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Sidi Al Ayachi World War II Camp, Azemmour, Morocco
Sidi Al Ayachi camp, Azzemour (Azmmur ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ أزمور), Morocco (المغرب).
A World War II internment camp for Europeans (Jewish and non-Jewish) located across the river from Azzemour. The camp functions today as a hospital.
Over the course of the Second World War, thousands of North African Jews were interned by the European powers which controlled the area.[i] Germany, Italy, and Vichy France relocated Jews to at least 30 such sites in Morocco, with at least another 37 camps in both Algeria and Tunisia, and 6 in Libya.[ii] Other than the small number who were incarcerated for their political activities, the majority of Moroccan Jews did not face imprisonment in the camps under Mohammed V but did endure the harsh conditions of the mellahs in which they were forced to live.[iii] Instead, Vichy sites such as the Sidi Al Ayachi camp throughout eastern Morocco and western Algeria housed two thousand European Jewish men, largely those who been living in France illegally or who had served in the French army or the Foreign Legion.[iv] Harsh conditions awaited these Jews, many of whom were deported from France and sent to live as forced laborers alongside European political prisoners on the Trans-Sahara railroad.[v] The Jews were the only group represented at the camps targeted for their religious views, and one camp along the railroad, Berguent, consisted entirely of Jews.[vi] European and Arab guards imposed strict conditions in the camps; prisoners routinely faced torture and death.[vii]
Description
Sidi Al Ayachi
Located near the Moroccan city of Azemmour, 75 km southwest of Casablanca, the Sidi Al Ayachi camp was surrounded by a barbed wire fence and consisted of 15 buildings that had formerly constituted a military camp.[viii] While other Vichy camps consisted largely of political prisoners, places like Sidi Al Ayachi housed Jews who were termed “refugees,” individuals who had been apprehended for arriving in Morocco without the necessary transit visas and permits.[ix] The site was unusual in that it housed not only Jewish men, many hailing from Germany and Austria, but also women, children, elderly and the disabled.[x] Political prisoners were also mixed in with the inmates. Much of what is currently known of the camp today is derived from the accounts of Norwegian sailors who were sent to the camp following the capture of their ship by the Vichy.[xi] The mixed populace was guarded by local Arabs as well as a band of Senegalese troops.[xii] This use of foreign guards is logical in light of the various reports from other Vichy camps which detail the sympathy many of the Arab Moroccan guards harbored for the Jews they oversaw.[xiii] Though the inmates of Sidi Al Ayachi on the whole were not subject to brutality at the hands of their overseers, they had to contend with many other hardships. As one former Jewish-Czech survivor of the camp put it, “We were not actually mistreated, but there was much hunger, suffering, and sickness, brought about by overcrowding, poor diet, inadequate sanitary facilities, and the extreme heat of the Moroccan summer, occasionally accompanied by sandstorms which penetrated everything.”[xiv] Poor straw mattresses and unsanitary communal toilets served the inmates.[xv] Though it was considered the least harsh of the Vichy camps, the population there saw insufficient quantities of substandard food, sheets, blankets, clothes, and other necessities.[xvi]
Vichy Camps
Following the British-and-American-led invasion of North Africa on November 8, 1942, Morocco joined the Allies.[xvii] At the time of their arrival, European Jews at Camp Sidi Al Ayachi numbered 450.[xviii] At a conference in Casablanca the next January, the Allies signed a military agreement.[xix] Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in July of 1943, marked the approach to the end of German-occupied Europe.[xx] The North African camps were torn down between late 1942 and early 1943, though construction on the Trans Saharan railroad continued for many years with German and Italian prisoners.[xxi]
Azemmour, Morocco
© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap
Sources
Photos courtesy of François Beaurain. His work can be viewed at https://www.fbeaurain.com/
Coordinates courtesy of Dr. Corine Berghuis. To read more, visit: https://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2014/02/regina-gluckman-in-sidi-al-ayachi.html
Endnotes:
[i] Satloff, Robert. “Internment Camps (WWII).” Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, October 1, 2010, accessed July 13, 2017, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/internment-camps-wwii-COM_0011450?s.num=2&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world&s.q=vichy.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Masis, Julie. “The Unknown Story of Moroccan Holocaust Survivors.” The Times of Israel. Accessed July 17, 2017. http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-unknown-story-of-moroccan-holocaust-survivors/.
[iv] Satloff, Robert. “Internment Camps (WWII).” Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, October 1, 2010, accessed July 13, 2017, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/internment-camps-wwii-COM_0011450?s.num=2&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world&s.q=vichy.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid.
[ix] Fhima, Jean-Paul. “Morocco’s Forgotten Labour Camps.” The Times of Israel, February 4, 2015, accessed July 13, 2017, http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/moroccos-forgotten-labour-camps/.
[x] Berghuis, Corine. “Regina Gluckman in Sidi Al Ayachi.” European Jewish Refugees in Morocco 1940-1943, August 25, 2011, accessed July 13, 2017, http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2011/08/memories-of-camp-near-sea-sidi-al.html.
[xi] Berghuis, Corine. “Memories of a camp near the sea, Sidi Al Ayachi.” European Jewish Refugees in Morocco 1940-1943, August 25, 2011, accessed July 13, 2017, http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2011/08/memories-of-camp-near-sea-sidi-al.html.
