Latif Hoory, London
Is Nostalgia a Silent Romance ?
Extracts from a letter by Mr. Hoory to Mrs. Esther Mercado,
author of the book Iraq, My Testimony.
The time is 12.30 at night. I have just finished your book Iraq, My Testimony. It was sent to me by my friend Mr. Ben-Porat. I feel that I am sunk in a stream of thoughts and emotions chasing one another and awaking in me dormant visions of my past in Baghdad during the period you are writing about.
I felt strong spiritual calls pushing me out of my bed to register my words to you.
I lived that period in Baghdad day by day and in as much as you covered it in your book, there is still a lot to be said with each person who happened to be there at that special time. The difference between you and me is that I did not leave Iraq with the mass immigration of Jews to Israel but with an Iraqi passport when we were allowed to do so in 1953.
I would feel guilty if I did not transmit my thoughts to you and record in these words my appreciation of your book and your power of expression even during the most difficult hours of suspense and worries when a simple wrong action could lead to the destruction of one's life.
As I saw your picture at the Shamash School Certificate, I said to myself, I know that girl. I jumped out of bed because at that moment I felt that there must be a link "some how somewere" between me and the writer of this book. On checking my records I found that we had spent the 4th Class together at the Shamash School in the same year. Then, the name Khabbaza started to float out of the memory store and certainly your looks were also remembered.
I congratulate you for your achievement in this book. You adhered to a frank, real, and stirring style of expression all the way. I read the book with an interval in the middle. I read the first 30 pages about a month ago, with no feeling of any link with the writer; but on my return to finish the book in the last two days, my curiosity started to grow until I found the link.
Last but not least is the difference I noticed between your picture in Iraq, "first row second to Eyvone Dangour", and your picture on the cover of the book. It is exactly the difference between Iraq and Israel. It gave me the impression that Israel has made of you with your short haircut a butterfly wandering in the skies of those two countries registering unforgettable history. Now, you will find it is worth sleeping on a mattress and blanket under the open sky on a diet or matzot and oranges.
I am glad I found in my file a similar certificate to the one as illustrated in your book. Mine was also issued by the Shamash School to me. It was dated only 35 days in advance of yours.
Finally, I wish you all the best, and hope that one day we will see each other personally, maybe at one of the forthcoming occasions at the Babylonian Center.