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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY Conflicting Identities: Algerian Jewish Migration to France as a Result of the Algerian War, 1954-1962 ELINOR FARBER SPRING 2021 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees in History, Economics, and French with honors in History Reviewed and approved* by the following: Tobias Brinkmann Malvin and Lea Bank Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History Thesis Supervisor Cathleen Cahill Associate Professor of History Honors Adviser * Electronic approvals are on file. i ABSTRACT In 1954, the Algerian War of Independence from France began. Algeria’s Jewish population, which numbered around 140,000 at its height in 1954, had lived in Algeria for centuries and gained French citizenship in 1870 with the passing of the Crémieux Decree. Although as a collective Algeria’s Jews remained neutral throughout the Algerian War, they faced violence and negative economic consequences. Additionally, representatives from both sides of the war met with Algerian Jewish leaders to try to win their support. Algeria gained its independence in 1962, and around 90% of Algeria’s Jewish population immigrated to France as a result. Once in France, they faced housing and job shortages, as well as some discrimination from the French Jewish community. However, they were able to integrate into French society rather quickly and reinvigorate the French Jewish community. Throughout the war and their migration to France, they experienced conflicting ideas about their identities and place in society. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 Jewish Life in Algeria Prior to the Algerian War ....................................... 6 French Colonization and the Crémieux Decree of 1870 .................................................. 8 World War II and the Holocaust ...................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2 The Position of Jews During the Algerian War .......................................... 19 The Outbreak of the Algerian War of Independence ....................................................... 21 Efforts by the FLN to Gain Jewish Support..................................................................... 24 Heightened Tensions and a New French Republic .......................................................... 28 The De Gaulle Administration and Algeria’s Right to Self-Determination .................... 33 Preparations to Leave for France ..................................................................................... 36 Backlash to the Evian Accords ........................................................................................ 40 Chapter 3 Uneasy Adaptation in France ...................................................................... 46 Alternate Choices for Algerian Jews ............................................................................... 47 Arrival in France .............................................................................................................. 49 Integration into the French Jewish Community ............................................................... 54 Interactions with Muslim Algerians in France................................................................. 56 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 62 ACADEMIC VITA ...................................................................................................... 67 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Algeria ......................................................................................................... 5 Figure 2: American Troops Entering Algeria as Part of Operation Torch, 1942 .................... 18 Figure 3: "Week of Turmoil for France," Demonstration in Paris, May 1958 ........................ 30 Figure 4: Maurice El Medioni performing with Lili Labassi, Canastel, Oran, 1956 .............. 44 Figure 5: Repatriates from Algeria on a Boat to France in 1962 ............................................. 49 Figure 6: Immigration to Israel ................................................................................................ 60 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 45 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without support from my advisors, professors, family, and friends. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Brinkmann, my thesis advisor, for his guidance, wisdom, and support throughout the thesis writing process. I would also like to thank Dr. Cahill, my honors advisor, for her constant encouragement and help throughout this year. Furthermore, I would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Long, my high school history teacher, for inspiring my love of history. Additionally, I cannot thank my friends, co-captains, and roommates enough for their emotional support during this process and my collegiate career. Thank you for endless laughs and for listening to me talk about my thesis all the time. Lastly, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my parents, sister, and family for their unending support throughout my time at Penn State. 1 Introduction Before the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954, the Jewish population in Algeria had a unique political and cultural identity that shaped the way that the war would affect them. Jews had lived in Algeria long before the French colonized it in 1830, but France viewed them differently than Muslim Algerians and granted the Jewish population citizenship in 1870 with the passing of the Crémieux Decree. The Crémieux Decree marked a turning point in the status of Jews in Algeria, distinguishing them from their Muslim neighbors who they had lived beside for centuries. France’s attempts to win over the support of Algerian Jews created a tense situation in which some Jews felt more connected to France and others felt more connected to Algeria, while Algerian Muslims grew more resentful that France had not offered them citizenship as well. Although the Jewish population gained a better legal status, they were still subject to anti-Semitism from both European settlers and Algerian Muslims. The Vichy regime, which came to power in 1940 and collaborated with Nazi Germany, imposed many of the same anti-Semitic racial laws in Algeria that they had established in France. Vichy repealed the Crémieux Decree as well, reminding Algerian Jews that just as that they could be given citizenship, it could also be taken away. While it was reinstated in 1943, the relationship between Algerian Jews and France remained more complicated, especially as nationalists in Algeria began rallying for independence. During the war of Algerian independence, the Jewish population in Algeria was caught between the two sides, France and the National Liberation Front (FLN). Although individuals may have supported one outcome, Algerian Jews never took a distinct side as a collective. Despite this, they experienced violence and negative economic consequences as a result of the war. Denis 2 Guénoun, an Algerian-Jewish teenager at the time of the war, recalled his father’s support for Algerian independence, but his father also knew that independence would mean that they would have to immigrate to France and leave their home. Members of the FLN and French government also attempted to appeal to Algerian Jews in order to gain their backing, but this never resulted in a substantial statement of support for either side. As the war escalated and an independent Algeria became more inevitable, violence and anti-Semitism also increased by all sides, and Algerian Jews began leaving for France. A smaller fraction migrated to Israel. Maurice El Médioni, a Jewish musician in Oran, originally moved his family to Israel due to the violence they faced in Algeria, but after discovering the lack of economic opportunities in Israel, they relocated to Marseille. Between 1959 and 1962, when the war ended, over 125,000 Algerian Jews migrated to France. They made up around 90% of the Algerian Jewish population at their height. This migration also transformed and reinvigorated the Jewish community in France.1 The story of Algeria’s Jews is unique in the way they experienced the Algerian War and their subsequent migration to France. Jews had lived in Algeria for centuries prior to French colonization and been promised citizenship by Algerian nationalists. What prompted them to leave after Algeria gained its independence? Additionally, given that their migration coincided with a larger movement of European settlers to France, in what ways was their experience a result of their unique identity as Algerian Jews? Did their arrival in France create tensions in the French Jewish community, or did the migrants reinvigorate it? Algeria’s Jewish population