Jews of Libya
The ruin of the Dar Bishi synagogue in Tripoli
Italy conquered the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1911, establishing their colony of Libya. It has been estimated that 20% of the Jewish population – who mainly lived in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi – were Iberian Sephardim and the remaining 80% Arabic-speaking Jews of the Maghreb who had lived there since ancient times.
The Libyan Jews suffered persecution during the Second World War, until the British conquered Libya, and then suffered again in Arab nationalist pogroms in 1945 and 1948. Post-War, most of the Jewish population escaped, often via Italy. After 1967 the community effectively ceased to exist. Today the main communities are found in Italy – especially Rome – and Israel.
Jewish Genealogy in Libya
It is feared that many of the Jewish records have been lost. The Jews of Libya and their families have been driven out, but the Libyan authorities are now seeking to recover Jewish artifacts that have been rescued and taken abroad.
Existing archives that contain, or might contain, genealogical information on Libyan Jews include:
- Italian archives were removed to Italy before the British conquered Libya. The Archivi del Ministero dell’Africa Italiana, which is the archives of the Ministry of Italian Africa, is the first obvious source.
- It is likely that many or most Jews in Libya had a European citizenship, such as Italian, French or British, and so family records may exist in the archives of the Italian Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell’Interno) and those of the foreign consulates.
- The British National Archives contains information and correspondence on the Jews of Libya.
- Check the Arolsen Archives and Yad VaShem for Holocaust-period records.
- The archives of the Joint Distribution Committee contains post-War records on Libyan Jewry.
- The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP) in Jerusalem.
- Jews will likely appear in surviving trade directories, post office directories, newspapers, etc., especially in the Italian language. Here are some Italian publications. The Italian Wikipedia page has a bibliography and some useful links.
- It is possible there are also records in the Ottoman archives in Turkey. The area was under Ottoman rule from 1551 to 1911, including direct rule from 1835 to 1911.
- The International Jewish Cemetery Project lists fourteen Jewish cemeteries in Libya.
Below is a recording of the Sephardic World meeting of 25 October 2020 in which the Holocaust and subsequent persecution and escape of the Jews of Libya was discussed.
If you have Iberian Sephardic ancestry through Libyan Jewish family and need a genealogist to help with applying for Portuguese nationality, get it touch!
Se hai origini iberiche sefardite attraverso una famiglia ebrea libica e hai bisogno di un genealogista che ti aiuti a fare domanda per la nazionalità portoghese, fallo toccare!
אם יש לך שושלת ספרדית איברית דרך המשפחה היהודית בלוב ואתה זקוק לאלוג יוחסין שיעזור בבקשה לקבלת אזרחות פורטוגלית, צור קשר