For jewish moroccans

M

moodindigo

Hey you guys,

My great grandmother immigrated from Marrakesh to Egypt at the dawn of the 20th century (around 1902-1905), she was a pretty secretive woman. Not one of her children and grandchildren managed to get more than a couple of words from her on her past life in Morocco.
She was from Marrakesh, and arrived penniless to Alexandria by boat all on her own at 18-19 years old, my family thinks she was Jewish but kept it a secret (don't ask me how but that's their story).
So now, my question is this, was it common for jewish morrocans to immigrate to Egypt? i know the jewish community around that time was facing a hard time and immigration was pretty common. Is there any way to help my family trace her origin, if she was indeed jewish? does anyone know anyone who can help? it's pretty far fetched but I just had to ask.
Thank you for reading this.
 
U

USAMorocco

moodindigo à dit:
Hey you guys,

My great grandmother immigrated from Marrakesh to Egypt at the dawn of the 20th century (around 1902-1905), she was a pretty secretive woman. Not one of her children and grandchildren managed to get more than a couple of words from her on her past life in Morocco.
She was from Marrakesh, and arrived penniless to Alexandria by boat all on her own at 18-19 years old, my family thinks she was Jewish but kept it a secret (don't ask me how but that's their story).
So now, my question is this, was it common for jewish morrocans to immigrate to Egypt? i know the jewish community around that time was facing a hard time and immigration was pretty common. Is there any way to help my family trace her origin, if she was indeed jewish? does anyone know anyone who can help? it's pretty far fetched but I just had to ask.
Thank you for reading this.
Cliquez pour agrandir...
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your grandmother's story and hope I can answer your questions!
First, regarding the period that you mentioned above (dawn of the 20th century, around 1902-1905), I did some basic searches through the web and I didn't notice any Jewish immigration waves from Morocco to Egypt at this time!

However, if you want to learn little bite about Morocco's Jewish, here is what I found:

After Israel's independence in 1948, and due to domestic strife in the 1950s, the next several decades saw waves of Jewish emigration to Israel, France and Canada. Moroccan Jews emigrated for a variety of reasons. Some have emigrated to Israel for religious reasons, some faced persecution, and others left for better economic prospects than they faced in post-colonial Morocco. With every Arab-Israeli war, tensions between Arabs and Jews would rise, sparking more Jewish emigration. By the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the majority of Morocco's Jewish population had emigrated.

A small community of around 2,000–2,500 Jews live in Morocco today. However, in a rapidly increasing trend, young men from the community are emigrating to Israel and France. As of 2017, according to The Economist, "No Arab country has gone to the lengths of Morocco to revive its Jewish heritage." The country has restored 110 synagogues and has the Arab world’s only Jewish museum. More than 50,000 Israelis visit Morocco annually.

Ref: Wiki
 
A

AncienMembre

Non connecté
Hi @moodindigo

Did your (secretive) great grandmother keep many things from her life in Morroco, especially civil papers?
At least with her full name, you could try to contact associations of jewish people related to Morroco and ask them.
You have e-mails and phone numbers in the following link :

http://www.darnna.com/communautes.htm

If you have any trouble understanding french, don't hesitate.
 
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