A year after the first congressional Farhud remembrance, D.C.’s Iraqi Jewish community returned to Congress to commemorate the massacre that targeted Baghdad Jewry in June 1941.
This year, the congressional remembrance committee expanded the event to include Oct. 7, 2023, a move that Afraim Katzir, the founding director of Sephardic Heritage International DC, believes brings a contemporary element into the conversation.
SHIN DC again organized the June 23 event in memory of Shlomo Mantzur, who survived the Farhud at the age of 3 and was abducted and killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Marc Sievers, the former U.S. ambassador to Oman who spoke at the event, shared his experience visiting the ruins of what was once Mantzur’s house in Iraq.
“Just the thought that this man had been through what he went through in 1941 as a little boy, and then to end his life that way, is overwhelming,” Sievers said at the event.
Maurice Shohet, SHIN DC board member and the son of Farhud survivors, drew parallels between the two attacks.
“Hamas’ brutal attack on Jewish communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, reminds us of the violence against the Baghdadi Jewish community in 1941, following the establishment of a pro-Nazi government in Iraq that year,” Shohet said in a press release. “On the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the murder of so many Jews in Iraq on June 1-2, 1941, it is important to remember those who were massacred at the time and how one of them who survived the slaughter ended up being killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“[Mantzur’s] life is a painful bridge between past and present. It reminds us that antisemitism is not ancient history,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said at the event.
When Mantzur was a young child, Baghdad’s population was more than one-third Jewish, and “now the Jews are gone,” Katzir said. Iraqi Jews’ community centers, synagogues and homes were wrested from them by the Iraqi government.
Laws regarding property restitution and citizenship restoration have historically and systematically excluded Iraqi Jews.
“It’s very important to remember that there’s a Jewish heritage in Iraq that should not be lost, should not be allowed to disappear and certainly should not be forgotten,” Katzir said. “Many Jews don’t know about this Jewish history in Iraq, what people lost and what they’re not able to regain.”
“Tonight, we remember the victims, we honor the survivors and we reaffirm that the story of Iraqi Jews and all Jews forced into exile must be told fully, proudly and truthfully,” Wasserman Schultz said. “That is why last year, I sponsored a resolution to federally recognize Jewish Refugee Day.”
Yom Haplitim, or Day of the Refugees, is observed annually in Israel on Nov. 30, honoring the almost 900,000 Jews who were displaced, expelled or forced to leave Arab countries after 1947. Despite bipartisan sponsorship, the most recent resolution hasn’t been scheduled for House floor consideration, according to a SHIN DC press release.
“It was a real battle for them to even keep Jewish [American] Heritage Month going,” Katzir said, referring to the observance celebrated every May.
In addition to Wasserman Schultz, Shohet, Mantzur’s cousin Dalia Burgana and Rabbi Brian Shamash were returning speakers from the inaugural congressional Farhud remembrance. New this year was Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), a retired Navy SEAL who has prioritized defending Israel and the Jewish people, and Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
While this year featured many of the same speakers as the inaugural event, this year saw more participation from attendees, according to Katzir.
Last year’s Iraqi treats were catered by a local business. This year, one of Katzir’s Iraqi Jewish neighbors made the sambusak — savory pastries — and hadji bada — Iraqi almond cookies.
“Also, a bunch of people who came, they came early to set up,” Katzir noted. “I think one of the beautiful things about this is that that community really made it their own … They were able to contribute a lot more this year, now knowing what it is.”
Katzir spoke to the importance of jointly commemorating both the Farhud and Oct. 7.
“Our feelings of grief and remembrance [aren’t] compartmentalized, so our remembrance of the Farhud is connected to Oct. 7 not only through Shlomo Mantzur’s life, but also through our experience as a Jewish people,” he said.
He added that most people today can’t fathom a tragedy that occurred in 1941, so this event is a way for them to better understand antisemitism and terrorism.
“In a way, it’s become more fathomable to us today in 2026 because of what we experienced on Oct. 7, 2023,” Katzir said. “That resonance between the Farhud and Oct. 7 was there, so that’s why that decision was made. It’s almost like Holocaust education.”
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com
