The Seizure of Saddam Hussein’s Archive of Atrocity

The Seizure of Saddam Hussein’s Archive of Atrocity examines the capture of the Baathist security files and the discovery of an invaluable Iraqi Jewish archive amid the Kurdish uprising and the US-led invasion of Iraq. The events ignited a fierce struggle for the files, which documented Saddam Hussein’s vast humanitarian crimes. The various battles to control the memory of Saddam Hussein’s genocidal regime and reclaim Jewish patrimony reflected Iraq’s inability to confront its past. The author examines these controversies, arguing that Iraq’s failure to face its totalitarian history has condemned it to a future of vengeance.