Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Algeria 04: Holocaust period 1940-1945
French racial law of Vichy and restrictions against
Jews - discrimination also under French-"American" rule
- Crémieux Decree since 1943 - equality since
1947
from: Algeria; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 2
presented by Michael Palomino (2007)
[1940: racial laws of Vichy
- Crémieux Decree abolished - restriction on Jewish
children in schools]
<Holocaust Period.
Despite the bravery shown by the Jews on the front during
World War II [[on the French side]], one of the first
measures taken after the French defeat in 1940 was to
abrogate the Crémieux Decree. The 117,646 Jews of
Algeria became the object of daily suffering: they were cast
outside the pale of society, impoverished, and humiliated.
the Algerian administration applied the racial laws of Vichy
with excessive severity.
After Jewish children were banned from attending schools and
restrictive clauses were applied in institutions of higher
learning, Robert *Brunschwig organized private courses and
schools. The expenses of these private schools were met by
the communities jointly, although the financial burden was
heavy. Some time later, the government totally forbade
Jewish higher education and put the Jewish schools under
strict, malevolent supervision without, however,
contributing toward their upkeep. Only the rabbis were
granted the right to represent the community before the
authorities.
Algerian Jewry, in danger of total destruction, was saved
(col. 616)
only by its own determination. The Algerian resistance
movement was the work of Jews, and consisted almost entirely
of Jews. Among its leaders were Raphael and Stéphane
Abulker, Roger and Pierre Carcassone, Jean Dreyfus, Jean
Gozlan, and Roger Jais. Their activity led to the
insurrection of Algiers led by Jose Abulker on November 8,
1942, which neutralized the capital while the Americans
landed in the country.
[New racist law against the
Jews under French-"American" rule - Crémieux Decree
since 20 Oct. 1943 - equality since 1947]
Paradoxically, after this victory of the allies in Algeria,
General Giraud, Admiral Darlan, and Governor Yves Chatel,
with the complicity of the local diplomatic representative
of the U.S.A., Robert Murphy, took new measures against the
Jews, including the establishment of detention camps. The
protests of Jewish international and Algerian organizations
and the French Committee of National Liberation in London,
the intervention of highly placed Jews, Muslims, and
Christians against this injustice, and a world-wide campaign
were all of no avail against the will of the anti-Semites.
Finally after the personal intervention of President
Roosevelt, the Crémieux Decree was again put into
force on October 20, 1943. However, it was only in 1947 that
equality for all was proclaimed.
[D.CO.]> (col. 617)
