Historical Background:
- Sephardic Jews (Megorashim) settled in Morocco before and up to the completion of the Spanish Reconquista in 1492
- Indigenous Moroccan Jews (Toshavim) included Arabic and Berber-speaking communities
- Geographical distribution: Megorashim in coastal cities, Berber Jews in mountains/south, Arabic-speaking Jews more dispersed
- Megorashim in northern cities spoke Haketia; those in southern cities spoke Judeo-Arabic
- Historical alliances: 1610 pact between Morocco and the Netherlands, mediated by Samuel Pallache
Key Research Resources:
Civil Records:
- French Protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956): Ministère des Affaires Étrangères de France
- Spanish Protectorate records. See also.
- Census of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, 1950
- Kingdom of Morocco records
Jewish Community Records:
- Chief Rabbinate and Beth Din, Casablanca (limited accessibility)
- Centre de la Culture Judeo-Marocaine, Belgium
- Alliance Israelite Universelle school records
- National Library of Israel (ketubot collection)
- National Library of Israel – Moroccan Jewry
- Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People
- Jewish Moroccan newspapers
- Yale North African Jewish Manuscript Collection
- JTS – Morocco Jewish Communal Records
- Catalogue des manuscrits marocains de la collection Klagsbald
National Archives:
Genealogical Societies:
- Israel Genealogy Research Association
- Cercle de Généalogie Juive (France)
- Association généalogie Algérie Maroc Tunisie
Online Resources:
- JewishGen databases
- Généalogie des juifs marocains (Facebook group)
- Jewish Community of Morocco Facebook page
- Jews born in Morocco deported from France in WWII
- Dafina
Videos on Jewish Morocco
- Jewish Genealogy in Morocco – Jacob Marrache Fischel
- Jews in the Maghreb – Their Surnames and their Roots – Alexander Beider
- De Megorachim à Dhimmis aux citoyens français (From Megorashim to Dhimmis to French Citizens) – Sylviane Serruya
- Esther the Queen and the Brothers Buzaglo – Ali Erginsoy
- A Moroccan Jewish Genealogical Journey – Raquel Levy-Toledano
- Rabbis, Merchants and Consuls – The Marrache Family of Morocco – Jacob Marrache
- The Moroccan Jews of Cabo Verde: Preservation of Memory – Carol Castiel
- Using DNA to Track your Ancestors: A Case Study – Raquel Levy-Toledano
- Ancestral Origins And Genetic Diversity of Moroccan Jews – Raquel Levy-Toledano
Moroccan City-Specific Resources:
Agadir
- Agadir Jewish cemetery website.
Casablanca
- Casablanca Jewish cemetery website.
- Casablanca has a museum of Judaism.
Debdou
- Une nouvelle Séville en Afrique du Nord : histoire et généalogie des juifs de Debdou (Maroc) by Eliyahou Marciano and others
Fez
- The circumcision book (1839 – 1912) of Rabbis Moses and Samuel Aben Danan is in the collection of the National Library of Israel.
- The Jewish cemetery in Fez has been indexed.
- Yale North African Manuscript Collection – 1755-circa 1960
Marrakech
- The Jewish cemetery of Marrakech has been indexed.
- Marrakesh Genizah
Mogador – Essaouira
- In the 19th Century there was significant traffic between Mogador/Essaouira and England. Sidney Corcos is writing a book about this.
- Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem hold the records of the former Mogador Beth Din, and other documents.
- House of Memory (Bayt Dakira) in Essaouira – Museum
Rabat
Salé
- Some of the Jewish graves in Salé have been indexed on the JewishGen website.
Tangier
- Tanger entre Orient et Occident by Philip Abensur
- There were two Jewish cemeteries in Tangier / Tanger. The Old Cemetery dates at least to the 18th Century and remained in general use until 1935, although there were some burials as late as the 1950s. There are some written records.
- The records of the new cemetery of the Tangiers Jewish community are online
- Anuario telefónico, Zona de Tánger, 1950-1951 = Annuaire telephonique, Zone de Tanger. Of course, not everyone had a telephone.
Tétouan
- Tétouan cité marocaine aux racines andalouses by Philip Abensur
- La comunidad judía de Tetuán (1881-1940) : registro de circuncisiones de R. Yishaq Bar Vidal Ha-Serfaty.
- Click for a view of the Tetouan Jewish cemetery.
- A 76 page burial register, the Registro de Metim 1897-1971, written in the haketia language is being indexed.
- The Jews of Tetuan, Morocco: Genealogy and Iconography by Philip Abensur
- La comunidad judía de Tetuán 1881–1940 by Ana María López Álvarez
- Video: Jewish cemetery of Tetuan 1
- Video: Jewish cemetery of Tetuan 2
- Tangier/Tetouan: Cemetery records, circumcision registers
- Mogador/Essaouira: Beth Din records at Central Archives of Jewish People, Jerusalem
- Casablanca: Cemetery website
- Agadir: Cemetery website
- Marrakech: Indexed cemetery
- Fez: Circumcision book (1839-1912), indexed cemetery
- Salé: Partial grave index on JewishGen
- Debdou: “Une nouvelle Séville en Afrique du Nord” by Eliyahou Marciano
Historical Documents:
Video Resources:
- Various YouTube links provided in the original text (not included here due to character limitations)
Research Challenges:
- Limited organization and indexing of records
- Difficulty accessing some archives
- Potential language barriers (Judeo-Arabic, Haketia, French, Spanish)
- Loss of many genealogical documents
Additional Notes:
- European citizenship records may exist for some Sephardim from the 18th century onward
- Significant migration to Israel and France in the 20th century
- The Nahon family hotel in Tetuan served as a hub for travelers and researchers
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