Shavuot Pogrom (Farhud) 1941

Mass grave of the Farhud massacre victims, Baghdad, 1940s

Curator: Idit Sharoni

The Farhud, which took place on June 1-2, 1941, symbolized the beginning of the shattering of the Jewish community's dream of integration into the Iraqi state. Riots that broke out in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, against a backdrop of pro-Nazi rule and propaganda, were characterized by acts of murder, robbery, abuse, rape, and desecration of synagogues. The victims, which 152 of whom have been identified, were mostly buried in a mass grave in the old Jewish cemetery in Baghdad. Some 800 Jews were injured and Jewish property worth over a million pounds was looted, burned and destroyed.