Iraq's Last Jews: Stories of Daily Life, Upheaval, and Escape from Modern Babylon

In the first half of the twentieth century, the Jewish community of Iraq was vibrant and prosperous. Yet over time their numbers diminished drastically as a result of Arab hostility, Zionist emigration, and the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Once numbering more than 130,000, they consisted of a mere twenty when U.S. troops arrived in 2003. This book tells the story of the last generation of Iraqi Jews, collecting accounts of heroism and ideals, from the undercover Israeli agents who helped orchestrate the mass emigration to Israel to those who argued for the lives of their loved ones in Saddam Hussein's brutal prisons. Collectively, these oral histories tell a story about quiet bravery and the possibility of peace m times of great upheaval.