שפיק עדס SHAFIQ ADES was publicly executed in Basra on September 23, 1948. A JTA dispatch dated that day, printed in the September 24 bulletin, reported that he had been hanged that morning. This contemporary report confirms the execution day independently of the later calendar record.1

Joseph Samuels later recalled the fear he felt after seeing a photograph of the execution and being refused an exit visa. His testimony shows how a public execution could affect people outside the condemned man's immediate circle. It does not replace the military judgment or establish the truth of the prosecution's allegations.2

Return to the chronology of the exodus of יהודים YEHUDIM from the Republic of Iraq.

How is this dated?

JTA's September 24, 1948 bulletin carries a September 23 dispatch reporting the execution that morning. Adi Schwartz's later account also identifies 1948-09-23. The source-given civil day converts to י״ט באלול ה׳תש״ח 19th 𝑜𝑓 Elul, AM 5708 using the fixed Hebrew calendar. This dates the execution, not the trial or verdict.3

Guided reflections

  • How did a public execution become a warning to people outside the condemned man’s family?
  • What would the military judgment establish that a report of the hanging cannot?

Footnotes

  1. JTA, September 24, 1948, p. 7, New York dateline September 23 ↩
  2. Samuels, Pesach in Baghdad,; Schwartz, The Adas Affair, ↩
  3. JTA, September 24, 1948, p. 7; Schwartz, The Adas Affair, ↩

Works cited

  1. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Daily News Bulletin, September 24, 1948, p. 7, New York dispatch dated September 23, reporting the execution of Shafiq Ades that morning. http://pdfs.jta.org/1948/1948-09-24_221.pdf.
  2. Samuels, Joseph. Pesach in Baghdad. Jewish Journal, April 16, 2014. https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/128411/.
  3. Schwartz, Adi. The Adas Affair. Tablet. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/adas-affair-jews-iraq.