Libyan Jews in the Maelstrom of Modern History

The story of the Jews of Libya is not well-known. On 25 October 2020, Sephardic World hosted an online speaker event for Sephardic Horizons magazine that explored the final decades of this ancient community, including the Holocaust in Libya and the later expulsion and flight of Libyan Jews from the forces of Arab nationalism in Libya. Today there are no Jews in Libya. Communities survive in Italy, principally in Rome, and in Israel. Jews had lived in what is now Libya since ancient times, and hundreds of years before the Arab conquest. Italy seized Libya from the Ottoman Empire in 1911. Under Italian rule, most of the Libyan Jewish community lived in Tripoli and Benghazi. Italy supported Germany during the Second World War, during which time Jews faced persecution. The British conquered Libya. The situation of the Jewish community was untenable, and many made their way Displaced Persons camps in Italy. It is estimated that around 80% of the Jewish population were indigenous Arabic-speaking while maybe 20% traced their origins to the Sephardic diaspora from the Iberian peninsula. The Sephardic Horizons speakers were: Judith Roumani of Sephardic Horizons – Introductions Vivienne Roumani-Denn - Libyan Jews in the Fascist Internment Camp of Giado Danielle Willard-Kyle - Not within the Mandate: Libyan Jewish Refugees in Italian Displaced Persons Camps Sephardic Horizons: https://www.sephardichorizons.org/ Join the Sephardic World email list to hear about upcoming meetings on Sephardic Jewish history, genealogy and culture. https://mailchi.mp/sephardicgenealogy... Sephardic World relies on your support to bring you weekly high quality talks on Sephardic Jewish history, genealogy and culture. Please support our work with a small monthly donation.   / sephardi   #libyanhistory #libyanjews #libya