Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Esperance describes life there and the challenge being Jewish brought to her family especially after the rise of Hitler. She speaks about the Farhad, the pogrom against the Jews of Baghdad in 1941. She explains what happened to her Iraqi family in 1948 and thereafter, and her later experiences in Britain. … Read more
INT: Did you like Scotland? ED: Yes, I think so. They were more open, you know. I worked in a school in Scotland, in East Kilbride. That came after, really, Sandhurst wasn’t it? And they were very, very nice, you know. The headmaster was nice, a retired army officer, sergeant major, so the school was … Read more
INT: Did you find it easy to integrate into Scottish society, or did you feel different? ED: Jewish society or anything? INT: Jewish and the wider society. ED: Well, the wider society, I went back to work when we had another… INT2: You had a son in between all that. ED: A son in between, … Read more
INT: Yeah, and he got a job in Scotland in what year? ED: Well David was still doing his apprenticeship but to have an Honours degree wasn’t enough to be a chartered engineer, so there was a big concern, an electrical factory, the Brush [Electrical Engineering Company], so he was doing it there, and I … Read more
INT: We haven’t heard about your husband, how did you meet him? ED: Well, that’s a long story, isn’t it? [Laughter]. ED: Well, while I was in Israel on my first visit, I was staying with my mum and dad, obviously, but my brother got married and his wife was five months’ pregnant and they … Read more
INT: So you must, you were in Britain… INT: They were in Israel, building the, when did you see them again? ED: 1953. INT: So, you studied? ED: I finished my study, then I was teaching. INT: Oh you were a teacher? ED: I was teaching. INT: In London? ED: In London, I was teaching … Read more
INT: So your family were in Israel, they’re building a life up. So, were they with other Iraqis? Were they a community in Iraq? ED: Well yes, as I was saying, they were all told to leave and take 50 [pounds]. No matter what you had, house or anything. And when I was in Israel, … Read more
So the regent and his family were killed by that coup [in 1958] by them [by the Revolutionists], because there was a coup in the government at that time. So, from a kingdom, that was done away, literally done away, killed all of them, and they established the republic and, from then on, it became … Read more
INT: Can I ask you, again, about the pogrom that you lived through, as a child? Do you think that was directly related to what was happening in Europe? ED: Yes, because my dad says, and I have a vision of that, although I don’t remember seeing it, about half a dozen Gestapo people walked … Read more
INT: So you were in London, and you’re sending letters to your parents? ED: Well that came after INT: Could they tell you about what was happening in Baghdad? ED: No, no. In, [they ]kind of, covered [up], what do you call it, enigmatic? INT: Code? ED: Yeah, very little. But I did something that … Read more