Israeli society became aware of the events of World War II in North Africa far too late. North African Jews themselves only gradually came to realize that their wartime experiences bore significant similarities to those endured by European Jews.
Yet within the historical memory of Jews from this region, no period was more difficult. It was marked by hardship in its duration, the nature of its events, and their long-term consequences.
On the eve of the war, approximately half a million Jews lived in North Africa: around 230,000 in Morocco, 125,000 in Algeria, 90,000 in Tunisia, and 32,000 in Libya. Except for the Jews of Libya, who had been under Italian rule since 1911, the Jews of Morocco (since 1912), Algeria (since 1830), and Tunisia (since 1881) were under French colonial control.
Under this colonial regime, the Jews experienced significant improvements in personal security, social status, and economic conditions, and became integrated into much of the region’s political and cultural life.
Differences in the development of these communities during the colonial era, coupled with the progression of the war, also influenced their wartime circumstances.
Jews were subjected to harsh antisemitic legislation, which included exclusion from the army, employment in the colonial administration, and the educational system. Such exclusion began in November 1938 in Italy, was applied in Libya, and from October 1940 onward, extended to North Africa following the establishment of the Vichy regime.
In Algeria, where Jews had held French citizenship since 1870, they were almost entirely excluded from French public life. In contrast, the impact of the antisemitic laws in Morocco was more limited. Jews with French citizenship were drafted into the French army but later dismissed when their citizenship was revoked.
The situation of Libyan Jews was more severe. Those holding British citizenship were deported to camps in Europe, while those with French citizenship were expelled to Tunisia.
Additional groups, mainly from the Cyrenaica region, were deported to the Giado camp and other smaller camps. Algerian Jews suspected of anti-French activity or defined by the Vichy regime as “undesirable” were interned in detention or labor camps across Algeria.
Tunisian Jews were initially subjected to Vichy laws, but when the country was occupied by the Germans in November 1942, they suffered even more severe measures. Approximately 5,000 Jews were forced into labor in 24 camps, mostly under German control, with a few under Italian administration.
In certain areas, Jews were required to wear a yellow badge; community leadership was dismantled and reorganized. Jews in Libya and Tunisia were also subjected to relentless Allied bombings targeting German and Italian forces.
During Operation Lapid (“torch,” in Hebrew), a local underground movement – with a substantial Jewish presence – assisted the Allied landing forces. A similar Jewish resistance network operated in Tunisia, supporting the struggle against Italian naval forces in the Mediterranean.
Increasing efforts to counter sense of exclusion
IN CONTRAST to other historical periods, Jews found ways to express their wartime experiences through diaries and poems. Over the past decade, there have been increasing efforts to counter the sense of exclusion many North African Jews have felt from Israel’s founding narratives.
Israeli collective memory has long been shaped by formative ethoses such as the Holocaust, Zionism, immigration, clandestine immigration, and self-defense. While Jews from North Africa actively contributed to each of these, a lingering sense of marginalization persists.
For more than 25 years, I have studied these dimensions: the wartime experiences and the participation of North African Jews in immigration movements and the struggle for self-defense. This research is driven by the hope that exposing these facets of history will gradually diminish the sense of exclusion – especially among second- and third-generation descendants of immigrants from North Africa.
Beyond that, there is an essential need to study and internalize these events as an integral part of Jewish and Israeli history. It is neither just nor accurate to explore the history of the Jewish people solely through the lens of one geographic region, while ignoring or minimizing what occurred elsewhere.
The historical journey of the Jewish people must be examined comprehensively, across all regions, with attention to the differences and nuances between them. Only in this way can we complete the broader historical puzzle that constitutes the full scope of World War II and the Holocaust.
A thorough study of the North African Jewish experience will help fill a critical gap in our collective memory. It will incorporate this chapter into the overarching narrative of the war and allow Jews from North Africa to find their rightful place within Israel’s foundational ethos.
Especially today, as Israeli society faces deep social and cultural divisions, it is more vital than ever to give voice and space to these stories – not only as a matter of historical justice, but as a means of forging a shared present. This is how we ensure that everyone feels part of the collective memory and that these experiences do not remain confined to the margins of history.
This writer is a professor emeritus in the Department of History of the Open University of Israel. This article is published as part of a joint project by Zikaron Basalon and Yad Vashem, aimed at expanding the discourse around the Holocaust, shedding light on lesser-known chapters of Jewish history, and amplifying the voices of victims, survivors, and their descendants.
As part of this initiative, an earlier text by the writer on the Holocaust in North Africa was included in the booklet “Conversation, Reflection, Thought – Texts for Inspiration and Salon Dialogue,” which compiles personal and historical passages intended to spark meaningful conversations in Zikaron Basalon gatherings.
The booklet is available on the Zikaron Basalon website, where you can select a text to share in your own salon: zikaronbasalon.com.