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Enfidha War Cemetery, Enfidha (Enfida), Tunisia

Description

Enfidha War Cemetery

There are 1551 people buried in the Enfidha War Cemetery, all of whom died during World War II. [3]  However, there are 88 unidentified burials so the known casualties actually number 1466. [3] Among these burials, there are eight confirmed Jewish deaths. [7] Some of the Jewish men buried here include David Wynne and Frederick Kisch. [1, 6] Most of the tombstones at this site mark people who died during the final battles of the North Africa campaign. The city of Enfidha was privy to intense fighting during the end of the campaign.    

The cemetery itself has eight burial plots, organized in two rows, with each plot containing six rows of tombstones. Located directly in the center of the cemetery, there is a monument called the “Stone of Remembrance” and it’s the first thing you see when you walk in. If you walk past it, there’s another commemorative statue called the “Plaque of Sacrifice”.

How to Get There

The main coast road has an autoroute that you should take if you want to reach Enfidaville (Ar: Dar-el-Bey). [2, 3] From Tunis, this journey would be about 100 kilometers southward. Once you reach the city center, take the road to Zaghoun.[3] Walk westward and follow the "well signposted" path and it shouldn’t be difficult to find the Enfidaville War Cemetery. [3] Right next to the war cemetery, there is also a Christian civil cemetery.

World War II

The North Africa war campaign started on November 8th, 1942. [3] By April of 1943, Allied countries were preparing for their final offensive as Axis countries were cornered in northeastern Tunisia. [3] On April 19th, a British army formation, the Eighth Army, successfully captured Enfidhaville. [3]Although their progress was initially halted by strong resistance, the Allies made significant victories further north, including the capture of Tunis and Bizerte. [2] By May 11, Enfidhaville was in Allied possession and resistance ceased the next day. [2] On May 13th, 1943, the Axis forces surrendered the Tunisia campaign, ending the war in North Africa. [4]

The Jewish people of Enfidhaville were forced into labor during the second World War. On December 6th, 1941, German authorities ordered the Council of the Jewish Community in Tunisia to "produce 2000 workers" for the Axis powers. [5] This order remained incomplete on December 9th. As a result, the Germans started a reign of terror to force the Jewish community to comply. [5] The Jewishc ommunity responded and drafted laborers, some taken from Enfidaville. Jewish people were also forced to do labor at Enfidhaville itself. Generally, Jews sent to Italian zones were better off because the Italians usually "lacked the anti-semitic zeal of their German allies". [8] In Tunisia especially, there was a large Italian Jewish population prior to the war. [8] However, the area surrounding Enfidhaville was an exception to this trend. Italian leaders acknowledged the harshness of this remote area and dispersed many laborers to other camps, such as Kondas. [9]

Enfidha, Tunisia

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