A long letter sent from the city of Sheikh Othman to the Altseikh community in Yemen, following the violent riots against the Jews of Aden, Sheikh Othman and the vicinity, following the Partition Resolution of the U.N. Assembly on November 29, 1947.
The letter includes greetings, numerous names and family details of the Sanhani family and their relatives. The letter is signed in a number of places by "Yihia Daoud Sanhani" and "Salam Yosef Hibi".
The letter includes a long and detailed description [over a page long] of the riots and their consequences:
"…and now we shall tell you about our condition, which is not good and is very unclear, when an event occured on 20 Kislev - the 'Nations of the World' [non-Jews] attacked Jews at Alsheikh Othman and at Aden and at Tawahi, and from Sheikh Othman 22 people were killed, from Aden - about 90 people, and from AlTawahi 5 people, and the wounded are too many to count, and some of the wounded have already died, and everything we had and all the Jews had was taken, no Jew was left with any money or tools or books or objects, everything was taken… great is the groan and mighty is the cry for the killing of our sacred brothers who were killed as innocents… men are crying and women are wailing in bereavement and children are yelling… and in addition we were horrified to see holy Torah books and holy objects in the hands of the Nations of the World, who were stamping on them with their feet and tearing them apart, and putting inside them spices and dates… and about the burning of the synagogues of Sheikh and Aden, which have been deserted and foxes walk about in them… and soldiers were brought to us and we were taken away from Sheikh, all the residents and refugees who survived the killings, and we were taken to Hashad Camp, called Ge’ula Camp… and we, the refugees in the camp, four thousand people… closed within 4 iron walls… we are afraid night and day… that the Arabs might attack us…" (Hebrew).
Following the resolution of the U.N. Assembly regarding the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state in part of it, the Arabs of Aden (which was then a British protectorate) and its vicinities rioted against the Jews. In the first days of December 1947, during these attacks, many Jews were murdered and wounded; 106 out of about 170 Jewish stores were looted, four synagogues were burnt to the ground, 220 Jewish homes were burnt, damaged or looted and two Jewish schools, one for boys and one for girls, were emptied of all their contents.
[4] pp, 20 cm. Fair-good condition. Folding marks and wear. Stains. Some tears, with slight damage to text.