Jews, Citizenship, and Antisemitism in French Colonial Algeria, 1870-1943

414 Pages·2010·4.69 MB·English

by  Richard Roberts

Jews, Citizenship, and Antisemitism in French Colonial
Algeria, 1870-1943
by
Sophie Beth Roberts
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
History Department
University of Toronto
© Copyright by Sophie Beth Roberts, 2011.
Jews, Citizenship, and Antisemitism in French Colonial Algeria, 1870-1943
Dissertation Abstract
Sophie B. Roberts
Doctor of Philosophy, Department of History, University of Toronto, 2011

This dissertation traces the competing forces of antisemitism and Jewish civic
activism in French colonial Algeria from the 1870 Crémieux decree to the end of World War
II. The dissertation centers on the experience of Algerian Jews and their evolving identity as
citizens as they competed with the other colonial groups, including metropolitan French
citizens, newly naturalized non-French settlers, and Algerian Muslims. Periodic and
recurring episodes of antisemitism resulted from competition for control over municipal
government. In colonial Algeria, municipal governments acted as crucibles for politics and
patronage available to settlers and citizens. This dissertation contends that through the
competition for the scarce resources and rights as citizens, various political groups in the
colony exerted their claims on the state via the degradation of Algeria Jews, who were
naturalized en masse in 1870.
As Algerian Jews assimilated as a result of the urging of their communal leaders and
outside influences from metropolitan French Jews and Jewish organizations such as the
Alliance Israélite Universelle, antisemites sought to limit Algerian Jewish access to rights.
Algerian Jews faced particularly strong competition from the newly naturalized French
settlers who emigrated from Italy, Spain, and Malta. These immigrants viewed the Algerian
Jews as particularly dangerous status competitors. Rather than accept antisemitism as
inevitable, Algerian Jews defended themselves against antisemitic attacks through the
formation of defense organizations such as the Comité Algérien des Études Sociales. They
urged fellow Jews to fulfill their responsibilities to France, celebrating military service and
ii
sacrifices, and demanding that Jews exercise their right to vote. Algerian Jews negotiated the
antisemitism of French and newly French settlers, as well as Algerian Muslims.
Algerian Jews straddled the line between citizen and subject in the colonial context
and fought to prove themselves as worthy French citizens in the face of competition and
antisemitism. Although specific to the case of French colonial Algeria, these issues of
competition for status, identity, and rights are complementary to studies of other colonial
contexts and that of newly emerged states. Such debates about citizenship and belonging lie
at the heart of much of the turmoil of twentieth century history.
iii
Acknowledgements
Writing a dissertation rests on the complex intersection of good guidance,
access to documents, resources to take advantage of documents in disparate places, and
consistent feedback from engaged and supportive advisors. I would like to acknowledge the
support of the Connaught Foundation at the University of Toronto that provided four years of
generous support, the Israel and Golda Koschitzsky scholarship, the Naim S. Mahlab
scholarship, and the Terek Heggey scholarship through the Centre for Jewish Studies at the
University of Toronto. I would also to thank the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the
Study of Antisemitism for their support of my research and writing through the Felix Posen
Fellowship.
Access to sources is one of the key forms of currency in research. Without the
guidance and invaluable help from archivists and librarians, this project would not have been
possible. I would like to thank the archivists of the Centre de la Documentation Juive
Contemporaine, the Centre des Archives d’Outre Mer, and the Archives Nationales. I would
particularly like to thank Jean-Marc Levy at the Consistoire Centrale in Paris, as well as Rose
Levyne at the Alliance Israélite Universelle Archives in Paris who always managed to
introduce me to new sources and fellow historians.
I have been extremely fortunate to have had wonderful academic role models and
advisors. Professor Al Camarillo advised me on my first research project as an
undergraduate and introduced me to exciting and fruitful world of archival research and
historical writing. Professors Aron Rodrigue and Steven Zipperstein introduced me to the
complex world of Jewish history and encouraged me to pursue a topic that led to this current
project. During my PhD, Professors Doris Bergen, Eric Jennings, Michael Marrus, and
iv
Derek Penslar provided invaluable guidance and advising. Professors Jennings and Penslar
in particular helped me fuse together disparate fields of study into this dissertation, guiding
me along the complex terrain of doing Jewish history and French colonial history at the same
time. Their extensive feedback pushed me to think through complicated issues in new ways
and to write more effectively. Working with Professor Bergen on the dissertation and as a
TA taught me the importance of engaged teaching. Their influence is evident in this work.
Finally, I want to thank my friends and family who supported me during the long
hours in the archives, and endless days writing in the library. From the L’Espresso baristas
to my friends who urged me to get out of the library, the web of support created by those
around me made this lonely process less solitary.
v
Table of Contents
List of Figures vii

List of Maps viii

Maps ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Competing for Rights and Identity: Citizenship and
Antisemitism in Fin-de-siècle Algeria 43

Chapter 2: Watering the Tree of Liberties with Jewish Blood:
Max Régis, Néos, and the Explosion of Antisemitism in
Algeria, 1898 93

Chapter 3: Navigating Multiple Identities and Evolving French
Patriotism 134

Chapter 4: The Politics of Status Anxieties and Identity in
Colonial Algeria: Jewish-Muslim Conflicts in Constantine
in the 1920s and 1930s 177

Chapter 5: Antisemitic Violence in French Colonial Algeria:
The 1934 Constantine “Pogrom” 201

Chapter 6: The Popular Front, Algerian Nationalism, and
Waves of Institutional Antisemitism, 1935-1940 245

Chapter 7: Rupture: Vichy, State Antisemitism, and the
Crémieux Decree 297

Bibliography 387

vi
List of Figures
A piece of the Pirkei Avot text 79
“Cigarettes antijuives” 98
Newspaper photo, Le Populaire, September 13, 1939 220
Newspaper photo: Jewish victims of August 5 pogrom, Dépêche de Constantine, August 11,
1934 221
Newspaper photo: Dépêche de Constantine, August 14, 1934 222
Table Jewish Departmental Employees 319
Table Fired Jewish Employees due to Vichy Jewish Statutes 321
vii
List of Maps
Map of Colonial Algeria ix
Colonial Algerian Villages x
viii
ix
x