Two-thirds of all the Jewish residents in the Algerian city of Constantine–where Jewish families have been residing for generations–left the city during 1961, according to the results of the survey published today in Le Monde, leading French newspaper.
The survey established that of the 18,000 Jews who lived in Constantine for many years, there are only 8,000 left today. This, the French newspaper commented, reflects the widespread doubts among Algerian Jews in the pledges of the Moslem FLN independence movement about their status in an independent Algeria.
The overall prospects for Algerian Jews “will probably depend less on international agreements than on the psychological climate which will prevail between them and the country’s Moslem majority after independence,” Le Monde reported. The newspaper noted that the FLN has always officially rejected any form of racism and anti-Semitism and that it has repeatedly warned Algerian Moslems against committing anti-Jewish acts.
Among the departing Jews, most of whom have gone to France, have been government officials who asked for transfer to France, tradesmen, members of the professions and manual workers.
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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.
