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HIAS

For more than a century, HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, has had an extraordinary impact on millions of Jews. For generation after generation, HIAS has provided essential lifesaving services to world Jewry, through its mission of rescue, reunion and resettlement. As an expression of Jewish tradition and values, HIAS also responds to the migration needs of other people who are threatened and oppressed.

JIAS has worked very closely with HIAS for many years and continues to be associated with a number of their programs.  We have been fortunate to be able to use the offices of HIAS in Vienna, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Kiev and elsewhere.  They have represented us and offered face-to-face contacts with our prospective clients locally.

Rachel Zelon, Vice President of Operations for HIAS recently visited the few remaining Jews of Iraq to assess their situation and help those who were interested in immigrating to Israel.  The following is a report of her journey.

Lost, but Not Forgotten: Rescuing the Jews of Baghdad
by Rachel Zelon, Vice President for Operations
HIAS

“I said, ‘I’m Jewish, like you, and I’ve come to take you home.’ And she started to cry and said, ‘I thought everybody forgot about me.’ I said, ‘No, we didn’t forget you – we just couldn’t get to you.’"

“What I saw was not only a Jewish community in tremendous isolation, but a Jewish community almost in ruins."

In early June I went on a fact-finding mission to Iraq to determine the status of the small Jewish community there. We had received a number of enquiries from Jewish communities around the world regarding the remaining Jews of Iraq and our ability to assist those who wanted to leave. By all accounts, at that time, it appeared that a significant number of the 34 Jews in that community wanted to immigrate to Europe and Israel.

In preparation for the trip, we did a great deal of planning to ensure that I would have access to a community that had been cut off from the world for the last 35 years – a community very much frightened of outsiders (we knew that from Iraqis we helped over the last couple of years). In fact, a gentleman currently being assisted by HIAS who is in Vienna was a tremendous resource and also a source of great support.

In early June I traveled to Baghdad. The logistics were very complicated. It was a matter of getting to Jordan, then arranging transportation over land from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, which is a 12-hour trip unless they decide to keep you longer at the Jordanian border. It was a very dangerous trip, as there were a lot of carjackings and looters on the road. While you saw American military at different points, for the vast length of the trip, there was no security.

Once in Baghdad I knew the next challenge was to identify someone in the community who would be willing to help me. The gentleman in Vienna had given me some good guidance, however, I misread my notes and went to the wrong house. My mistake turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise! I found this wonderful family with relatives in Holland – an elderly woman, her daughter and her son (a retired physician, dentist and orthopedic surgeon, respectively). They all spoke beautiful English and the dentist took  a week off work to take me everywhere and introduce me to everybody in the community so I could really get a sense of what was happening.

This was a very important development, as it would have been counterproductive to simply knock on people’s doors. In fact, members of the community, left alone for so many years, have been besieged by the press since the war, a truly frightening experience for them as it increases their visibility and as a result their vulnerability. So, unless they know the person knocking at their door, they simply do not respond.

One of the 34 Jews remaining in Iraq
Photograph taken by Jeff Luterbach for HIAS

After spending a couple of days visiting many of the elderly and vulnerable members of the community I realized that the original purpose of my visit had, in fact, changed – what I saw was not only a Jewish community in tremendous isolation, but a Jewish community almost in ruins. About one-half were elderly, fragile and even psychologically impaired people living in abominable conditions. I have never seen Jews living in these conditions anywhere in the world. I ran into Jeff Kay from the Jewish Agency at the synagogue on my third day in Baghdad. We had a very good meeting and spent several hours together that evening – he basically said that the Jewish Agency (JAFI) wanted to be helpful. Jeff was returning to Israel the next day, and invited me to stop in Israel on my way back to the U.S. to discuss ways to address the situation.

Prior to my trip, HIAS had received a generous $2,000 donation from a gentleman in California to provide humanitarian assistance to Jews in Iraq. I had taken that money with me and was able to spend it easily purchasing basic household goods, clothing, medication, and foodstuffs for many of the people living in these terrible conditions.

Once my initial assessment was complete I left Iraq for Israel where I met with Jeff Kaye and Mike Rosenberg to discuss the conditions, and showed them photographs of what I had found. We decided that the best strategy would be for HIAS and JAFI to work together – Mike and [HIAS CEO] Lenny Glickman had talked about the importance of working cooperatively on a project trying to bring as many of the most vulnerable people to Israel as possible.

We also knew that we needed to do it as quickly as possible as we had information that the window of opportunity might be very limited.

I was home (in New York) for a week and a half and then flew back to the region. The conditions in Iraq between the first trip and second trip had deteriorated tremendously. The tension in the air was palpable and there was a clear sense of danger for foreigners. For example, one afternoon my vehicle, stopped outside a shop in downtown Baghdad, was surrounded by armed Iraqi men. In fear, I held a bullet-proof vest up to the window to protect myself when luckily a nearby shopkeeper saw what was happening and sent someone to protect the passengers in the vehicle.

During the 12 days I was in Iraq in the month of July most of my time was dedicated to speaking with members of the Jewish community about the opportunity to leave Iraq and settle in Israel, the Jewish homeland, where they would be safe and cared for. It was a daunting challenge, as the Iraqi government’s years of anti-Israel propaganda had made inroads into the Jewish community. Regardless, the most vulnerable and needy heard our message loud and clear and six of the most courageous opted to leave.

