Shamash Jewish School at Baghdad, Iraq

Baghdad, Iraq

The Shamash School in Baghdad (בגדד, بغدد), Iraq (עיראק, العراق).

Description

A boys high school founded in 1928. The Shamash family of Manchester, England donated the building and with it 17 stores, a pharmacy, and a guest house for travelers. The curriculum included Tanakh, foreign languages (with an emphasis on English), and general (secular) studies. It was governed by its own committee which was headed by Shelomo Saleh Shamash. In the beginning, this school was also an elementary and middle school but in 1942 the elementary classes concluded and in 1949 the middle school closed and the students transferred to Frank Iny School, leaving only the high school. Most of its graduates passed the British matriculation exams. In 1945, a 2 year business school opened, closing shortly after in 1947. In 1950, it had 719 students, 25 teachers, 15 classes. Along with the Alliance schools, considered the 'gold standard' of primary and secondary education in the city. Also published a Hebrew language periodical, Shemesh.

Baghdad was home to the largest Jewish community in Iraq possibly from as early as its founding in the eighth century. By 1908, the Jews of Baghdad numbered around 53,000, about a third of Baghdad's total population, and lived in many quarters--including al-Tawrat, Tahat it-Takyah, Abu Saifan, and Suq Hannun. Although Jews were involved in local politics, new tensions began to rise between Jews and Muslims--leading to an anti-Jewish riot on October 15, 1908--and World War I forced many Jews to flee the city. In 1948, the Jewish community in Baghdad numbered around 77,000; however, the Jewish community began to fear life in Baghdad after the Farhūd, a pogrom which occured on June 1, 1941, left 130 Jews killed and millions lost in property damage. The Farhūd inspired the growth of Zionism and Communism among a minority of Jews in Baghdad who felt increasingly disconnected from the Iraqi state. Bombings throughout the 1950s further estranged the Jewish community, and by 1952 after mass immigration to Israel, Europe, the United States and Canada, only about 6,000 Jews remained in Iraq. The Jewish community endured further violence throughout Saddam Husayn's regime, and by 2003 the last synagogue in Baghdad had closed.