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Tweig Synagogue at Basra, Iraq
Located in Ashar, part of the larger city of Basra, the synagogue was built in 1936 by the Tweig family. Known as the Atragchi family synagogue, it only operated on Shabbat, Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur until permanently closing in the mid-70s. It was the last of Ashar's four synagogues to close. The synagogue was behind the "Maqam" mosque and surrounded by a market. This same synagogue has been reported as being built in 1915 alongside a marketplace and about 30 meters from a Shiite Muslim mosque. The synagogue includes seven rooms as well as the ark, and its walls are engraved with Hebrew phrases. During the 1990s, the synagogue was a sub-headquarters for the Baath Party, and was turned into a warehouse after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. At this point, the last remaining Basran Jew lived in an apartment alongside the synagogue.1 In 2003, Selima Moshe Nissim escaped Iraq with the help of Jewish Army captain "Bob" after living in hiding for 30 years while her Muslim neighbors brough her food.2 Today, the synagogue stands on the verge of collapse, threatening the building's heritage as well as surrounding shops. Although there are plans to renovate and preserve the synagogue, officials are unsure who currently owns the synagogue.3 Current citizens of Basra are eager to see the synagogue restored, and have even offered to donate funds for the project. Many Basrans remember Iraqi Jews fondly, as a symbol of a time when Jews and Muslims coexisted peacefully, and hope to see this last remaining Basran synagogue preserved.4
Description
Basra The Jewish community of Basra was one of the oldest and most successful in Iraq, dating back at least to the Umayyad Caliphate in the 600s. The community was known for its translators and religious scholars, as well as its many successful merchants; a Spanish visitor to Basra around 1170 remarked that the community was very large “and among them are scholars and many rich men”.5 The city Jewish population declined in the modern era. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Jewish merchants emigrated to India, and in 1854 a plague devastated the community, reducing the 300 families that a traveler had recorded in the 1820s to only 30 remaining families.6 The community prospered again in the early 1900s, as many members worked for the occupying British army as clerks and translators during both World Wars.7 However, anti-Jewish campaigns began to appear in Basra starting in 1948, and most of the community emigrated in the 1950s.
Underground Networks In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Basra became a focal point for Jews fleeing from Iraq.8 As Iraq’s southernmost city, it was close to the border with Iran and therefore a good starting point for escaping the country. Underground networks, often aided by clandestine Zionist activity, smuggled both people and property out of the country.9
Sources
[1] Point of No Return, "Basra Synagogue on Verge of Collapse," The Jewish Press, October 21, 2013, accessed August 5, 2014, http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/point-of-no-return/basra-synagogue-on-verge-of-collapse/2013/10/21/.
[2] Colonel Newman, "How the Last Basra Jew Was Rescued," Jews in Green, April 24, 2006, accessed August 5, 2014, http://www.jewsingreen.com/2006/04/how-the-last-basra-jew-was-rescued/.
[3] Point of No Retun, "Basra Synagogue on Verge of Collapse."
[4] "Iraq - Basra Residents Willing to Pay to Restore the Last Remaining Shul," VINNews.com, 1999-2014, accessed August 5, 2014, http://www.vosizneias.com/28921/2009/03/15/iraq-batzra-residents-willing-to-pay-to-restore-the-last-remaining-shul/.
[5] Orit Bashkin, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, “Basra,” Brill Online, 2014, accessed June 26, 2014, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/basra-COM_0003300
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Moshe Gat, The Jewish Exodus from Iraq: 1948-1951 (New York: Frank Cass, 1997), accessed June 27, 2014, http://books.google.com/books?id=B_r3_-9ZU1YC
[9] Ibid.
Photos
"The last remaining shul in Batzra now a warehouse." VINNews.com. 1999-2014. Accessed August 5, 2014, http://www.vosizneias.com/28921/2009/03/15/iraq-batzra-residents-willing-to-pay-to-restore-the-last-remaining-shul/.
Point of No Return. "Basra Synagogue on Verge of Collapse." Photograph. The Jewish Press. October 21, 2013. Accessed August 5, 2014, http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/point-of-no-return/basra-synagogue-on-verge-of-collapse/2013/10/21/.