Oral history interview with Eli Léon Benhamou

Oral history interview with Robert Ankaoua

Oral History

Oral history interview with André Assus

Oral History

Oral history interview with Raoul Cohen-Addad

Oral History

Oral history interview with Mario Faivre

Oral History

Mario Faivre, born March 24, 1922 in Franche Comté, France, describes his family history; the importance to his family history of the Franche Comté immigration of Jews to Algeria, noting that his family began immigrating to Algeria in the 1840s; his grandfather, Xavier Jules Faivre, who arrived in Algeria in 1872; his father, who was born in Miliana, Algeria; his mother, who was born in Blida, Algeria; his father’s career as a journalist with a special interest in the arts; his parents’ departure for Paris to launch a cultural review periodical; the October 7, 1940 Vichy legislation abolishing French citizenship for Algerian Jews; Jews being forced to leave schools; Jewish professors losing their jobs; concentration camps being established at Bedeau and Djelfa; his role on the November 8 events (Operation Torch) and the Darlan execution; and his return to Algeria on December 7, 1945 after his military discharge in December 1945.

Oral history interview with Bernard Karsenty

Oral History

Oral history interview with Paul Molkhou

Oral History

Oral history interview with Bernard Pauphilet

Oral History

Oral history interview with Philippe Ragueneau

Oral History

Oral history interview with Michel Robert-Garouel

Oral History

Oral history interview with Maurice Taouss

Oral History

Oral history interview with Prosper Tibika

Oral History

Oral history interview with Gérard Valluis

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jacques Zermati

Oral History

Oral history interview with Laurette L. Ankaoua

Oral History

Oral history interview with Nicolas Atlan

Oral History

Oral history interview with Solange Esther Chamak

Oral History

Oral history interview with Lison Cohen-Jonathan

Oral History

Oral history interview with Simon Darmon

Oral History

Oral history interview with Sylvain Moshe Fitoussi

Oral History

Sylvain Moshe Fitoussi, born 7 April, 1937 in Tunis, Tunisia, discusses his family’s move to Algiers, Algeria in 1939 when his parents sought better economic opportunities; his father (born in 1906 in Tunis) and mother (born in 1910 in Tunis); life in Algiers; his education; living in a close-knit Jewish community; the birth of his brother in 1943; the harsh application of the Vichy anti-Jewish legislation in Algeria, largely because of the broad, existing antisemitism in Algeria; being thrown out of school for being Jewish and his father telling the school principal that the legislation did not apply to Tunisian citizens only to the French, so he was allowed to remain in school on the rue Clauzel [PH]; the moment on November 8, 1942 when the Americans and British landed in Algiers and took control of the country; the beginning of Algerian War for Independence in 1954; his military service; staying in Algiers until 1962, when at Algeria’s independence, the family moved to Paris, France; his first visit to Israel in 1967; his decision to build a second house in Herzliya, Israel in 1977; returning every year to Israel for vacation with his three children; securing French nationality for the family in 1958; the family agreement that they would leave Algeria as conditions worsened; and his permanent move to Israel in 1988.

Oral history interview with Sylvain Danièl Oualid

Oral History

Oral history interview with Danièle Sebaoun

Oral History

Oral history interview with Ruth Laurette Shahar

Oral History

Oral history interview with Julien Zenouda

Oral History

Julien “Jacky” Zenouda, born October 14, 1925 in Algiers, Algeria, discusses his father (born in 1899) and his mother (born in 1906); his parents’ divorce when he was five years old; his father’s subsequent move to France; his mother remarrying and having a daughter; living predominantly with his maternal grandparents; the presence of antisemitism; celebrating major Jewish holidays; attending school; participating in boxing matches; the beginning of the war; not being allowed to attend school; the change in attitude among his non-Jewish friends during the Vichy government; hearing about the Allied landing in Algiers on November 8, 1942 from friends; being mobilized in 1944; contracting an infection that required surgery and a hospital stay while he was in Rabat, Morocco; being discharged and receiving a military pension; continuing his studies in pharmacy; going to France in 1949 upon completing his studies; the talk of an independent Algeria; identifying as both French and Jewish; his grandmother joining him in France in 1962; his numerous Catholic friends; his desire for peace between Arabs and Jews; his first wife who was Catholic; his son; getting divorced; meeting his second wife in Paris; his involvement in volunteer work since his retirement; and advocating for the rights of handicapped people.

Oral history interview with Jacky Zenouda

Oral History

Oral history interview with Ariel Carciente

Oral History

Ariel Carciente, born in 1951 in Casablanca, Morocco, discusses his family background; his interest in music, particularly music from Andalusia; his mother, who was born in Switzerland in 1911 and worked as a social worker; his father, who was born in Casablanca in 1904; his grandfather who was from the Tetuan region of Morocco; the use of a chorus and organ in the Casablanca synagogue, as well as marriage traditions and how the service was sung; studying in Morocco and having a Jewish and French education; passing his baccalaureate exam in Morocco; travelling between Algeria and France; completing his military service in France; leaving Morocco in 1978 and going to Israel; originally studying for the rabbinate but not completing the studies; learning tunes at various synagogues, especially those used by Jews from Algeria; performing prayers from the Algerian tradition on the radio in Jerusalem; the distinctions between Arab Muslim music from Spain and the musical traditions of Algerian Jews; the variation of melodies and texts in different regions; music and singing being alternately banned or permitted in Arab countries; his work with the Minister of Education in Israel to bring Andalusian music to schools; the Maghreb Orchestra which plays only Algerian music; and books on Jewish and Arabic musical traditions (many of which he shows during the interview).

