The day of Shabbat…on Friday, we would cook and wash. In the evening, my father (would) go to the synagogue and he would recite blessings. The next day, we would go to the Muslims (neighbours) to bring hot water (because) we didn’t have any (on Shabbat). At our place we used to make tbeet…on the gas we would make it. We had gas. On the burner, (with) a wick, we used to do it. And for water, we would go to our neighbours’ place. We would bring water and boil tea. We would bring the tea and drink it. We would not light a flame at all. Once, (a thing) emerged on my hand…I don’t know what it was. I didn’t sleep all night. I was crying. My grandmother would put me on her knee and rock me so I would (be able to) sleep. In the end they said to her, “she has…you must bring a frog, and put it on her hand. (Then) tear the frog’s stomach up”. My mother went and brought the Muslim (worker) and said to him, “bring my daughter a frog”. He caught one and brought it to her, and she put it on my hand and wrapped it on my hand. And I (was) crying (because) it (was) hurting me. This was on a Friday. On Friday night my mother grabbed my hand and took me downstairs. She went outside…we did not have electricity. There was light on the street. She opened up my hand…suddenly she took it off me. She brought a razor and cut my hand. I will not forget it (in) my life. I went and slept for two days. Two nights and two nights I slept until my hand got better. Pizmonim…my grandfather would sing on Saturday evening, an uncle would sing…”el, eliyahu, bizkhut Eliyahu…”. My uncle would sing. They would bring us myrtle…the men. But the old women…were uneducated and did not go […] I would go after my grandmother all the time. I used to love sitting at her place. I used to go with her…from seven years old I already fasted.

We arrived, (and) they took us off the plane. We came to Shaar HaAliyah. We stayed for eight days. We did not have… my father would start crying every day. We were all without both food and drink. They gave us a big tent. We did not even have breakfast. They would give us water from the sea. We only wanted water and bread. Even that wasn’t (available). After, they took us to Pardes Hana. My siblings… my older brother did not come. My sister did not come. I was the oldest… and we brought clothes. Each person had a suitcase. They took us… in the morning, (and) brought us to Pardes Hana at night. They put us in a tent (with) maybe twenty families in it. This person was screaming, that person was crying, this person was yelling. They brought us. Two days later… we were old (enough), my brother Shaq and I. He was twelve years old at the time. And my brother Ghazi was ten years old. He could carry (things). And they would go wandering. He would wonder all day in the transit camp. Wherever there was a small tent we would go. Every day we would go to a different place. We would change our place, so that it would be good for us, quiet. We would go to work, and bring tomatoes, peppers. My mother went to buy… my cousin gave us a burner. My mother would cook. (When) we had money, we would go to the market there. My mother used to go buy Israeli couscous. Whatever was there at the market, we would bring. We would bring many things. My siblings would put it all in their pants. Cucumbers and tomatoes. They would give us eggs, (and) we would go sell them. People would walk and hear (us shouting) “eggs without water”. So that my mother could make food. What (could) we eat? It was hard for us in the transit camp. In the end we came to… by the road, we had a tent alone. (It was) white. All eight of us, nine people went inside it. We had beds. We would sleep on them, and go to work in the morning.

