Tiffany Gabbay writes about how her father survived a massacre in Baghdad and how he ended up in Israel in a fascinating article titled ‘The Hand of God’: How My Father Survived the Nazi-Inspired Farhud.
On June 1, 1941, as Jews in Baghdad were preparing festive meals in anticipation for the holiday of Shavuot, a heavily armed mob of Iraqi Muslims took to the streets in a vicious rampage, targeting the city’s Jewish communities. Thousands of Islamic men equipped with guns, swords, knives, homemade grenades and other crude weapons searched out and slaughtered any Jewish man, woman or child they captured.
An image of a “hamsa,” or “Hand of God,” was painted on Jewish homes to single them out for attack. Ironically, this symbol is meant to be used as a talisman for protection. The families inside had no choice but to band together and steel themselves with whatever weapons they could muster.
My father was there. He recalled the savagery in complete and utter detail for the entire duration of his life. Although he was only a child at the time, the situation demanded he become a man, and he did.
Continue reading: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/the-hand-of-god-how-my-father-survived-the-nazi-inspired-farhud/
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