From the Alleys of Baghdad

From the Alleys of Baghdad
Author: Edmond Cohen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2020-10-18
Genre:
ISBN:

Edmond Cohen was born to a poor family in Baghdad in 1935. His memoir gives a rare glimpse of that city when it was still home to the oldest Jewish community in the world. In the alleys of the Jewish quarter, he learned a unique skillset for survival, facing more challenges during World War II (1935-1945) and the pogrom known as the Farhud (1941). His ability to survive led him to thrive after Iraq's Jews were deported to Israel (1951-1952). He went on to become a successful businessman in Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles, USA, where he started Dynamic Industries and lives today. In 1980, he was inspired by his new environment to become an artist and philosopher.

Memories of Eden

Memories of Eden
Author: Violette Shamash
Publisher: Memories of Eden
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2008
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0955709504

As a privileged young woman growing up with her extended family in Baghdad, Violette Shamash relives the excitement of a vibrant society coming to terms with daily life, first under Ottoman, then British, and finally pro-Nazi rule, which ended in disaster for the Jews of Iraq.

The Last Jews in Baghdad

The Last Jews in Baghdad
Author: Nissim Rejwan
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2004-10-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780292702936

"Nissim Rejwan recalls the lost Jewish community of Baghdad, in which he was a child and young man from the 1920s through 1951. He paints a minutely detailed picture of growing up in a barely middle-class family, dealing with a motley assortment of neighbors and landlords, struggling through the local schools, and finally discovering the pleasures of self-education and sexual awakening. Rejwan intertwines his personal story with the story of the cultural renaissance that was flowering in Baghdad during the years of his young manhood, describing how his work as a bookshop manager and a staff writer for the Iraq Times brought him friendships with many of the country's leading intellectual and literary figures.

Farewell, Babylon

Farewell, Babylon
Author: Naïm Kattan
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781567923360

In "Farewell, Babylon," Naim Kattan takes readers into the heart of exotic mid-19th-century Baghdad's then-teeming Jewish community. Jews had lived in Iraq for 25 centuries, long before the time of Christ or Muhammad, but anti-Semitism and nationalism were on the rise. In this beautifully written memoir, a young boy comes of age and describes his discoveries -- of work, literature, patriotism, the joys of lazy Sundays swimming in the Tigris. He also talks eloquently of his greatest discovery: women and love. This is a story of roots and exile, of thirst for life and life's experiences. However, more than that it is a tribute to a lost world, an ancient Eastern city in which Iraq's Kurds, Bedouins, Sunnis, Shiites, Chaldeans, Catholics, and Jews all lived together in a rough, rewarding sort of harmony.

A Glimpse at the Travelogues of Baghdad

A Glimpse at the Travelogues of Baghdad
Author: Iman Al-Attar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 103
Release: 2022-09-19
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1000719553

The history of Baghdad in the 18th and 19th centuries had predominantly been written by two groups. The first group is Baghdadi scholars, and the second group is travellers. These two resources complement each other; while the literature of Baghdadi scholars provides insights from inside, travelogues provide observations from outside. By implementing this interlocking method of investigation, we can reach a comprehensive understanding of the history of Baghdad. Having investigated some sources from inside in my previous book; Baghdad: an urban history through the lens of literature, the focus of this book is on travel literature. The history of travelogues throughout different periods of Baghdad’s history is highlighted, with a particular focus on 18th and 19th century travelogues. This period was a critical epoch of change, not just in Baghdad, but across the world. Nevertheless, this book does not intend to provide a documentary of the travellers who visited Baghdad. It is rather an analytical study of the colonial literature in relation to the historiography of Baghdad.

Baghdad, Yesterday

Baghdad, Yesterday
Author: Sasson Somekh
Publisher: Ibis Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

"Sasson Somekh's memoir takes shape like a series of telling snapshots from another time and place. The time is the 1930s and '40s and the place, Iraq, where Somekh and his family were part of the country's then-flourishing Jewish community. The book offers an intimate view of this milieu and manages both to describe vividly the young Somekh's intellectual and emotional growth and to map the now-vanished world of Baghdad's book stalls and literary cafes, its Arabic-speaking Jewish bank clerks, outdoor movies at the Cinema Diana, and bonfires by the Tigris. As the pieces of Somekh's unsentimental memoir accumulate, they also mount in meaning. The book celebrates the ups and downs of Iraqi Jewish life as it also portrays the eventual dissolution of the community in the early 1950s."--BOOK JACKET.