I came from the hut…from Tira. I was in southern Tira. I came…we bought the hut. I came (and) I saw…I had neighbours…neighbours…Muslims. There was Umm Hussein, her husband…and her name was Hejar. I stayed there…for more than fifteen years we were neighbours. My family went to Haifa and bought a house. And my husband wasn’t working. Yossi was little. One month old. I left him with her. I said to her, “Um Hussein, take care of him. I’m going to work. Housework.” For three hours and I’ll come back home. But take care of him.” “Go, my daughter. I’ll take care of your children.” There was Meir, and Mazal, and little Yossi. I would leave him at her place. I love her more than my mother. One day, a thirteen year old boy from my father’s family died. And we all had to go there. An army car ran him over. So I took my youngest son in my arms and said to Um Hussein, “please look after Meir and Mazal.” At night, when a car came, when they buried him, we came. It was nighttime. They put Mazal to sleep with the girls, and they put Meir to sleep with the boys. Mazal didn’t agree to sleep. She went outside and started crying in the street. A police officer came and said to her, “what’s wrong, Mazal? Why are you crying?”. She said to the police officer, “my mother left me with the Muslims and I don’t want to sleep with them there. So the police officer brought my daughter. We had just then came (home). I went in (to the house) and was putting Yossi to sleep in the bed. He said to me, “where’s your son?”. I said to him, “at the neighbour’s house.” He went and knocked on their door. He had a little shack. Four metres by four metres. There were ten people sleeping. They were sleeping on the floor. He said to her, “where is the Jewish woman’s daughter?”. The husband got up, looking…they didn’t have light. (He was) searching…and said to her […] the Jewish woman’s daughter. The neighbour. I got up. I just wanted to put Yossi…to put Yossi in the bed. I was screaming, “Umm Hussein! Don’t worry! Mazal is with me!”. She said to me, “On G-d, if you hadn’t come now…I would have miscarried!”. Yes. I used to believe in her. Every day, in the morning, they would do agriculture. She would bring me a box (with) whatever they would sow. When they picked (the crops), only for the neighbours. And my children were at her place all day…until I came (home) from work they would go (there). She would cook, and she would give them (food). One day a Jewish man came. He had a friend. He brought him to the hut, to the kitchen. One day, Meir came with his friend. They fought. He (the friend) took out a knife and stabbed it into Meir’s leg. Where did they go? To Umm Hussein. Umm Hussein was pregnant. It was twelve o’clock (and) they had come from school. Umm Hussein went…she picked up Meir. He was eight, nine years old. She knocked on the door of the nurses at the health clinic kiosk near our house. She said to them, “I’m begging you, open the door! The boy is bleeding!” They stayed…(and) closed it (the wound). It’s not my son! After that, they came and closed (the wound on) his leg. (I swear) on my life, G-d, Umm Hussein helped me more than my family. I love her. I worry about her even now, believe me.

My uncle was rich. He was a goldsmith. He had a lot of money. An emissary came and said, “I’m from Israel. If you want to buy lands in Israel, buy them. And when you arrive in Israel, you will have lands. My uncle bought (lands) in two places. He (then) came to Israel. He even brought the deed. They said to him, “no! There was a war. It’s true that we won, but the Muslims took them back again. You don’t deserve anything.” I don’t know who exactly. We were new immigrants. We had just come to Israel. In the aliyah…when we came to Israel…my grandfather had a Torah scroll. We brought it from Tuz Khurmatu. And we had a doe, which we had been raising for a year. (When) we (were to) go to Israel, my mother vowed to slaughter it, and bring it to Israel and eat it on the train. That’s what we did. We slaughtered it and brought it. And we brought the Torah scroll. We came to Baghdad. We slept in the Meir Elyas synagogue. We stayed (there) for two days, then the airplane came. It came to take us (to Israel). We were happy. We brought all new things, and we showered, and we wore all new (clothes). When we came to Israel, my father was scared. (In Baghdad) a Muslim came and said to my brother, “tell me, where is your father’s money?”. He said to him, “I swear, I don’t know. We don’t have money. My father didn’t bring money.” They came to search us all. Women and men separately. The boys went with my father, and the girls came with my mother. My sister had earrings. A Muslim woman came and took her earrings off her. My sister started crying. They took all of our things. We had brought all new things. Anything they wanted, they took. Anything they didn’t want, they gave us (back). We brought those things with us to Israel. We came to Israel. As soon as we arrived, we got off the plane. They brought us into a room and came and did (sprayed) us with DDT. I said to my mother, “what is this thing that they are doing to us?”. We were all dressed in new (clothes), and showered, as we were arriving to Israel. She said to me, “don’t worry, my daughter. This is (cosmetic) powder that they put on you all”.

We came to the…they brought us to Tira. Even then…we had a tent. Little kids. My brother was (there), and my father wrote him (his age) as 80 years. We were in the…in the tent. They gave us eight beds, and gave us mattresses. I used to go…one day I went…to work. They caught me in the street. They said to me…it was an army car. They said, “you have to come with us”. I came…they wanted a certificate of immigration. They came and took it from my house, and straight away took me to the army. They ran tests on me, and took me to Tel Nof. I stayed there for almost three months. In the end, my mother came and said, “no, she is forbidden to go to the army.” (She said) “She will become a whore.” My mother didn’t agree (for me to go).

Is that what people used to think?

