Maurice Nabi
Mosul Jewish Archive
This profile explores the life of Maurice Abd al-Nabi, a Jewish man from Mosul, Iraq, born in 1932 to a merchant family. Drawing primarily from an interview with him in 2022, it traces his early life in northwest Mosul, the customs and practices of the wider Mosuli Jewish community, and the obstacles he and his community faced amidst increasing persecution of Jews in Mosul which culminated in Maurice’s move to Israel. His story raises important themes regarding the preservation of cultural memory and identity.
One of ten siblings, Maurice was born in February 1932 in the north-west of Mosul’s old city. His mother Rahma came from a family of merchants, whilst his father Aziz was an agriculture merchant who traded in sunflowers and wool and also ran a small informal bank. Maurice describes a close community and extended family structure, with his sister Samra (b.1923) also looking after him.
Maurice remembers eating baked bread his family that was kept for several months and softened using a little water. Buffalo was also a typical food, in addition to keymak (a popular clotted cream dish across Iraq) paired with jam, cabbage tabich, kebab, and mashshi.
As Aziz could not read nor write, education was very important to him and he encouraged his sons to receive an education. Maurice was educated at a number of schools before enrolling at the Jewish Shamash High School in Baghdad, where he studied for six months until rising tensions with Israel resulted in the termination of staff and the school’s closure. Maurice notes that the only real difference between the Jewish community’s education was that they learned Torah, whilst the Christians read the Gospel, and Muslims the Quran.
Maurice remembers the synagogues of Juwayniya and Bughayniya, which possessed a Midrash study hall where most Jews studied. Before school, Maurice and his brother would attend synagogue, and in the summer he received further Jewish education where he learned to read Hebrew. Maurice also learned a weekly Torah portion, called the Parashah Sidra. On Thursdays, a man called Chaim Yahya would give a lecture on the Parashah and what it discussed at his local synagogue. The routine of praying before school lasted two years in Maurice’s youth, until academic pressure made it too difficult.
Maurice notes that each synagogue had its own community, where elderly people in particular would wake early and pray three times a day. He further explains that even if someone had to go to work, they would come in at noon to the synagogue. Maurice also references the practice of ‘Minyan’ whereby ten males are required to be present for certain prayers carried out communally, noting that ‘if there are only nine, everyone has to pray individually’. Women did not attend synagogue, apart from certain Shabbat services. He also describes that, whilst interfaith marriages were unheard of, divorce was common practice in Jewish religious courts.
The wider Jewish community was not especially wealthy. Maurice describes their income as modest and middle-lower class, although some families did own property. He explains that women could work in tailoring, as they could complete their work from the home. For men, common vocations included craftsmen, barbers, grocers, and merchants. A few families are described as living in ‘abject poverty’, although the community, including his father, would try to help them.
Maurice and his friends would often ride bicycles and attend the cinema. His father’s shop was close to the Tigris, where he and his cousins learned to swim. He also recalls how he enjoyed reading Egyptian newspapers, such as Al-Musawwar, rather than local newspapers such as the non-independent Al-Zaman, which were political and affiliated with political parties.
During the peak of Jewish persecution in 1951, Shamash High School was closed. He recalls how regardless of occupation, whether engineer or train driver, Jews faced a forcible loss of employment and unpaid salaries. He also remarks on how quickly the situation for Jews deteriorated, comparing his situation to that of his elder brother, who was able to finish school just two years before.
Maurice reflects that life was not easy for Jews in Mosul. He explains that challenges date back to the Ottoman era, such as a poverty and lack of employment for the community. During the 1940s, conditions worsened amidst the rise in fascism and Axis support from leaders such as Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and Haj Amin al-Husseini. However, Maurice distinguishes the sentiment expressed by leaders to that of their Mosuli neighbours, noting how “with them, you’d visit them, sit with them, eat with them - that was something different”.
Maurice recounts the Farhud pogroms in Iraq, yet notes that in Mosul people were assigned to keep watch over houses and protect themselves. He describes how a group of people tried to enter his family’s shop, but were quickly stopped under martial law. During this unrest, the military governor, Qasim Maqsood, summoned the community leaders and demanded 5,000 gold lira (approximately $190,400 today) from the Mosuli Jewish community. A few days later, Maqsood fled as the British entered Baghdad and collapsed the regime. Maurice expresses incredulity over the greed in which Maqsood demanded “so much from poor people who have no money”.
As outrage grew over the establishment of the state of Israel, Maurice notes that the demonstrations became worse, with men wearing “Palestine Mujahideen” armbands and marching in the streets. Upon returning from school, young non-Jewish boys would block the road with dogs and intimidate Jewish schoolchildren. He also recounts how Jews wearing Kippahs would face physical assault and humiliation. Maurice describes that ‘there was no freedom’ for Jews, explaining how his brother’s request to found a club was rejected and a cousin was arrested and never seen again.
Amidst such persecution, Maurice was forced to leave his home in July of 1951. Whilst the Iraqi government had previously forbidden direct flights, forcing people to transit through Cyprus, they reversed the ban in 1950 and Maurice travelled directly to Israel. At the airport, officials searched roughly through his family’s belongings, leaving the suitcases open after searching them. As a result, many personal items, including photos, were lost.
Maurice came to Israel and was held with other refugees in a transit camp in Haifa, “Shaar Haaliyah” (Gate of Immigration). The family arrived only 50 dinars and a few belongings. Maurice, his brother, and their uncle shared a tent until they could build wooden huts with tarpaulin over them. Maurice describes how they used their suitcases as makeshift tables. In winter, conditions were freezing.
After working as a driver for the army, Maurice was transferred to a base in Haifa. For the first time, he had proper housing with a room and bathroom. Following his army service, Maurice worked at a large construction company, Solel Boneh, as an accounting supervisor from 1956-1958. He subsequently worked in a governmental job with the Israel Land Administration, confirming landowners and inheritance. He was transferred to various locations in Israel, including Arabeh/Arava, Buqei’a, the Galilee, Majd al-Krum, and Nazareth. His job involved working closely with the local leader or “Mukhtar” to confirm landowners’ ownership and checking their plots to see if the locations matched. Despite all speaking Arabic, Maurice notes the Druze Arabic bore no resemblance to the Mosuli dialect. Between 1957-1980 Maurice served as director of the Nazareth department.
Maurice discusses how he searches for Mosul on Youtube, expressing incredulity over how much it has changed, specifically the huge number of cars in the modern day. When discussing how he learned to swim in the Tigris river, Maurice expresses surprise that Turkey and Syria diverted the stream, asking ‘How did they [the government] allow that to happen?’
When asked what he misses most about Mosul, Maurice answers it is a “difficult question” yet states “I don’t miss Iraq or Mosul in the current circumstances”, referencing recent conflicts. He adds “how can anyone miss anything when we lost our property and belongings?” Maurice further outlines the challenges of life in Mosul, describing the poor conditions of the Jewish quarter, and the lack of roads, clean water, and electricity (until the 1940s). He concludes that “it was nothing most people miss”. However, upon reflection he acknowledges that “if it had stayed peaceful … I would have loved to stay in Mosul”.
Maurice illustrates the importance of the project, stating that memories are “all he has left of his life in Mosul”. He also cautions against forgetting Mosul’s Jews, explaining that “it’s like 2,600 years of history forgotten”. He concludes the interview with an important message: “it’s important that the memory of Mosul’s Jews does not disappear. That people remember who they were, what their living conditions were like, how they contributed to education, how excellent the Jewish community was. That will help people today see the strong connections that once existed with Mosul [...] It’s so important not to let this disappear.”
Such an important text, Elah!