Iraq, US talks to repatriate Jewish Archives
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Iraq and the United States are holding ongoing talks to restore the Jewish Archive currently kept in Washington, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities revealed on Monday.
Minister Ahmed Fakkak Al-Badrani told Shafaq News that the Iraqi government is maintaining “continuous coordination and diplomatic engagement with US authorities to secure the archive’s return,” adding that joint committees involving Iraq’s security agencies, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working in coordination with the US Embassy in Baghdad to follow up this issue.
The archive, which contains thousands of historical documents, religious texts, and personal records belonging to Iraq’s Jewish community, was discovered in 2003 by a 26-member US “Alpha” unit in the basement of Iraq’s former intelligence headquarters during a search for evidence of mass destruction weapons.
The collection includes Torah scrolls, rare manuscripts dating back to the 16th century, a 400-year-old Hebrew prayer book, a 200-year-old Talmud volume, a 1902 Passover prayer book (Haggadah), and French-language prayer texts from 1930. It also features printed sermons from a German rabbi dating to 1692, along with school records spanning 1920–1975.
