Libya

LOCALITIES ARE LISTED BELOW GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Libya, officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, is an Arab republic in the center of the Mediterranean coast of North Africa and stretches far inland to include a large segments of the Sahara Desert. The country comprises three territories, Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the southwest. The country was under Turkish rule from the 16th century until Italy invaded in 1911. From 1912, the country was known as Italian North Africa, but in 1927, Italy reorganized the territory into two colonies, Italian Cyrenaica in the east and Italian Tripolitania in the west. In 1934, Italy united the territories into a single colony under the name Italian Libya (which expanded its territory following boundary agreements with Egypt and Sudan). During Word War II, Italy lost the colony in 1943, and the UK assumed administration of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, while France controlled Fezzan. In 1951, all three territories became independent as the United Kindom of Libya. In 1969, a coup overthrew the monarchy and the Libyan Arab Republic was declared, which in 1977 adopted its present name.

 

LIBYA - THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

Jews lived in Libya for over two thousand, since the 3rd century BCE. During World War II, Libya's Jewish population was subjected to anti-Jewish laws by the Fascist Italian regime and deportations by the Nazis. After the war, anti-Jewish violence caused many Jews to leave the country, and following he revolution of 1969, almost all the remaining Jews left. The last Jew of Libya, Rina Debach, left the country in 2003. History.  [August 2009]

Jewish Population in 1906 - 15,000. Source: Harvey E. Goldberg: The Book of Mordechai - A Study of the Jews of Libya" p. 170. Selections from writings of Mordechai Hakohen (1856-1929).

Film: The Last Jews in Libya. [August 2009]