The recording took place at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda
In (19)58 (was) the revolution of Abdel Karim Qasem and Abdul Salam Arif. The king (Faisal II) and his family were killed. But in general, that period of Abdel Karim Qassem between 1958 and 1963 was…could be considered the second golden age for the Jews. He was a bit…didn’t distinguish.
So in relation to…at that time, some of the restrictions Abdel Karim Qasem removed. For example, they could travel and stay abroad, so lots of students left. After finishing school, they studied abroad. Those who came back would go to Baghdad University. It was…okay. Business and such…all that was okay.
The one thing that was, as they say, a black thing, in the history of that time, between (19)58 and (19)63…the old Jewish cemetery, Abdel Karim Qasem decided that he wanted to build a tower. Like the Cairo Tower. And they said to the rabbi that he wanted to remove all of the cemetery. And he (the rabbi) said to him, “that’s not okay to remove the cemetery.” But what happened to this situation…in the summer of…1961, it did happen.
At that time they […] as in, this was a bad thing. A bit later on, a year or so later, Abdel Karim Qasim was killed.