Jewish Resistance in Algeria

Reproduced from Facing History and Ourselves. 

Excerpts from "Jewish Resistance in Algeria." 

This reading provides historical context about the Jews in Algeria and their resistance to antisemitic attacks.

Last Updated: June 30, 2023

Algeria was colonized by France in 1830, and, in 1870, the Jews of Algeria were granted French citizenship with the Cremieux Decree. This change in the status of Jews infuriated many non-Jewish European settlers in Algeria and there followed a period of media incitement and street violence against the Jews by non-Jewish European settlers who felt that Jews had no right to be French. By 1900, there was a period of relative calm, but the incitement against Jews continued, and the ubiquity of antisemitic ideas in the European-controlled press had an influence on the Muslim population in the region. In 1934, the spread of hate was linked to a violent attack against the Jewish community in the Algerian city of Constantine. According to historian Gitta Amipaz-Silber: 

On August 5, 1934, a Jew was accused of having profaned a mosque. The slander resulted in atrocities as thousands of excited Muslims . . . plundered and burned Jewish shops and houses for an entire day, destroyed much property, killed twenty-five Jews—men, women and children—and wounded tens more. The rioters were encouraged during the rampage by Muslim women who ululated (rhythmic wail characteristic of North Africa) from balconies and windows. All this happened in the presence of security forces, who were in charge of law and order, yet did not lift a finger to prevent the pogrom.

 Amipaz-Sliber goes on to note that: 

There were many Arabs who not only refused to be influenced by the excited rioters but rushed to save their Jewish friends. Many Muslims who participated in the pogrom were arrested and tried. It should be stressed that Constantine’s Muslim leadership condemned the pogrom and worked with the Jewish leadership to calm passions and restore order.

Following the pogrom, an interfaith organization called the Union of Monotheistic Believers was established to cultivate positive relationships between members of the dominant religions. 

The antisemitic attacks in the press continued. In March of 1937, the Governor-General of Algeria said, ”The abominable press really enjoys deplorable impunity and is taking advantage of it. But a law, which is being prepared, will compel the press to show respect for the beliefs, the opinions, the honor and the freedom of others.” The Marchandeau law referenced in this statement was passed two years later and it prohibited racial or religious incitement by the press. 

When the Vichy government came to power in France in 1940, following the surrender to Nazi Germany, the situation for the Jews of Algeria deteriorated. The Marchandeau law was annulled, and written antisemitic attacks in the press escalated further. Amipaz-Silber writes:

The annulment of [the Marchandeau law] gave formal free rein to growing anti-Semitic activities. In Algiers, posters appeared on walls holding Jews responsible for the defeat of France, the motherland, and calling for them to be expelled.

Between 1940–1942, attacks against Jews in Algeria escalated with violence in the streets, destruction of Jewish businesses, and confiscation of Jewish property. There were also extensive antisemitic racial laws passed and enforced by “A special Department for the Control of the Jewish Problem.” The Cremieux Decree was revoked, taking away Jewish citizenship. Jewish students were expelled from schools, and Jews were forbidden to own businesses or work in various professions including law, medicine, banking, media, teaching, and public service. In response to this reality, an underground resistance movement began to coalesce.

If you want to read more about the help of the Jews` resistance in Algeria and how the Americans and Allied forces took Algiers without a battle, how the success of the operation opened a new front in the fight against the Nazis, helping the Allies to move up through Southern Europe, click on the link   https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/jewish-resistance-algeria