In 2003, U.S. forces discovered a cache of documents and sacred texts that had belonged to Iraq's once-thriving Jewish community in a flooded basement of Saddam Hussein's secret police. The records were transported to the U.S., where efforts to restore them are stalled by a shortage of funds. A trunk holds books and documents recording the life of Iraq's Jewish community that were frozen to slow further deterioration. Mold on the documents is so toxic that conservators must wear protective suits when removing it.
MELISSA BLOCK, host: Shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, US forces stumbled on a      strange cache of documents in the basement of the Iraqi secret police      building.  They turned out to be documents and sacred texts that had      belonged to Iraq's once-thriving Jewish community.  Now the records have      been taken to a national archives facility in Maryland to be restored.      As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, that effort has been stalled by a      shortage of funds.</s>LARRY ABRAMSON reporting: Two years ago Doris Hamburg of the National Archives in Washington, DC,      received an unusual distress call.  It came by e-mail from Baghdad.</s>Ms. DORIS HAMBURG (National Archives): Asking about how to take care of      some books and documents that had become waterlogged and what was the      best next steps.</s>ABRAMSON: It seems that US troops in Baghdad had found a hoard of      documents floating in about three feet of water in the basement of      Saddam's secret police headquarters.  The building had been damaged in      the fighting.  The documents were in Arabic and Hebrew and appeared to      record the life of Iraq's Jewish community.  Hamburg knew immediately      that heat and humidity would produce a preservationist's worst enemy:      mold.</s>Ms. DORIS HAMBURG (National Archives): So it was very important, if at all possible, to get the      temperature down as much as they could and, if possible, to freeze it.</s>ABRAMSON: You could almost hear the Americans in Baghdad saying, `Yeah,      right, freeze 27 chests full of soggy papers in a war zone in the      desert.' But thanks to some very American ingenuity, a freezer truck was      found, the trunks of papers were put inside, and Doris Hamburg was soon      on her way to Baghdad to see what should be done next.  Hamburg and her      colleagues packed lots of special tools for restoring soggy texts.  But      when she got to Iraq and climbed into that freezer truck, Hamburg knew      the papers needed intensive care that she could not deliver.</s>Ms. DORIS HAMBURG (National Archives): Freezing stabilizes the situation and stops the mold from      growing and stops damage from the water.  It isn't a permanent solution,      and the next step after something is frozen is to dry it out.</s>ABRAMSON: And the only way to do that was to freeze-dry them, which      could not be done in post-war Iraq.  So the trunks were brought to Texas,      where a company that deals in catastrophic damage drew that water out in      a special chamber.</s>ABRAMSON: The mold is so toxic, conservators must wear a mask and gloves      when removing it.</s>Ms. ALLISON OLSON (Preservationist): This is one of our conservation      labs...</s>ABRAMSON: This facility has a special relationship to time.      Preservationist Allison Olson is delivering the final touches to records      from the 19th century, which the US received after buying the Virgin      Islands from the Danish in 1917.</s>Ms. ALLISON OLSON (Preservationist): They have mold damage and insect damage probably prior to      coming to the US.  And initially they were all vacuumed to remove the      mold spores, and now I'm going through and mending the tears that go      through the text.</s>ABRAMSON: This beautiful building is like an exclusive spa for old,      tired texts, but it's usually reserved for documents owned by the federal      government.  Limited private funds have paid for the initial work on the      Jewish archive.  A lot more money will have to be raised to remove all      the mold, repair and microfilm these documents so they can be studied.</s>ABRAMSON: In March, the Archives invited Peter Geffen of the Center for Jewish      History in New York to take a peek in the hopes that he would help raise      that money. He was moved by what he saw.</s>Mr. PETER GEFFEN (Center for Jewish History): Yes, we saw the Torah      scroll and an awareness that quickly set in that these materials, in many      ways, are amongst the last remaining documents and books of a community      that is probably the oldest Jewish community in the world.</s>ABRAMSON: The size of the Jewish community in Baghdad is one measure of      its importance.  Jews played an important role throughout the history of      the area right through the Second World War.</s>Ms. CAROL BASRI (Filmmaker): Almost 40 percent of Baghdad was Jewish in      1948.</s>ABRAMSON: Filmmaker Carol Basri has chronicled the history of Jews is      Iraq. She says the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 led to tough      anti-Jewish laws, laws that helped speed the destruction of any records      of Jewish life in Baghdad.</s>Ms. CAROL BASRI (Filmmaker): The people who left at that time were limited to only taking      clothing, 50 pounds.  They were not allowed to take photographs or books      or family heirlooms.  So actually there is a dearth of photographs,      there's a dearth of material, even prayer books of the community.</s>ABRAMSON: With the rise of the Baath regime in the 1960s, anti-Jewish      repression grew, peaking in the hanging of 11 Jews in a public square in      1968. Many Jews emigrated after that.  Today there are believed to be      only a couple of dozen Jews left in Iraq.</s>ABRAMSON: No one can know exactly what's in the archive found in Iraq until the      papers have been restored and studied.  Some documents may be routine      records of everyday life, but Peter Geffen says they are all important.</s>Mr. GEPHEN: These books, being amongst the last of that historic      community, have an emotional and nostalgic value, even if they do not      have a great historical value in the sense that they might end up in a      rare book room or something of that kind.</s>ABRAMSON: Archive staff say these documents are seen as property of the      Iraqi Ministry of Culture and will likely be returned once the money is      raised to rescue them.  Full restoration of the archive is estimated to      cost about $3 million.  Larry Abramson, NPR News, Washington.