Oral history interview with Geneviéve de Ternant

Oral History

Oral history interview with Guy Sitbon

Oral History

Oral history interview with Hélène Touitou-Tordjman

Oral History

The daughter of Gaston Touitou, November 8, 1942 resistant

Oral history interview with James Cohen-Adad

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jean-Claude Richard

Oral History

Oral history interview with Marc Fellous

Oral History

Oral history interview with Patrick Moulin

Oral History

Oral history interview with Pierre Barrucand

Oral History

The son of Victor Barrucand

Oral history interview with Pierre Schapira

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jean-Pierre Bénisti

Oral History

The son of Louis Bénisti

Oral history interview with Diane Zerbib

Oral History

The daughter of Fernand Aïch

Oral history interview with Michèle Temime-Levy

Oral History

The daughter of André Temime, November 8, 1942 resistant

Oral history interview with Marc Ohana

Oral History

Oral history interview with Yvonne Robert-Garouel

Oral History

Oral history interview with Georges Bosc

Oral History

Oral history interview with Paul Beladina

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jean-Charles Bénichou

Oral History

Oral history interview with Alain Chamak

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jean Daniel

Oral History

Oral history interview with Claudie Moy

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jacques Perez

Oral History

Oral history interview with Henri Rosencher

Oral History

Oral history interview with Fernand Serfati

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jacqueline Singer

Oral History

Jacqueline Singer, born on December 27, 1937 in Casablanca, Morocco, discusses her parents who left France for Morocco; her mother Germaine Rachèle Bordière [PH] leaving France first for a job as a secretary; her father Robert Gaston Roulin [PH] leaving Tours six months later for Casablanca, where he went to work for the government’s rural development service; her parents’ life in Marrakech for one to two years; their move to Meknès and their eventual move to Casablanca; being the fifth child (two of her siblings died at very young ages); her early life in Casablanca, living near the port and not in town; attending school; the November 8, 1942 attack and naval battle in Casablanca between the Vichy and the American forces; their parents telling the three children they needed to hide in a shelter, where they stayed for several days; the shelter which was three floors underground; the local first aid services and other government functions; returning to their apartment; returning to school, where she sang allegiance to Pétain every morning at school; staying in Casablanca where she began working at the US Naval Base in 1955; meeting her husband Tom Singer and getting married in August 1957; and leaving Casablanca for the United States where her husband started his career.

Oral history interview with Suzanne Soussan

Oral History

Suzanne Soussan (née Habibou), born on December 6, 1932 in Algiers, Algeria, discusses her parents, Eli [PH] Habibou and Camille Fredj [PH] who were both born in Tlemcen, Algeria; the death of her father in 1937; her brothers Maurice (born on November 25, 1915), Marcel (born February 1, 1917), and Georges (born in June 1920); her younger brother Roger; her studies; her family’s Jewish holiday traditions at home; having no direct recollection of the outbreak of WWII because she was too young; her brothers’ military service; having little memory of the American landing on November 8, 1942, which they heard about on the radio; her marriage and children; and her immigration to Israel.

Oral history interview with Renée Touitou

Oral History

Oral history interview with Renée Wathier-Andreu

Oral History

Oral history interview with Yves-Maxime Danan

Oral History

Oral history interview with Paule Atlan-Wyplosz

Oral History

Oral history interview with Raya-Ginette Karsenty

Oral History

Oral history interview with Georges-Jean Allouche

Oral History

Georges-Jean Allouche, born March 20, 1926 in Cherchell, Algeria, discusses his family; his mother Rachel Atiya [PH] (born January 26, 1889 in Médéa); his father David (born January 1, 1883 in Souk Ahras); his five brothers and two sisters, including Albert (an accountant, born December 28, 1911), Joseph (a mechanic, born February 14, 1914), Robert-Fernand (a tailor, born December 14, 1916), Marcel-Emile (a barber, born January 20, 1919), Gilbert (born 5 June 1921), André-Sylvain (a printer, born August 3, 1923), Paulette (born March 3, 1930); the death of two of his siblings early in their lives; his early childhood in Cherchell; leaving school at the age of 13 when his father died; taking over his father’s café; closing of the cafe in 1940 because he was Jewish; going to work with his brother, the tailor; the re-opening of the cafe in 1944; being drafted into the Algerian Army at 30 years of age (1955); the beginning of Algerian unrest; his departure in 1956 for Paris, France, where he met his wife; purchasing cafés over many years to support his family; and his life in Paris.

Oral history interview with Clémence Halimi-Zaradez

Oral History

Oral history interview with Alice Cohen-Addad

Oral History

Oral history interview with Roger Bensadoun

Oral History

Oral history interview with Paul Lévy

Oral History

Oral history interview with Geneviève Lévy-Harrous

Oral History

Oral history interview with Georges Préziosi

Oral History

Oral history interview with Armand Bokobza

Oral History

Oral history interview with Claude Plocieniak

Oral History

Oral history interview with Simone Bouchara

Oral History

Oral history interview with Daniel Bacry

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jacqueline Sudaka

Oral History

Oral history interview with Nathalie Joly

Oral History

Nathalie is the grand-daughter of a woman who acted as a "resistant" around the November 8 1942 allied invasion of North Africa. Her grand-mother, Georgette Carcassonne, was a pharmacist and is the subject discussed in this interview.

Oral history interview with Monique Kast

Oral History

Monique Kast was a student in Algiers while her boyfriend was enrolled in a resistance group that participated in November 8 1942. This action was the neutralization of the Vichy forces in North Africa which allowed the Allies to conduct Operation Torch, unopposed by those forces.

Oral history interview with Liliane Temime-Girard

Oral History

Liliane Temime-Girard, an Algerian Jew, discusses the events surrounding the resistance activities of local partisans directed at Vichy French forces in North Africa which facilitated the unopposed allied landings of Operation Torch on November 8 1942.