The Wolf of Baghdad

The Wolf of Baghdad
Author: Carol Isaacs
Publisher: Myriad Editions
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2020-01-30
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1912408716

'Enthralling and moving. It is magical.'— Claudia Roden In the 1940s a third of Baghdad's population was Jewish. Within a decade nearly all 150,000 had been expelled, killed or had escaped. This graphic memoir of a lost homeland is a wordless narrative by an author homesick for a home she has never visited. Transported by the power of music to her ancestral home in the old Jewish quarter of Baghdad, the author encounters its ghost-like inhabitants who are revealed as long-gone family members. As she explores the city, journeying through their memories and her imagination, she at first sees successful integration, and cultural and social cohesion. Then the mood turns darker with the fading of this ancient community's fortunes. This beautiful wordless narrative is illuminated by the words and portraits of her family, a brief history of Baghdadi Jews and of the making of this work. Says Isaacs: 'The Finns have a word, kaukokaipuu, which means a feeling of homesickness for a place you've never been to. I've been living in two places all my life; the England I was born in, and the lost world of my Iraqi-Jewish family's roots.'

The Last Tango in Baghdad

The Last Tango in Baghdad
Author: Albert Khabbaza
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2010-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1449088309

The Last Tango in Baghdad is an inspirational memoir depicting a painstakingly true tale of a fascinating life lived in turbulent times and countries of the Middle East. This story, so reminiscent of the experiences of Jews in the past, is extraordinary. Readers are delighted by the humorous and saddened by the terrible injustices Dr. Khabbaza encountered throughout his life. Providing some background and an understanding of the culture, the author examines the political facts and reveals in detail the events that shaped his life. Reading this book will inspire you and entertain you as well. It is highly recommended for all non-specialist general readers for its revealing content and valuable insight.

Full Circle: Escape from Baghdad and the Return

Full Circle: Escape from Baghdad and the Return
Author: Saul Silas Fathi
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2005-09-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1465333371

AWARDS RECEIVED In addition to being selected a finalist in Foreword Magazine, the book also won the "2005 Distinguished Honor Award" from the Military Writers Society of America. The link can be viewed at www.militarywriters.com/awards.htm Introduction Full Circle: Escape from Baghdad and the Return chronicles a prominent Iraqi Jewish familys escape from persecution, through the journey of one family member, a young boy, who witnesses public hangings and the 1941 Krystallnacht (Farhood) in Baghdad. After a dangerous escape from Iraq akin to a Sephardic Schindlers List, this ten-year-old begins a lifelong search for meaning and his place in the world. This journey takes him to the newly-formed nation of Israel, then to Brazil, and eventually to the United States, where he serves in the US Army in Korea, works in top level positions with three Fortune 500 companies, starts several businesses, and volunteers to assist the FBI after September 11, 2001. This chronicle strives to explore questions of meaning such as: Does hardship taint the lure of adventure for any young man? What sustains hope? Does a persecuted Jew ever feel at home anywhere? This young mans journey and subsequent identity crisis interfaces with historical happenings in the world and brings an understanding of the culture and contributions of Sephardic Jews. There has been much written about the Jewish population in Germany and Europe and what they suffered, but little is known about Sephardic Jews who have also been persecuted in other countries, especially in Iraq, a country of which we as Americans have some familiarity, but know very little about. PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Saul Silas Fathi (631) 232-1638 [email protected] Full Circle: Escape From Baghdad and The Return Published Author by Saul Silas Fathi December 5, 2005 (Central Islip, NY) Historical conflicts, persecution and social unrests have always forced people to leave their homeland and move towards uncertainty. And because of these, the search for meaning only becomes more difficult and sometimes impossible. One man however overcame great odds and found meaning at last when he completed his great journey of life, and readers can experience it all by reading author Saul Silas Fathis amazing new book Full Circle: Escape From Baghdad and The Return. Epic in proportion, Full Circle tells the full life journey of the author who witnessed public executions as a young boy and escaped with his Iraqi Jewish family from certain persecution in Iraq during the mid twentieth century. At the age of ten, the author began an ambitious personal journey to find the meaning of life as well as his place in the world. Through the years, he traveled to the newly-formed Israel, to Brazil and eventually to the United States of America and in each country he learned and experienced a lot about life, culture, knowledge and survival. Determined to excel, Saul completed his education, joined the U.S. Army and ultimately he became an American citizen as well as a high-level executive working with Fortune-500 companies. Aside from his struggles and achievements, Sauls book explores the depths of mans search for meaning, which includes his insights about hope, his Sephardic Jewish heritage, the impacts of 9/11 and the Gulf War, identity crisis, and more. Readers will be astonished with the great