the President
- 2 -
daily and other health measures, and paying the wages of the cook and his assistant, which amount to approximately 430 fils daily,
and the cigarettes that we distribute to the workers who work daily, at one pack of cigarettes for each of them, including
the shelter guards, the clinic servants, the administration, the churches, and others. Based on this simple statistic that
I have presented, if we continue in this manner, these refugees will die of hunger, starting with the children, as
is actually happening, followed by the adults until they are completely wiped out. At that point, I believe that Your Excellency and the other
committee members would not accept this, especially His Excellency the President, from whom I have heard repeatedly and every
time I had the honor of meeting him with the members of the previous committee, that he desires from the bottom of his heart to help them and fulfill
their living requirements.
I say that malnutrition must be put to an end, and we must either find a way to save them
or not take them under our wing and be responsible for them before our consciences and humanity. An amount of twenty-five
dinars cannot be spent in two days, nor even in one day, if we take into account that we are
providing subsistence for only half of those present, while the other half are in dire need of food and cannot continue without it
at all. Every day I see hundreds of tragedies before my eyes, where you see the widowed woman with her many children in misery
in the open, crying out that they want bread to satisfy their hunger.
3- The shelter is severely overcrowded with residents, as there are approximately nine hundred people
living in one place. Winter has come upon them while they are without blankets or bedding, and this matter requires an urgent
solution, especially since the sanitary facilities must be considered a source of epidemics and microbes and are completely unfit.
4- Your Excellency had asked me to go and visit Midrash Ghidali and submit a report on whether
it was fit for habitation or not. I have made this visit and found that Midrash Ghidali consists of
19 rooms fit for habitation, with wide courtyards for the residents to spread out in, and its playgrounds are sufficient. There are wells that only need
a small amount to place a barrier separating the toilets and allocating a section for men and another for women.
It is empty of residents and students and abandoned, and it can easily be used for housing while providing a guard for it
and assigning one employee to organize the housing and monitor the families that might enter it for the purpose of housing
without us allowing them to do so.
- 3 -
5 - The method of withdrawing money for spending each time the previously withdrawn money runs out causes
confusion in the shelter and may hinder us from providing food until the withdrawn money reaches us. Therefore, I suggest that you provide us
with a sufficient amount of money to be placed as a reserve in the shelter's fund, from which we can spend for a long period of nearly a week, so that
we can get rid of the confusion we mentioned. This is as the previous committee used to do, as it used to allocate a reserve amount
in the shelter of 200/- Dinars, in addition to the expenses needed by the shelter.
I also request your Excellency to inform me of the method you want me to follow in withdrawing money and the source
from which we withdraw it. I also hope that you will set a precise and clear program that we all agree upon in writing
regarding how to manage the shelter and regarding the acceptance of new families that come to it, and whether they can be allowed to enter
even if they are forced to stay the whole night outside the shelter, as happened to us with some of them in the face of a reality where we are forced
to let them in after they spend the whole day at the shelter door and part of the night, and the police force us to
accept them. Until we reach a <del>solution</del> solution to these points, we request that you order a meeting for all committee members to take
written decisions in it, recorded in a special book called (The Decisions Book), as we used to do with the previous committee.
And to appoint only one reference from the members of the respected committee for the shelter management to consult on some of its affairs that it deems
necessary to present to the committee. I also suggest that the committee hold a regular weekly meeting
to which all matters related to the shelter are presented, and we study the petitions and letters referred to it from various sources
and decide on them.
6 - There are families from the people of Baghdad who were living in the Farha Somikh Synagogue, as I explained to you in my previous notes.
The first committee was forced to evict them from it after it pledged to provide them with monthly subsidies.
Will the second respected committee continue to provide monthly subsidies and aid to them as the previous committee used to do,
or will it take a different decision? We request clarification of this in the Decisions Book in writing.
We have firm hope that you will look upon these notes of mine with kindness and consideration and that you will answer us as quickly
as possible, as the situation has become unbearable and requires a quick and decisive solution.
Please accept our highest respects.
Sincerely,
⟦signature⟧
Shelter Manager
A copy of it to - His Excellency the Acting Head of the Jewish Community - for information.
