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Cemetery at Mascara, Algeria
The cemetery at Mascara is the last remnant of a Jewish community that was established in the late fifteenth century and began to flourish in the eighteenth century. In 1835, many of Mascara's Jews fled to Mostaganem, trying to escape the conflict between the French army and Emir Abdelkader.1 After Algerian independence in 1962, most if not all of the community emigrated to France.2
Description
19th Century Although the Jewish community in Mascara was subjected to frequent violence by both French and other Algerian citizens during the French conquest of Algeria in the mid-1800s, by 1841 refugees were returning to the town.3 The 1861 census counted 1118 Jews in Mascara, and the community had two synagogues, a school, two official representatives of the Oran consistory, and a consistory-appointed minister who was both a rabbi and a kosher butcher.4
Community Conflicts The community was fraught with tension between native Algerian Jews and immigrants from Tetouan, Morocco. In 1870 a conflict arose over the kosher meat market, due to opposition to the rabbi appointed by the Oran consistory, which had authority over the Mascara community.5 Although local butchers had been declared unkosher, many families continued to buy from them in defiance of the consistory.
![Mascara Cemetery, Graves [2] (Mascara, Algeria, 2012)](https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/QYuyJi4lS5KamsgEkFUY/convert?w=100&h=100&fit=crop)
![Mascara Cemetery, Graves [1] (Mascara, Algeria, 2012)](https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/YJKUf1YS2CVggo0Tbp4C/convert?w=100&h=100&fit=crop)
Sources
[1] Belange, Norbert. "Jewish families in Mostaganem." 32nd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. July 17, 2012. Accessed August 6, 2014. http://www.paris2012.eu/events/les-familles-juives-de-mostaganem
[2] Ayoun, Richard, and Valérie Assan. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. "Mascara." Brill Online, 2014. Accessed June 17, 2014. http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/mascara-SIM_0014790
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
Ghadames. "Les Juifs d'Algérie." Last modified December 7, 2010. Accessed June 10, 2014. http://ghadames.artblog.fr/290675/Les-Juifs-d-Algerie/
"Map of Mascara in 1959." Accessed June 10, 2014. http://stockybarka.free.fr/2bgal/img/g/ap/mascara1959.jpg
