VIOLETT TCHENKIZ (NEE SAWDAYEE) , NAZIMA SAWDAYEE ( NEE HANANIAH), NAZIMA LEVY ( NEE SAWDAYEE).
ESPERANCE AL-ANI(NEE SAWDAYEE), DAN LEVY, MAX SAWDAYEE, Dr. MAURICE SAWDAYEE, ELI SAWDAYEE.
FORTUNEE GABAY (NEE SAWDAYEE), JAQUELINE HORESH ( NEE SAWDAYEE).
GRACY TIZABI ( NEE LEVY), NINA ANBAR (NEE LEVY), BERTINE JOURY (NEE SAWDAYEE), YVONE MOUALEM ( NEE SAWDAYEE), ELI LEVY , HILDA BALLACE (NEE SAWDAYEE), MARGOT ABEDEL-EZER (NEE SAWDAYEE).
A PICTURE TAKEN IN 1942, MOST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE PHOTO WERE BORN AND RAISED IN ELIAHOU ROUBEN'S HOUSE. NOW THEY ARE DISPERCED ALL ROUND THE GLOBE DUE TO THE DISCRIMINATION AND PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS BY THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT.
FOLLOWING IS A CHAPTER FROM THE UNPUBLISHED BOOK " THE IMMIGRANT " WRITTEN BY MY BROTHER Dr. MAURICE SAWDAYEE CONCERNING THE HOUSE.
OUR HOUSE-20/140 TORAT STREET.
I WANT TO DESCRIBE THE HOUSE IN THE OLD DOWNTOWN JEWISH QUARTER OF AL-TORAT, BAGHDAD, WHERE I GREW UP, PLAYED AND WENT TO SCHOOL. AS A MATTER OF FACT THE JEWISH QUARTER WAS NOT A EUROPEAN JEWISH GHETTO PER SE. JEWS WERE FREE TO LIVE ANYWHERE. HOWEVER, THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A GHETTO WILLINGLY BY JEWISH FAMILIES WHO WANTED TO CONGREGATE CLOSE TO THEIR HOUSE OF WORSHIP, SCHOOLS AND OTHER COMMUNAL SERVICES. WHEN AN OLD HOUSE WAS OFFERED FOR SALE BY ITS OCCUPANTS IT WAS MOST PROBABLY BOUGHT BY ANOTHER JEWISH FAMILY. THE OLD STRUCTURE DEMOLISHED AND REPLACED BY A NEW ONE.
BY THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, ELIAHOU ROUBEN A WEALTHY CARAVAN MERCHANT REMARRIED FOR THE SECOND TIME TO MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER AMMAM A YOUNG MAIDEN TWENTY YEARS HIS JUNIOR. TO PLEASE HIS NEW WIFE HE BOUGHT AN OLD HOUSE AT THE TORAT QUARTER, BUILT A NEW ONE ON THE SAME SITE TO GIVE HIS YOUNG WIFE A PLACE TO ENJOY AND RAISE A FAMILY.
THIS PIECE OF INFORMATION ABOUT OUR ANCESTRY I LEARNED LITTLE BY LITTLE. IT CAME IN BITS AND PIECES AND HAD TO BE SORTED OUT TO MAKE IT INTELLIGIBLE. THUS I LEARNED THAT MY GREAT GRANDFATHER ELIAHOU ROUBEN MARRIED MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER AMMAM, AFTER HIS FIRST WIFE, A COUSIN, WHO GAVE BIRTH TO DEFORMED CHILDREN. HE REMARRIED IN THE HOPE OF BEGETTING A HEALTHY SON TO WHOM HE CAN BEQUETH HIS NEW MADE FORTUNE. AGAINST HIS WISH HIS SECOND WIFE GAVE BIRTH TO TWO GIRLS ONLY. THE ELDER MASS'OUDA, FORTUNATE, REMAINED BARREN, THE SECOND AZIZA, MY GRAND MOTHER, GAVE BIRTH TO EIGHT CHILDREN. SEVEN BOYS AND A GIRL AND OTHERS WHO DID NOT SURVIVE. AZIZA ABANDONED HER FATHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSEHOLD WHERE SHE LIVED WITH HER HUSBAND AS CUSTOMARY AND COMPELLED HIM TO MOVE TO HER PARENTS'. SHE WAS A WELCOME ADDITION IN THE BIG HOUSE. HER CHILDREN FILLED ALMOST EVERY NOOK WITH NEW LIFE. IN THE CUSTOM OF THOSE DAYS THE HOUSE WAS CONSIDERED SUMPTUOUS. EVENTUALLY AZIZA TOOK OVER THE HOUSE DOMINATING HER MOTHER BY BECOMING THE TRUE MISTRESS OF THE BIG MANSION.
THE BIG FAMILY HOUSE WAS BUILT IN THE TRADITIONAL ATRIUM STYLE. A TWO STORIED RESIDENCE ROUND A LARGE COURTYARD WITH A SMALL ORCHARD IN A CORNER ADJACENT TO THE ENTRANCE. I REMEMBER THE DETAILS OF ITS STRUCTURE WHEN I GREW UP TO FIND IT OLD, DECAYED AND OUTLIVING ITS SUMPTUOUS PAST. IN TIME MY GRANDMOTHER FAMILY OVERTOOK THE HOUSE. HER THREE ELDEST BOYS EZRA, MEIR, MY FATHER, AND HAYAWI MARRIED THERE BEGETTING CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN. WITH THE HELP WE NUMBERED ABOUT THIRTY SOULS.