Page 2301 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1945

A most deplorable day, about 10.30 A Kerim came in a state of excitement announcing that a mob was
looting the Jewish synagoge, I went down with him & was in the bazaar till the late afternoon. 12 houses
belonging to Jews were completely looted, every single thing is then stolen or smashed, doors, windows &
even window frames were removed, three shops were looted & a number of Jews, mostly women & children,
were badly beaten, many being taken to hospital. One woman died of injuries in the night. I spent an
exciting time with the Police literally fighting the mob inside the houses & getting hold of as many of them
as I could - I gave a lot of men something to remember & by the end of it my fists were almost raw from
contact with peoples noses & faces. A very bad show but the Police on the whole did well. Spent the rest of
the day in the Police Station. The looters were almost all Persians & some Omanis, very few Bahrain Arabs,
among them a lot of women of the town. In the evening Sh Diaj & I went round & visited some Jewish
houses - a tragic sight, people in some of them huddled in corners. Many Arabs behaved very well.

Friday 12th December

Races.

Lovely day, Bahrain at its best. Fixed up the house & flowers in the morning, Leigh came in to report more
in our engines & Cochrane, went early to the races, at first it seemed that nobody was coming but by the