CIA
T / 1599 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1383 / 50 dated 9 / 5 / 1950 regarding the appointment of
Mr. Daoud Salim as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce their citizenship in
the Shukr Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to -
Mr. Daoud Salim
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Telephone Number { 3531 President
5452 Secretary
229
Number: T / 599 / 50
Subject:
Date: 8 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1383 / 50 dated 9 / 5 / 1950 regarding the appointment of
Mr. Daoud Salim as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce their citizenship at
the Meir Taweig Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦illegible signature⟧
Acting President of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to: -
Mr. Daoud Salim
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
A 7 / 11
CLA
T / 1599 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1383 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 regarding the appointment of
Mr. Daoud Salim as its clerk to carry out the initial registration for those wishing to renounce their citizenship in
the Shukr Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to: -
Mr. Daoud Salim
/ The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
1599
Mr. Daoud Sim
Traveled
⟦line⟧ in ⟦illegible⟧
Ibrahim Sahak
⟦illegible⟧ in ⟦illegible⟧ 15105/1 in ⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧ in ⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧
⟦line⟧ ⟦illegible⟧
⟦line⟧ ⟦illegible⟧
⟦line⟧ ⟦illegible⟧
2771
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Telephone Number { 3531 President
5452 Secretary
220
Number T/: 55 / ⟦100⟧
Subject:
Date: 9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. 1384 dated 5/9/1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Asher Heskel as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce
their citizenship at the Great Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦Signature⟧
Acting President of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
- Mr. Asher Heskel
- The Accountant - for notation
- The relevant personal file
A / 9 / 11
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Telephone Number { 3531 President
5452 Secretary
220
Number: T / 6 / 50
Subject: ⟦line⟧
Date: 9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. 1384 dated 5/9/1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Asher Heskel as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce
their citizenship at the Great Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦illegible⟧
Acting President of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to: -
Mr. Asher Heskel
The Accountant — for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
CP
T / 50 / 1600
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
⟦line⟧
Administrative Order No. 1284 dated 5/6/1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Ashir Hesqel as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce
their citizenship at the Great Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
9 / 11
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
Mr. Ashir Hesqel
The Accountant ⟦line⟧ for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Telephone Number { 3531 President
5452 Secretary
Number <del>50/1600</del> Subject ⟦line⟧
Date <del>1950/11/9</del>
24
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. 1284 dated 1950/5/9 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Asher Heskel as a clerk to perform the initial registration for those wishing to renounce
their citizenship at the Torah Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
Acting President of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
Mr. Asher Heskel
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
11/9/1
T / 6201 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
(221)
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1385 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 regarding the appointment of
Mr. Eliyahu Shaul as a clerk to carry out the initial registration for those wishing to renounce their citizenship at
the Ezra Daoud Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
Mr. Eliyahu Shaul
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
221
T / 1601 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
⟦line⟧
Administrative Order No. T / 1385 / 50 dated 5/6/1950 regarding the appointment of
Mr. Eliyahu Shaul as a clerk to carry out the initial registration for those wishing to renounce their citizenship at
the Ezra Daoud Synagogue center is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to: -
Mr. Eliyahu Shaul
/ The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
For filing
Isaac
1 / 9 / 11
222
T / 2 / 16 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1386 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Shaul Ariel to assist the nationality revocation officials in Kimer Mir Twayq in
clerical matters is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
9/11
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
Mr. Shaul Ariel
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
T / ⟦1386⟧ / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
(222)
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1386 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Shaul Arqail to assist the citizenship revocation officials at the Meir Tweig Synagogue in
clerical matters is hereby cancelled.
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:
Mr. Shaul Arqail
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
222
T / 50 / 1602
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 50 / 1388 dated 9 / 5 / 1950 is hereby cancelled
regarding the appointment of Mr. Shamil Maatouk to assist the nationality revocation officials in Kness Meir Tweig
in clerical matters.
⟦illegible⟧
9/11
⟦illegible⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:-
Mr. Shamil Maatouk
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1/9/11
Presidency of the Jewish Community
in Baghdad
Telephone Number { 3531 President
5452 Secretary
222
Number: T / 50/1602
Subject: ⟦line⟧
Date: 9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 50/1388 dated 9 / 5 / 1950 is cancelled
regarding the appointment of Mr. Shamil Ma'tuq to assist the denaturalization officials at the Meir Taweig Synagogue
in clerical matters.
⟦signature⟧
Acting President of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to " ⟦line⟧
Mr. Shamil Ma'tuq
The Accountant ⟦line⟧ for notation
The relevant personal file
11 / 9 / 1
222
T / 202 / 50
9 / 11 / 1950
Administrative Order
Administrative Order No. T / 1388 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 is hereby cancelled
regarding the appointment of Mr. Shamil Maatouk to assist the citizenship revocation officials at the Meir Tweig Synagogue
in clerical matters.
⟦illegible⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to:
Mr. Shamil Maatouk
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11
224
T / ⟦illegible⟧ 50 /
9 / 12 / 1950
Administrative Order
⟦line⟧
Administrative Order No. T / 1389 / 50 dated 5 / 9 / 1950 regarding the
appointment of Mr. Haron Fattal to assist the nationality revocation officials at the Meir Tweig Synagogue in clerical
matters is hereby cancelled.
Appointment of Mr. Haron Fattal to assist the nationality revocation officials at the Meir Tweig Synagogue in clerical
matters ⟦line⟧
⟦signature⟧
Acting Head of the Community
President of the Lay Council
Copy to -
Mr. Haron Fattal
The Accountant - for notation
The relevant personal file
1 / 9 / 11