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Egyptian Jew Who Hid in a Cellar for 22 Years Dies at Age 82

January 6, 1987
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Cesar Yaacov Douek, an Egyptian Jew who hid in a cellar for 22 years, died in Cairo Sunday at the age of 82, Israel Radio reported.

Douek went into hiding in 1957 when then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered Jews expelled from Egypt in the aftermath of the Sinai campaign. He concealed himself in the cellar of his sister’s house. She had married an Egyptian attorney and converted to the Moslem faith.

Douek emerged rom hiding when the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty was signed in 1979. But he rarely left the house after that because of advanced age.

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