Farhud Trivia Quiz

Answer: Over 2000 years

Jews arrived at the region as a result of a series of exiles which followed the taking over of Judea by the Babylonian empire in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC. The climax of the Babylonian occupation was the destruction of the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem (586 BC).
In 1941, an estimated 150,000 Jews lived in Iraq.

Answer: German ambassador in Iraq

Grobba was an ardent Antisemite who represented the Third Reich to the full. His actions included taking over an Arabic language newspaper to serve as a Nazi propaganda tool and translating "Mein Kampf" into Arabic.

The British mandate ended in 1932 rendering Iraq independent, but also extremely unstable. Grobba did his utmost to ensure that a Nazi-aligned regime prevailed in Iraq.

Answer: A pro-Nazi Palestinian nationalist and Muslim leader

As a result of the violent Arab revolt he initiated in the area of the British mandate to Palestine (1936), Hajj Amin al-Husseini fled to Lebanon. In 1939 he arrived to Iraq, and co-operated with pro-Nazi leaders in attempting to take over the British-aligned regime and in perpetrating antisemitic violence against the Jewish community.
During the course of WWII he reached Germany and was employed by the Nazi regime between 1941 and 1945. He evaded trial as a war criminal after fleeing imprisonment in France in unclear circumstances (1946).

Answer: A coup d'état

Members of the pro-Nazi group of four Iraqi officers known as "The Golden Square" led by Rashid Ali overthrew the Iraqi Regent Abdul Ilah. They were aided by the likes of Dr. Fritz Grobba and Hajj Amin al-Husseini to whom a Nazi-controlled Iraq was a prime goal.

Answer: Two months

The April coup d'état prompted the British to rapid action. By May 29th they were at the gates of Baghdad. On May 30th Rashid Ali and Hajj Amin al-Husseini fled the city (the latter to Italy, then to Germany). With the British negotiating terms with the remaining officers, a vacuum was created which enabled the horrors of the days to come.

Answer: Violent dispossession

During the two months of the Rashid Ali regime several small-scale violent actions were carried out against the Jewish communities in Basra and Baghdad. Farhud is meant to describe the large-scale eruption of violence which occurred in June 1-2, 1941 in Baghdad. Arabic radio and newspapers were instigating Muslim majority to take revenge on the Jews for "co-operating" with the British and causing the fall of the Rashid Ali regime.

Answer: All of these

Graphic details of the atrocities committed appear in various text books published on the subject. I have also heard personal accounts from family members who were there at the time. (My father was born in Baghdad a few months prior to the Farhud).
180 Jews are estimated to have been murdered during those two days, which coincided with the Jewish holiday of Shavu'ot (Pentecost).

Answer: June 2nd afternoon, curfew imposed

The main British interest at the time was reinstating Regent Abdul Illah, who returned to Baghdad late on May 31st. Despite the horrific scale of violence, Kinahan Cornwallis, British Ambassador to Iraq, refused to allow British armed forces to enter Baghdad on an immediate basis. On the afternoon of June 2nd, Iraqi forces (mostly Kurd soldiers) entered Baghdad to impose a curfew in order to put an end to the Farhud. Only after their entry were British soldiers allowed in.

Answer: Conducted a formal investigation

Within a week of the Farhud, a committee of enquiry was set up. While the reinstated regime had every interest to wipe out the pro-Nazi movement and get rid of its members, it also had a sincere motivation to restore the security of the Jewish community who had been an integral part of life in Iraq for over 2500 years.

Answer: 1950-1, after the inception of the state of Israel

After the Farhud, small numbers of Jews trickled illegally out of Iraq. During 1950-1, in what known as "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah" (who were the prophets responsible for the Jewish return from Babylon in the 6th century BC), most of Iraqi Jewry was brought to Israel, around 120,000 in total. Nowadays a handful of Jews remains in war-torn Iraq.