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… Continue Reading Esperance David – Life with her husband David
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… Continue Reading Esperance David – Life for Esperance in England
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,… Continue Reading Esperance David – The family in Israel
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… Continue Reading Esperance David – In the 50’s in Baghdad
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… Continue Reading Esperance David – Baghdad Pogrom 1941
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… Continue Reading Esperance David – In London in 1948
ED: Well there was a very bad persecution when I was there, when I was about ten, eleven years old, in the early 40’s, when we had a terrible uprising. That was awful. It started one afternoon and my cousin came, they usually came at any time, and he said, shouting, “Batten [down] your windows… Continue Reading Esperance David – During the War in the early 40’s
Int: Today is the 18th May 2015, and we are here to interview Esperance David. Hello Esperance. ED: Hello. Int: Could you begin and tell us when you were born? ED: The 7th of May, 1929. (laughter). Int: Where were you born? And what was your name at birth? ED: I was born in Baghdad,… Continue Reading Esperance David – Before the War
