The Holocaust in Italian Libya

Conditions worsened for the Jews of Libya after the passage of Italy's Manifesto of Race in 1938. Following the German intervention in 1941, some of the Jews of Libya were sent to camps in continental Europe, where those who survived stayed until the end of World War II.

Italian Libya had two large Jewish communities, one in the western district of Tripolitania, and mainly in its capital Tripoli, and the other in the eastern district of Barka (Cyrenaica) and its capital Benghazi. During the Holocaust hundreds of Jews died of starvation. With approximately 40,000 Jews living in Libya before the war, as a result of the later Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries, there are no Jews left in the country today.

In July 1911 the Italian government demanded control of Libya from the Ottoman Empire. When the demand was not met, Italy declared war and quickly conquered the main cities along the coast of Libya. Some of the Jews of Libya supported Italy, and some actively contributed to the war effort. One of the reasons behind the support of Italy and a regime change began with the Italian influence on Libya through commercial and cultural ties. Other causes were the recurring pogroms the Jews suffered from at the hands of their Muslim neighbors; the wave of anti-Semitism that spread through the Ottoman Empire during the mid-19th century did not pass over the Jews of Libya. The autonomy that they received from the empire didn’t prevent the recurring pogroms.

After the Italian conquest, the Jews received official status and were an important religious-ethnic group due to their key role in the Libyan economy. The studying of the Italian language and European country, which began before the conquest, became more common. The Italian government, which at first saw the Jews as Italians—just like the Italian Jews—began to consider them as indigenous Muslims. In 1934, after the fascists' rise to power, Italo Balbo was appointed as the governor-general of Italian Libya. He developed the “Italian colony” and, like many fascists, saw it as symbol of Italy’s returning to the greatness of the Roman Empire—the last time that Italy controlled Libya. During his term in office, the process of modernizing Jewish communities accelerated, and Jews took part in government establishments. Balbo respected the Jewish tradition so long as it did not prevent the progress he brought to Libya. One instance of conflict occurred when Jews closed their shops on the Sabbath, even outside the Jewish community. Balbo sentenced the Jews to be punished by flogging, but later, in October 1937, he admitted at a gathering of the Fascist Party that he had been mistaken and that he did not distinguish between Catholics and Jews - they were all Italian. Earlier that year, Benito Mussolini came to the Jewish community during a visit to Italian Libya and received a warm reception. He promised that the Jews of Libya would be safe and that Italy would respect the Jewish community and their traditions, religion and leadership.

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