[xii] Veiberg, Jon. “Chapter Eleven- To Camp Three, Sidi El Ayachi.” Jon’s Odyssey, February 1996, accessed July 17, 2017, http://www.ipass.net/veibergr/JonsOdyssey/toCampThree.htm.
[xiii] Satloff, Robert. “Chapter 5 ‘The Arabs Watched Over the Jews.’” In Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands. PublicAffairs, 2006.
[xiv] Lederer, Herbert. “Coming to the New World: The Lederer Saga.” Storrs, CT, USA, May 10, 1995, accessed July 17, 2017. Center for Jewish History Digital Collections. http://digital.cjh.org/R/UEFFX2LE149FBS7TPNXRC7EXL5GJVJR1UR38MEALHN4UKRBIC3-03127?func=dbin-jump-full&object%5Fid=418858&local%5Fbase=GEN01&pds_handle=GUEST.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Berghuis, Corine. “Regina Gluckman in Sidi Al Ayachi.” European Jewish Refugees in Morocco 1940-1943, August 25, 2011, accessed July 13, 2017, http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2011/08/memories-of-camp-near-sea-sidi-al.html.
[xvii] Fhima, Jean-Paul. “Morocco’s Forgotten Labour Camps.” The Times of Israel, February 4, 2015, accessed July 13, 2017, http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/moroccos-forgotten-labour-camps/.
[xviii] Berghuis, Corine. “Memories of a camp near the sea, Sidi Al Ayachi.” European Jewish Refugees in Morocco 1940-1943, August 25, 2011, accessed July 13, 2017, http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2011/08/memories-of-camp-near-sea-sidi-al.html.
[xix] Fhima, Jean-Paul. “Morocco’s Forgotten Labour Camps.” The Times of Israel, February 4, 2015, accessed July 13, 2017, http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/moroccos-forgotten-labour-camps/.
[xx] Ibid.
[xxi] Fhima, Jean-Paul. “Morocco’s Forgotten Labour Camps.” The Times of Israel, February 4, 2015, accessed July 13, 2017, http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/moroccos-forgotten-labour-camps/.
Bibliography:
Berghuis, Corine. “Memories of a Camp near the Sea, Sidi Al Ayachi.” European Jewish Refugees in Morocco 1940-1943, August 25, 2011. http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2011/08/memories-of-camp-near-sea-sidi-al.html.
———. “Regina Gluckman in Sidi Al Ayachi.” Memories of a Camp near the Sea, Sidi Al Ayachi, February 20, 2014. http://corrieberghuis.blogspot.com/2014/02/regina-gluckman-in-sidi-al-ayachi.html.
Fhima, Jean-Paul. “Morocco’s Forgotten Labour Camps.” The Times of Israel, February 4, 2015. http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/moroccos-forgotten-labour-camps/.
“Jews in North Africa: Oppression and Resistance.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed July 13, 2017. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007312.
Lederer, Herbert. “Coming to the New World: The Lederer Saga.” Storrs, CT, USA, May 10, 1995. Center for Jewish History Digital Collections. http://digital.cjh.org/R/UEFFX2LE149FBS7TPNXRC7EXL5GJVJR1UR38MEALHN4UKRBIC3-03127?func=dbin-jump- full&object%5Fid=418858&local%5Fbase=GEN01&pds_handle=GUEST.
Masis, Julie. “The Unknown Story of Moroccan Holocaust Survivors.” The Times of Israel. Accessed July 17, 2017. http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-unknown-story- of-moroccan-holocaust-survivors/.
Satloff, Robert. “Chapter 5 ‘The Arabs Watched Over the Jews.’” In Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands. PublicAffairs, 2006.
———. “Internment Camps (WWII).” Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, October 1, 2010. http://0- referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/internment-camps-wwii-COM_0011450? s.num=2&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world&s.q=vichy.
“Special Concentration Camp for Jews Established in Morocco; Thousands Interned.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Accessed July 13, 2017. http://www.jta.org/1942/09/29/archive/special-concentration-camp-for-jews-established-in-morocco-thousands-interned.
“The Jews of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - E-Newsletter - Education & E-Learning - Yad Vashem.” Accessed July 13, 2017. http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/25/algeria_marocco.asp.
Veiberg, Jon. “Chapter Eleven- To Camp Three, Sidi El Ayachi.” Jon’s Odyssey, February 1996. http://www.ipass.net/veibergr/JonsOdyssey/toCampThree.htm.
Further Reading/Viewing:
Robert Ronald recounts Vichy French regime:
https://sfi.usc.edu/content/robert-ronald-vichy-france
Correspondence regarding Polish Jews held in Sidi Al Ayachi in 1942:
https://www.ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=583&ArticleID=2011
Jewish Survivor of Vichy Camp in Morocco:
http://vhaonline.usc.edu/viewingPage?testimonyID=35408&returnIndex=0
Personal memoir of former Sidi Al Ayachi inhabitant, Jewish-Czech Herbert Lederer:
Photo:
German Map of Vichy camps thorughout North Africa (1940-43), via Robert Satloff Twitter:
https://twitter.com/robsatloff?lang=en