Shamash School
| Shamash School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Baghdad Iraq 33°19′12″N 44°25′14″E / 33.3201°N 44.4205°E | |
| Information | |
| Type | High school |
Religious affiliation | Judaism |
| Established | 1928 |
| Closed | 1951 |
Principal | Maurice Plotnick |
| Enrollment | 900 (peak enrollment in 1939) |
Campus type | Urban |
| Affiliation | Anglo-Jewish Association |
Shamash School was an Iraqi Jewish high school located on al-Rashid Street, Baghdad, founded in 1928. The school was supported by the Anglo-Jewish Association and had more than 900 students at its peak in 1939. After the expulsion of Jews from Iraq in 1950, the school came under the administration of the Directorate of Frozen Assets and was transformed into an Iranian Iraqi school under the name "Iranian Primary and Secondary School." Later, it became a government school named "Al-Risala School." For some time, the site has been turned into a car garage. In October 2026, the site of the school was opened as a Jewish Heritage Museum.
History
Establishment
Shamash School was founded in 1928 in the Jadid Hassan Pasha area on al-Rashid Street by the Iraqi Jewish philanthropist Yaqub Shlomo Shamash, with his brother Yusuf Shlomo Shamash serving as its headmaster.
In addition to founding the school, Shamash purchased 17 shops, a pharmacy, and a hotel in the same area, designating them as part of an Iraqi Jewish endowment. The revenues from these properties were allocated to support the school and other community initiatives.
Shamash took over the building in 1928 on the condition that Torah and religious studies would be included in the curriculum. English-language studies were also emphasized, as students were required to pass the Matriculation Exam to graduate. The school included elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Due to its strong English curriculum, Shamash School attracted Jewish students interested in English culture. Graduates received an English-language proficiency certificate, which allowed them to enter British universities without taking an additional language exam. The school also offered special courses for non-students preparing for the Matriculation Exam, which was required for admission to English-speaking universities. 90% of these students were Jewish, according to historical records.
1938–1948
In the first ten years after its establishment, Shamash School expanded into a full-fledged secondary school, offering middle and high school education. The elementary level was discontinued in 1941.
In 1944–1945, the school opened evening classes for commercial sciences, bookkeeping, and communications. English-language courses were also introduced in the commercial branch, making it the first formal business studies program in Iraq. However, the department was closed in 1947 after the establishment of the College of Commerce and Economics.
In 1949, the middle school section was transferred to the Frank Iny Jewish School, while the high school merged with the private secondary section, becoming a high school exclusively until its closure.
1950–present
After the expulsion of Iraqi Jews and the revocation of their citizenship in 1950, the school came under the control of the Directorate of Frozen Assets. It was later transferred to the Iranian community in Iraq and renamed Sharaft Iranian Primary and Secondary School (دبستان ودبيرستان شرافت إيرانيان). Eventually, it became a government school called Al-Risala School. Shamash School had been turned into a parking lot, with most of its interior structure demolished.
The British headmaster, Maurice Plotnick, later emigrated to the United States, where he founded the Westchester Day School.
Teachers
The teachers were from England and other countries, with the school administration relying on the British Cultural Institute in Baghdad to bring English language teachers directly from the United Kingdom to teach in the fourth and fifth grades.
Later, the Iraqi government intervened and ordered the expulsion of foreign teachers, replacing them with Iraqi Muslim teachers. This was due to the Ministry of Education beginning to feel the presence of Zionism within the school.
Building
The school was adjacent to the Sabah al-Khayr hotel and on the other side, it was next to Hassan Ajami Café, facing the Haydar-Khana Mosque.
The school had large classrooms and rooms surrounded by big windows that allowed natural light and fresh air. There was a synagogue occupying part of the ground floor, and the rooms on the upper floor included a large laboratory fully equipped for chemistry experiments. Additionally, there was a large theater for plays and a special lounge for the female students in the fourth and fifth grades.
Jewish Heritage Museum
In October 2026, the building was reopened, having been repurposed by the Iraqi government as a Jewish Heritage Museum. The Museum, funded by expatriate Jews of Iraqi descent, provides archival materials and recorded interviews highlighting the history of a community that had accounted for 25% of Baghdad's population and reached 90,000 across Iraq early in the 20th century but had dwindled in the wake of the 1941 Farhud and rising antisemitism, with as few as a half dozen Jews remaining at the time of the museum's opening.
Notable alumni
Shamash School produced prominent figures in various fields including business, administration, and science, from different religious backgrounds, such as Muslims, Christians, and Jews, including:
- Elie Kedourie (1926–1992), historian of the Middle East
- Sylvia Kedourie (1925–2016), historian of the Middle East
- Sami Michael (1926–2024, class of 1945), Iraqi-Israeli author
- Shmuel Moreh (1932–2017), university professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Sasson Somekh (1933–2019), Iraqi-Israeli academic, writer and translator
- Raymond Moray, university professor
References
- ↑ "From Forgotten History.. Shamash School in Iraq". www.alforat.info. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "جريدة الحقيقة - من التاريخ المنسي مدرسة شماش". Alhakikka News. 2017-05-02. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ↑ "Jewish Schools in Iraq: When Were They Founded?". Kitabat. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "Al-Rasheed Street: Baghdad's Cultural and Political Memory". IMN Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "Shamash School: A Forgotten History". Al-Aalem. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "A Forgotten History: Shamash School". Alhakika News. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "Shamash School: From Jewish Institution to Parking Lot". Wikimapia. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "Jews of Iraq and Their Role in the Establishment and Development of Education". tellskuf.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ "موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر : مدرسة شماش". 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ↑ Yohanan, Nurit. "Museum documenting Iraq’s once-thriving Jewish community said to open in Baghdad", The Times of Israel, October 25, 2026. Accessed October 25, 2026. "A museum documenting Iraq’s Jewish community, once large but now all-but disappeared, has opened in Baghdad in recent days, according to reports circulating on social media.... Footage shared on social media shows a sign reading 'Shamash Museum' at the entrance, as well as Jewish religious artifacts, documents related to the community, and filmed interviews with Iraqi Jews, apparently filmed abroad.... In the early 20th century, Iraq was home to around 90,000 Jews, who accounted for nearly a quarter of Baghdad’s population.... Today, only an estimated five or six elderly Jews remain in Iraq."
- ↑ "Jewish Heritage Museum Opens in Baghdad", Osint613.com, October 23, 2026. Accessed October 23, 2026. "A museum honoring Iraq's Jewish community has opened in Baghdad on the remains of the Shamash School, which the community founded in 1928."
- 1 2 Kelly, Saul (2022-05-04). "Sylvia Kedourie 1925–2016". Middle Eastern Studies. 58 (3): 325–326. doi:10.1080/00263206.2022.2048474. ISSN 0026-3206.
- ↑ Haruv, Tomer. "Famed Israeli Author Sami Michael Dies at 97", Haaretz, April 1, 2024. Accessed October 25, 2026. "Born as Kamal Salah Menashe in Baghdad, Iraq in 1926, Michael graduated from the city's Jewish Shamash High School in 1945."
- ↑ Roumani, Judith; and Roumani, Jacques. "Interview with Sasson Somekh,1 Israeli Scholar of Iraqi Origin: A Sephardic Jew’s Engagement with Arabic Language and Literature", Sephardic Horizons. Accessed October 25, 2026. "They only allowed them to read the Bible, because it was accepted as a substitute for Islam. I came to the Jewish school, the Shamash School, from a non-Jewish school. I had not learned any Bible so the teacher once a week had a reading of Bible in Hebrew, and the teacher would allow me to leave the class."