Museum documenting Iraq’s once-thriving Jewish community said to open in Baghdad

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.

According to the reports, the museum opened in a building that once housed the Shamash School, which served the Jewish community.

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.

The museum’s opening has not been officially reported by Iraqi media. However, last year, the Iraqi government allowed the restoration of the tomb complex of Rabbi Isaac Gaon, one of the prominent rabbis of Iraqi Jewry.

According to reports, the restoration was funded by Jews of Iraqi descent living abroad.

In the early 20th century, Iraq was home to around 90,000 Jews, who accounted for nearly a quarter of Baghdad’s population.

Due to growing antisemitism and a 1941 pogrom in Baghdad, most of the Jewish population emigrated to Israel with the establishment of the Jewish state.

Today, only an estimated five or six elderly Jews remain in Iraq.

افتتاح متحف يهودي في شارع #المتنبي ببغداد. pic.twitter.com/UUHF4nLwM4

— جاسم الشمري (@dr_jasemj67) October 24, 2026

افتتاح متحف يسلط الضوء على مدرسة شماش في شارع الرشيد التي خرجت فطاحل من الجالية اليهودية. بادرة طيبة لمكون عاش اكثر من 2500 عام في بلاد الرافدين pic.twitter.com/DfaRIYsez7

— ليندا منوحين عبد العزيز (@lindamnu) October 22, 2026

بعد يوم على افتتاحه وسط شارع الرشيد ، مواطنون بغداديون يرتادون متحف شماش اليهودي الذي يحتوي على مقتنيات اشخاص عراقيون من الديانة اليهودية ..#العراق #بغداد pic.twitter.com/G7cLQAwaBh

— يوسف سيرجو (@yse_192) October 23, 2026