That’s how. Yes, whoever goes to the army…someone came. My husband came. He was in Pardes Hana…we had already moved to Tira. A neighbour came. He (my husband) came wanting to see the people who were with him. They said, “look what (type of) girls are here! Take one of these girls.” He came, and wanted me…he asked for me (my hand in marriage) from my parents. My brother didn’t agree. He said, “no. That man is sick. I don’t want to marry her (to him).” When we came…I got married. We went to Pardes Hana. My husband was in Pardes Hana. We stayed…I gave birth to my oldest son in Pardes Hana. Afterwards, my husband wasn’t working. I said to him, “let’s go to Tira. Maybe you can work with my father.” We came, (and) we bought a hut for 50 shekels, and we came. In the end, my husband went to work with my brother in building. A man came and said to him, “if you want the hut, come look what (kind of) hut it is. (It’s) nice, solitary, has a plot of land you can plant crops. So…

When did you decide to sell (it) and move to Tira?

My husband came to me and said “look, Carmela. There’s a plot of land here. Let’s go to the hut and buy it. Look, go to your family and let them give you money. 11 shekels.” I said to him…I went to my brother. He said, “with pleasure. I’ll give you (the money)”. I brought it from my brother Yitzhak. He gave me 11 lira and we bought the hut. There was water, electricity…but then I gave birth to my daughter, in the shack…we were still in the transit camp. And I gave birth to my daughter…she was six months old, Mazal. I brought her to the hut and we stayed in the hut for 40 years. I told him, “hey! Let’s go and buy housing…”. He wouldn’t agree (to buy it). In the end, I went all the way to Eilat, until he agreed to buy a house. I bought a house, and afterwards he came after me as well.

Every holiday, we would go to Baba Sida and celebrate the holiday for him. And my grandmother would cook, and also my mother would cook. We were a big family. We used to celebrate the holidays…we would always do it […] if (there was) a wedding, they wouldn’t let us go to the wedding. We were little girls. But the older ones would go…to the wedding. My sister (who was) older than me would go…to her friend who was getting married. She did a henna ceremony. They would not let me go. I would cry and say, “why won’t they take me?”. I used to go…on Sukkot…we would make a sukka at home and organise it, and the whole family would sit (in it). We’d sit in the sukka, and cook. Every week, dad would slaughter a lamb and cut it into four sections. My sister would come and I would bring… my dad (would bring) a knife and (cut it into 4 equal parts) without (needing to) weigh it or anything. He (would) say to her, “put each one on the meat. and we would split it (between us)”. We had everything in the house. Dad used to work. Dad had a store. And…on the evening of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), we would cook and go to…the garden. We would sit there all of us and make tea and bring food and sit there. The whole family would go. And then in the evening until we’d go home. Dad would work in the store, and also he would sell chicken and eggs. He would take chicken and eggs down to Baghdad every night. He would send chicken and eggs every night and buy from the Arabs, and bring them home. And my sister…and my brother…all of them would fill them into big boxes and tie them. And chicken…we had a a storage room. We had a room. Dad would buy the chicken, and put it in the room. And in the evening, dad would sit and we would go and bring it from the room. He would put them in the cage and count them and put them (in the car), and we would send them to Baghdad. We had a good (economic) situation in Iraq. We had a new house next to the water. When I was 16 years old, a guide came and said, “I’m from Israel. If you agree, I’ll teach you Hebrew.” I said to him, “no. I have to tell my mother. I’m afraid.” I came to my mother. My mother agreed. She said to me, “go and learn (Hebrew)”. My sister came wanting to learn. She was older than me. He said to her, “no. You’re engaged.” They used to come to us…. only in the day when there is… on the evening of Yom HaAtzmaut (Israeli independence day). We did (celebrated) it. If I would study, (it would be) just girls on our own. It wasn’t possible to study (with boys). But on that day young boys would come and we’d sit and study. We would also do celebrations. We would laugh and talk. We all wanted to go to Israel, but dad didn’t agree. He would say to me, “no, my daughter. The Muslims are grabbing the (Jewish) girls and taking them. I won’t let you go with them.” I would cry. I wouldn’t drink or eat. He would say to me, “no, my daughter. I’m afraid for you. They’ll take you! I don’t want to give you (to them).” Afterwards, I stayed quiet until we (actually) came to Israel. On Yom Kippur, I would go to the synagogue. And I would go with my mother. Because not everybody would go there. It was shameful. I would go with my mother. (When) I was eight years old, I fasted.  We would come home, break the fast and eat and…on Yom Kippur. And dad…every morning and evening would close his shop and go to the synagogue. My uncle was very religious. In the time of Hitler, he fasted for two days. He didn’t eat nor drink. He fasted for…because the Jews were being killed. We all knew that Hitler was killing the Jews. 

