Jews of Libya, stories to be assembled and injustices to be healed

On 5th June 1948, dramatically strong anti-Jewish riots began in Libya. This was the moment the gradual exodus of the Jews from the country began, ending definitively in June ’67. After 75 years, the UCEI – Union of the Italian Jewish Communities and the Foundation for the Jewish Heritage in Italy (Fondazione per i Beni Culturali Ebraici in Italia) have recently organised a debate in the premises of the National Library of Italian Judaism in Rome.
It is the first step of a journey whose purposes are, among others, helping to strengthen general awareness and being a point of reference also in relation to “legal and political actions” to be taken, as highlighted Saul Meghnagi, coordinator of the UCEI Culture Commission. There are indeed several open issues, as explained by Meghnagi himself and the various speakers at the conference. The main historical and legal problems, intertwined with “citizenship rights still denied”, were the focus of the debate. It was later announced that the speakers had jointly expressed the desire to address this last topic also through a publication.
Among others issues, as remarked by the UCEI President Noemi Di Segni in her welcome issues, there are the recognition of the refugee status for those obliged to flee in the various migration flows with all the rights associated to this status, which also aims to certify the violent action of which the Jews of Libya were victims over time. It is legitimate demand, which “however still faces problems”.
Ruth Dureghello, president of the Jewish Community of Rome, spoke of “injustice” and “double standards” and expressed the need for certain discussion tables to remain open “in order to avoid a damnatio memoriae”. Her speech was followed by the testimony of David Gerbi, the president of the International Association for the Commemoration of the Jews of Libya and the Support of the Abraham Accords. Gerbi recalled the anguish of his escape from Tripoli in 1967 and spoke about the theft of “collective and individual” assets – concurrent and consecutive to that forced exodus – and about some commitments he promoted in order not to forget. In particular, the construction of some memorials in Israel like to the one inaugurated in Rome. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs” Eli Cohen was among the supporters of the project.
The afternoon was divided into two sessions. The first one, chaired by Sira Fatucci, had Chiara Renzo and Alessandro Volterra at the speakers’ table. Chiara Renzo – the author of a study on the subject that led her to consult various archives – explained various aspects of this issue in a report entitled “Jews of Libya: citizens, subjects, refuges”. Why did the Jews of Libya come to Italy? How were they recognized? These are indeed important questions to be asked, also looking at the projects that could be carried out in other situations. Among the topics of interest there was the commitment to hospitality by the government and Jewish institutions, which was also realized through the setting-up of the Capua and Latina camps and the granting of economic aid by the Joint.
The topics covered by Alessandro Volterra were just as stimulating. He focused on the colonial events of the fascist era, on the distinction between citizens and subjects and on the application of antisemitic laws. It is a story with particularly complex and often unknown nuances, as is the case of the Jews of Libya who, having a British passport, were released from Bergen Belsen as a part of a prisoner exchange between the British and the Germans. In that case “it was not religious identity, but citizenship that prevailed”, he explained.
The second part of the conference, introduced by Saul Meghnagi, delved into a legal topic. Two lawyers, the UCEI council member Davide Jona Falco and the UCEI vice president Giulio Disegni, dealt with it. The first one started with a reference to the results achieved by the Study Commission guided by Giovanni Canzio that took office in Palazzo Chigi on UCEI’s advice and fought for an update of the legislation in favour of the victims of persecution on the grounds of politics and race. These achievements marked a historical turning point, announced at the beginning of 2021 in the budget law with some amendments to the Terracini’s legislation. It would be however deceptive to think that everything has worked out for the best, “given that enforcement problems remain, especially in a certain attitude of the public administration in denying merits”. The unresolved issues include the conditions of Italian-Libyan citizens who lived in the Libyan colony and were subject to racist laws.
“Very few Libyan Jews have been granted merits because of racial persecution in recent years. Yet the persecution took place, and it is recognised by historians: the Jews of Libya were excluded from industrial and commercial activities, could not own real estate nor exercise liberal profession. This concept is exhaustively explained by Renzo De Felice in his book Ebrei in un paese arabo. Gli ebrei nella Libia contemporanea tra colonialismo, nazionalismo arabo e sionismo”, highlighted the UCEI’s vice president. “They were discriminated against twice: not only were they subjected to racist laws, but had they also seen each demand for merits rejected ”. This is another unresolved issue in relation to which, in the ongoing debate with various institutional interlocutors, “UCEI keeps asking that light be shed on it”.
During the conference, the Foundation for the Jewish Heritage in Italy organised a small exhibition with photographs of Tripoli from the archive of the Federation of Jewish Cultural Associations, which promoted and spread the Jewish culture in Italy between the 20s and the 30s. The exhibition is an overview of the sociological and religious aspects which characterized the Jewish community in Libya in the first years of 1900, showing the social and cultural dynamics of its daily life.
In the descriptions attached there are the original notes of Federico Luzzatto, the organizer of the archive during the 30s. At the end of the conference, there were two more speeches from the audience, delivered by the lawyer Roberto Coen and the librarian Gisele Levy, both of whom took care of two relevant issuesat a legal and historical level.

Translation by Francesca Angelucci, revised by Alida Caccia, students at the Secondary School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.