The Sultan of Morocco, acting on the suggestion of the Vichy Government today issued an order providing for the removal “with the least possible delay” of all Jews in Morocco into Jewish ghetto quarters.
The action of the Sultan coincides with the arrival in Morocco of the Vichy Commissar for Jewish Affairs, Xavier Vallat, and with the publication in Vichy today of a decree ordering a census of all the Jews in French Indo-China, to be carried out by September 1st. Jews who fail to register will be punished by imprisonment and fines.
Vallat, in an interview with representatives of the press, today expressed special satisfaction with the act of the Sultan. “I am pleased to see that recent orders of the Sultan have already partly solved the Jewish problem in Morocco in accordance with the spirit of Vichy,” he said. “Our aim is to eliminate the Jewish influence wherever we find it predominant. French Jews in Morocco will have to conform to the special laws issued for Jews in France, while Moroccan Jews will be kept within limits where they can be useful without the risk of their becoming harmful.”
The Vichy Commissioner for Jewish affairs made it clear in the course of the interview that the sole purpose for his coming from Vichy to North Africa was “to study the Jewish situation in Morocco, Algeria and Tunis.” He is proceeding today to Algeria, he said, in order “to establish the effects of the repeal of the Cremieux Law.” This law, adopted in 1870 by the French Government due to the efforts of Isaac Adolphe Cremieux, then Minister of Justice, proclaimed complete emancipation for the Jews of Algeria and gave them the same civil and political rights as Frenchmen. It was rescinded by the Patain Government in October 1940.
The extension of the Vichy anti-Jewish laws to the French colonies in North Africa will affect more than 330,000 Jews, including 160,000 Jews in French Morocco, 110,000 Jews in Algeria and about 60,000 Jews in Tunis.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