I had my young girl, her name was Miriam after my grandmother’s name. She was sensitive…too much. Every day I would take her to the clinic because her ear was hurting. One day, the doctor said to me, “damn! Where are you taking her? Are you putting her in the fridge!?”. I looked at her and said, “how (why) would I be putting her in the fridge? But I don’t have a house, I don’t have a courtyard.” I used to wash her. We had…it was a small shack. There was a kitchen…I would wash them there. I would wash her and take her outside, and she had…an infection in her ear. Every week I would take her, (and) I had to give her to the nurse’s hand and go outside (because) I couldn’t (stand to) hear her voice (crying). They would do an operation on her ear. Afterwards, the doctor said this to me (that it was because of taking her outside after washing her). I went and bought her a hat, like the ones in the army. I would put it on her so she wouldn’t catch a cold. Afterwards, it (the health issues) left her. It was hard for me until she grew up. She was too small. My husband…(when) his family came, they put them in a transit camp…in Kiryat Shmona. They took them to Khalsa. So he went…went to the employment bureau and got permission to go work on a kibbutz as a guard. He went to the kibbutz. On the first night he was on guard. He wanted…they went to eat at seven or eight o’clock. He wanted to go eat…he fell and a snake bit him. He went there…someone told him that it wasn’t correct. In the end, he started vomiting blood…and he was bleeding. Before the war, they were scared to send him…who would take him? Who would take him? Two men came from the kibbutz who took him to the hospital in Tiberias…I forgot its name. There, they removed all the blood from him. She put in him…water…I don’t know what they gave him. At night, a police officer came knocking on my door (and said), “Mrs…is your husband’s name David Ohayon?”. I said to him, “yes”. He said, “he’s in the hospital.” I took my daughter and went to the hospital. He said to me, “a snake bit him.” I went and saw him, and came home. A week later they brought him home. His head was hurting. My daughter got married (and) lives in Tira…the younger daughter also (lives) in Tira and worked in the army. Now she lives in Tira too. I have a son, the elder…he is married (and) lives in Netanya. I have a third son who lives in Haifa…in Zakharon.

They did…everybody came to our house. We made a meeting…he wanted to become a Mapaynik. He (would) bring ten men and they would put him in Mapai. He went to my siblings’ houses…he knew people. They signed for him. I said to him, “please”. There was someone whose name was Aloush. He was working in the petrochemical factory. I said to him, “please. I just want to get my husband employed.” He said to me, “if we succeed, if Mapai wins (the elections), I’ll get him into work.” He got him work, and he worked for twenty-two years. Hana was born. We named him Hananya so that G-d would have mercy on him. In the end, he was Hanan. In the end, I said to him, “David. We’ve stayed in this hut for forty years. Your daughter has grown up, she has a boyfriend…”. But he didn’t agree. I took (went) my own way. I left Miryam, aged two years, at home and went to Eilat. Meir was in the army. He said to me, “Mother, if you go I’ll come with you.” He came. I had my son, aged twelve years old. Yosef, Yossi. He said he would come. I said to him, “no. You’ll stay here. You’ll stay with your siblings. Take care of each other.” I went at night. We slept in a house…I paid…one lira? I don’t know how much. I slept at her place. One day later I went to the (employment) bureau. I was given a job. It was…just…at the end of…I mean, they gave me a place to sleep. It was a hut there. It was a hotel. It was a hotel. People slept there. They gave me a hut. I slept…what was its (the hotel) name? ha-Yareah (the moon)? What was its name…just next to Jordan. There was a hotel. I would eat, drink, and work. Afterwards, David came. He brought my brother. He said, “I allow you to buy a house. Come back!”. My brother came to take me…[…]…I went and bought my sister’s house. We moved to…the house. In the end, my daughter really did bring a boyfriend, and got married in Bialik (street). I bought a house. And we stayed (there) for fifteen years. In the end, I moved to the house after.