While on the face of it six people may not seem like a significant number, I think both the Jewish Agency and HIAS felt very good about the six that did leave –  they are among the most vulnerable in the community. One, a 47-year old man who was institutionalized in the Al Rashod Psychiatric Hospital outside of Baghdad, was living in a filthy institution that resembled a prison more than a hospital. He was surrounded by former political prisoners that had suffered severe trauma following intense torture. The patients were undernourished and uncared for and it was a generally unsafe environment. So we had him discharged and brought him to Israel where he can be cared for and treated humanely.

Another gentleman, 90 years old and basically blind from untreated cataracts, had lived in the Jewish community shelter for nearly 20 years in a tiny room with no ventilation. The space was dark and dirty, and smelled of unwashed clothing and old food. It was incredibly hot in the room and the electricity was, at best, sporadic. He spoke beautiful English – he had worked for the British rail system until the early ’50s, when he was fired because he was Jewish. He originally said, “No, I am afraid that if I go to Israel, I’ll die. I’m too old and too weak now. I am afraid my heart will give out. I’ve had a terrible life and I don’t deny that my life is miserable here, but I can’t leave.”

I appreciated the thought that had gone into his decision although I was obviously very disappointed. I said, “Okay. It will break my heart to leave you here, but I understand.” A few days later when we returned to check on him, he was very sick – he was burning up with fever. It was clearly an emergency situation for this frail and elderly gentleman. I sent for a doctor who came to treat him for a serious urinary tract infection and severe dehydration.

I spent the day with him holding his hand and putting cold compresses on his head. At about 2 o’clock that afternoon, he looked at me and said, “If I go with you to Israel, will I need a passport?” And I said, “No, absolutely not. I’ll handle that.”

About 15 minutes later he opened his eyes again and asked, “If I go with you, do I have to do any bureaucratic things?” And I said, “Noooo.” And it was then that I realized that he had changed his mind.

The next day he was feeling better and said, “You know, I would never break your heart – I will go with you to Israel. I think I need to be taken care of better.”

Another poignant story helps to provide a sense of what it was like. We had information that there was a Jewish woman living in the city of Basra. It was very vague information – just a name. I called the gentleman in Vienna and asked if he had any more information about her. He said, “All we know is that she has been taken care of by a church, but we don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

Basra is a five-and-a-half-hour drive from Baghdad on a very insecure and dangerous road. It was also incredibly hot – for example, when it is 115 degrees in Baghdad, it’s about 130 degrees in Basra. On Saturday, I went to Basra with an Iraqi friend and a driver. The trip was long and hot and we could not stop for security reasons. When we got there we stopped at a church and my Iraqi friend said, “Just wait here and let me go in.” Five minutes later he came out and said, “Come inside.”

I went inside and a very distinguished looking Syrian Orthodox priest greeted me and said, “We have been taking care of a woman who is not one of ours, for four years. She is extremely poor and in ill health, and unfortunately we have done as much as we can for her.”

I asked if I could go see her and he indicated that first I must provide him with her name and only if it was the same person would he assist. I gave him her name and he said, “Yes. That’s the woman we’ve been taking care of and if you want I’ll have my wife accompany you to see her.”

His wife came in and we went out to the car and she looked at me at one point, and said, “Who are you?” I looked her and said, “I’m like Salima (the woman we were looking for) and I’ve come to take her home.” This lovely woman started to cry and said, “You are the answer to our prayers. She is so poor and lives in such misery – there’s not much we can do to help her.”

I said, “That’s why I’m here – I’m hoping she’ll come with me.” She said, “Oh, I think she will.” While many members of the Baghdad Jewish community lived in miserable conditions they were incomparable to what I found in Basra. Salima was living among pigeons and cats and their waste. The “home” that she’d lived in had fallen down around her - there was no water, the place was filthy and covered in rubble. We sat outside on some stones in what had once been a courtyard. She knew a little bit of English, and looked at me and asked, “Who are you?”

I said, “I’m Jewish, like you, and I’ve come to take you home.” And she started to cry and said, “I thought everybody forgot about me.” I said, “No, we didn’t forget you – we just couldn’t get to you.” And through her tears she said, “My sisters and brother and nieces and nephews are all in Israel and I have wanted to go there but didn’t know how to get there.” And I said, “That is why I’m here.”

Rachel Zelon and a U.S. soldier help a 79-year old Iraqi Jewish woman board a charter plane for Israel.  Photograph by Jeff Luterbach for HIAS.

On July 25 we left Baghdad on the first direct flight to Tel Aviv in probably 35 years. It was a momentous trip for all of us and landing in Israel was incredibly emotional for everyone.

Everyone involved in this operation – from New York to Tel Aviv to Vienna to London – did a tremendous job and it was an honor for me to be part of this operation. The Jewish community in Baghdad now knows of HIAS – they know who they can look to when they want to leave. I do think there’ll be more people to follow. I hope they will come soon, because it is becoming a more and more dangerous place for everybody and even more so for the Jewish community.