Post-war and Arab world (1945–1970)
Execution of Shafiq Ades
23 sept. 1948·Bassora
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the wealthiest Jewish merchant in Iraq hanged in public for Zionism, his fortune confiscated
Shafiq Ades, a merchant from Bassora and one of the wealthiest men in Iraq, is publicly hanged in front of his house in September 1948, following a summary trial before a court martial that accuses him of having sold military surplus to Israel and of supporting communism. He was not a Zionist, and the accusation rested on nothing verified; his fortune is confiscated.
The execution, staged before a crowd, terrorizes a community settled in Mesopotamia since the Babylonian Exile. It marks the moment when Jewish identity alone becomes a danger in Iraq: laws subsequently exclude Jews from public employment and commerce, and within a few years the vast majority of the community leaves the country, abandoning its possessions.
- Period :
- Post-war and Arab world (1945–1970)
- Type :
- Trials and executions
- Region :
- Near and Middle East
- Country :
- Irak
Presse irakienne contemporaine et dépêches consulaires britanniques ; travaux et témoignages sur la fin de la communauté juive d'Irak.