Michel Abitbol, "The Jews of North Africa during the Second World War", Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989. Pp. 212

Résumé du document

This book deals with the topic of the Jews in North Africa under the Vichy regime. The author is Professor Michel Abitbol, Chairman of the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem. He is an Israeli orientalist and a specialist in Jew history in Morocco. The Jews situation was different in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia previously to World War II.

Extraits

[...] So I recommend The Jews of North Africa during the Second World War to every student because this work can be read even if you have no knowledge on the topic. On top of that it is interesting to examine this subject if you want to go into detail on the history of the Vichy regiment or the Shoah because it deals with forgotten aspect of the Second World War History. Few books or websites deal with the Jewish community in French Maghreb during Vichy government. [...]

[...] The year 1941 marks a significant escalation of anti-Semitism: Commissioner General for Jewish Questions, a law on "Aryanization" of Jewish companies, another required the word "Jew" on the national identity card. All other discriminatory measures affecting Jews living in France were also valid for the Jews of North Africa. The status of Jews was subject to adjustment in Morocco and Tunisia, for Jews indigenous. There were constant persecutions, aryanization and numerus clausus of public education. The Jews of North Africa remained loyal to motherland”. They could not believe that the racial laws which they were the victims were the result of France. [...]

[...] But at the end of the war most of the Jews preferred to forget this bad souvenir and still be faithful to France. This study is a contribution to the history of the "margins" of the Holocaust which, for very understandable reasons, has been rather neglected by scholars of the Second World War. Beyond the analysis of the situation before World War II and the actions of the Vichy regime in North Africa, the book also recounts the events in Tunisia after the German invasion and the various aspects of the difficult campaign began in Algeria and United States following the Allied disembarkation on the 8th November 1942, for the abolition of racial laws and the restoration of North African Jews in all their rights. [...]

[...] The disembarkation in North Africa changed the situation in Morocco and Algeria. But it got worse in Tunisia. The Germans invaded the protectorate which became a battlefield and would not be released until early May 1943. For six months, the Tunisian Jews suffered from occupation. Germans forced the Tunisian Jews to participate in the war effort. Camps were established in the German and Italian sectors. The liberation of Algeria did not mean an immediate return to the laws of the Third Republic. [...]

[...] Michel Abitbol, "The Jews of North Africa during the Second World War", Detroit: Wayne State University Press Pp This book deals with the topic of the Jews in North Africa under the Vichy regime. The author is Professor Michel Abitbol, Chairman of the Ben- Zvi Institute in Jerusalem. He is an Israeli orientalist and a specialist in Jew history in Morocco. The Jews situation was different in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia previously to World War II. Since 1830, Algeria was divided in 4 French departments. [...]