The labor camp at Sidi Azaz was a
forced labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
for
Libyan Jews
The history of the Jews in Libya stretches back to the 3rd century BCE, when Cyrenaica was under Greek rule. The Jewish population of Libya, a part of the Sephardi- Maghrebi Jewish community, continued to populate the area continuously until mo ...
near
Homs
Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...
in
Tripolitania
Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya.
The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...
.
The camp was established by
fascist Italy
Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
in 1942, during
its occupation of Libya, and liberated by British forces in 1943. 3,000 Jewish men were initially brought to Sidi Azaz, but the majority were released, leaving approximately 1,000 prisoners to labor at the camp, mostly building railroads and repairing roads.
In August 1942, 350 prisoners from Sidi Azaz were relocated to establish
Buq Buq labor camp
The labor camp at Buq Buq was a forced labor camp for Libyan Jews, operated by Italy between August and November 1942 at the Egyptian-Libyan border in Buq Buq () in Egypt's Matrouh Governorate. The camp was established in the context of the Axis o ...
at the Egyptian border.
Three prisoners' deaths are known to have occurred at Sidi Azaz—one man shot by an Italian guard, one man in a truck accident, and one Jewish boy killed in a conflict with local Arabs.
Establishment
On June 28, 1942, colonial governor of Libya
Ettore Bastico
Ettore Bastico (9 April 1876 – 2 December 1972) was an Italian field marshal who served as the commander of Axis forces in North Africa from 1941 to 1943 during World War II. In addition to being a general of the Royal Italian Army, he served a ...
issued a decree that male Jews between 18 and 45 years of age in
Italian North Africa
Libya (; ) was a colony of Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, which had been Italian possessions since 1911.
Fro ...
would be
forced to labor.
A general census of the Jewish population was taken,
with all Jews having to declare their "personal data, residence, and profession" or be immediately sent to forced labor.
Italian authorities planned to intern 5,000 Jews from Tripoli to build railroads and transport supplies to the war front.
Preparation for exile took place during the month of Elul, traditionally a time of preparation for the
High Holidays
In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of:
#strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement");
#by extension, th ...
.
Approximately 1,000 Jews were brought on September 2, 1942, ten days before
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...
.
In July 1942 the camp at Sidi Azaz was established with 3,000 Jewish men brought to the camp.
Most of the Jews brought to Sidi Azaz were from Tripoli, but there were also "several dozen" from
Homs
Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...
.
Prisoners suffering from serious illness or physical disability were sent home by a medical commission, and wealthier Jews were also generally released, leaving behind approximately 1,000 mostly poorer, able-bodied and specialized Jewish men to labor at Sidi Azaz.
Norman Stillman
Norman Stillman, Bar-Ilan University in 2017
Norman Arthur Stillman, also Noam (נועם, in Hebrew; born 1945), is a Jewish-American academic, historian, and Orientalist, serving as the emeritus Schusterman-Josey Professor and emeritus Chair o ...
attributes the release of two-thirds of the prisoners at Sidi Azaz to "poor planning by the Italians," and Stanislao Pugliese explains that the camp lacked sufficient infrastructure for the 3,000 men initially recruited.
In late August 1942,
approximately 350 men at Sidi Azaz were selected by Moshe Hadad, the senior at the camp, to be relocated to build roads and transport supplies for
Axis powers
The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
at a new
labor camp at Buq Buq.
Some other Jews at Sidi Azaz were transferred before the camp's liberation to an Italian military camp in suburban Tripoli.
Conditions
Robert Satloff
Robert B. Satloff is an American historian on Arab and Islamic politics, U.S.-Israel relations, and the Middle East. Since January 1993, he has been the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). Satloff is also ...
describes the camp at Sidi Azaz as "chaotic and ill-managed".
The site was established in an open desert area, and featured few permanent structures. After a few months, a barbed-wire fence enclosing the camp was constructed.
Survivor Amishadai Guetta describes the camp's environment as scorching hot and "pocked by snakes and scorpions".
Labor for the imprisoned mostly consisted of railway building and road repairs, though some men were assigned to kitchen and cleaning tasks in the camp itself.
Men with specialized skills were employed in office work.
After morning roll call, men were sent out to work in groups of approximately 50 to 60,
supervised by privileged overseeing prisoners () as they fulfilled their daily quotas.
The workday was from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The prisoners successfully lobbied to have
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
often recognized as a day of rest,
and a "provisional
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
" in the camp with a
torah scroll
A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema
An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue
file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...
is credited by historian Jens Hoppe with strengthening the resilience of the prisoners at Sidi Azaz.
Ordinary inmates slept in tents of four to five men, while , commandants, and guards slept in barracks. Italian officers commanded the camp, while members of the
Italian African Police guarded. German officers visited Sidi Azaz to inspect progress weekly.
Pugliese reports that relations between the Jews and the Italian soldiers were "good, for the most part"; the two groups often ate together.
Drinking water, described by Guetta as murky, was pumped from
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
wells.
Daily rations consisted of "approximately one pound of bread, and rice or macaroni at midday".
This was occasionally supplemented by canned food,
and prisoners who brought money into the camp were able to purchase food from local Arabs, including onions, dates, barley, and meat.
Such trade was permitted by the camp's management.
also sometimes allowed individual prisoners to purchase food in Homs for the camp.
Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Tripoli learned of the conditions at Sidi Azaz through the visits of prisoners' family members and members of the Jewish community.
As a result, a food relief effort was organized by the deputy of the Jewish community in Tripoli, particularly targeting the weakest inmates at risk of starvation in the camp.
Jens Hoppe notes a subsidy of 59,859
lire ($498 USD) for "militarized and requisitioned workers" at Sidi Azaz listed in the Tripoli Jewish community's 1943 financial report.
No information about attempted escapes or resistance at Sidi Azaz is known.
Deaths
Information relating to deaths at Sidi Azaz is lacking, but there were probably few, considering the mostly young prisoners and the release of weak prisoners by a twice-weekly-visiting Italian Army doctor.
Many inmates attempted to gain exemption from internment through bribes and self-injury.
Only one shooting of an inmate at Sidi Azaz is known: Kamos Zakani, employed as a clerk for the camp, was shot by an Italian guard in the context of a quarrel.
The guard was not punished, but was transferred from the camp.
Jewish inmates ceased arguing with the Italian soldiers following the incident.
Another Jew, a father named Jakov Legovi, died in a truck full of forced laborers that tipped over.
There was conflict between the Jewish inmates at Sidi Azaz and Arabs local to the camp, and a Jewish boy was killed in an incident of contact with Arabs.
Liberation and legacy
Following westward advances against the Axis powers in Libya, the British Eighth Army liberated the Sidi Azaz camp in late January 1943.
As they journeyed home, the freed Jews were given bread and
dates
Date or dates may refer to:
* Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
* Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba''
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...
by Arabs, despite the Jews' inability to pay.
There have been no trials for war crimes related to the Sidi Azaz camp.
In 2002, Germany accepted responsibility for the imprisonment of Jews in six Libyan camps, including Sidi Azaz, allowing survivors to receive a pension from Germany via the
Claims Conference
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Prop ...
.
Notes
References
{{Jews and Judaism in Libya
Italian concentration camps
The Holocaust in Africa
Libya in World War II
Antisemitism in Libya
Jewish Libyan history
Jews and Judaism in Libya