(Jewish Group)The Allies defeated the Axis powers in Africa, but the concentration camps stayed open

[Behind the Aegis]

FDR’s broken promise: The Allies defeated the Axis powers in Africa — but the concentration camps stayed open

Eighty years ago today, 107,000 American and British troops triumphed over the Axis powers in North Africa, ending the regime’s cruel antisemitic laws.

The weeklong campaign, known as Operation Torch, toppled the hold of the Nazi-aligned French government that controlled Morocco and Algeria. This opened a crucial front of war, allowing the Allies to make their way eastward across North Africa and, ultimately, into Europe via Italy.

To the extent that this military campaign has been understood, it has been through the perspective of the Allied forces themselves. The North African stories of war have scarcely been told.

For 10 years, we’ve been working to change that. We have been gathering the voices of those who survived wartime in North and West Africa, and whose lives were forever changed by the campaign.

Then, as in today’s Ukraine, war was an intimate affair, experienced through hunger, violence, environmental devastation, sexual abuse and a shift in how people viewed their future and their world.

more...

I am not a huge WWII buff, but I do know a bit. I was unaware of this. Anyone know about this? Recommend any books about it?

[Dan]

1. In article the lady is holding a book on the subject....

And, I had never heard of these facts either.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Thanks! I missed that.

The book is mentioned in the credits at the bottom of the article.

Wartime North Africa: A Documentary History, 1934–1950 1st Edition
This book, the first-ever collection of primary documents on North African history and the Holocaust, gives voice to the diversity of those involved—Muslims, Christians, and Jews; women, men, and children; black, brown, and white; the unknown and the notable; locals, refugees, the displaced, and the interned; soldiers, officers, bureaucrats, volunteer fighters, and the forcibly recruited. At times their calls are lofty, full of spiritual lamentation and political outrage. At others, they are humble, yearning for medicine, a cigarette, or a pair of shoes. Translated from French, Arabic, North African Judeo-Arabic, Spanish, Hebrew, Moroccan Darija, Tamazight (Berber), Italian, and Yiddish, or transcribed from their original English, these writings shed light on how war, occupation, race laws, internment, and Vichy French, Italian fascist, and German Nazi rule were experienced day by day across North Africa. Though some selections are drawn from published books, including memoirs, diaries, and collections of poetry, most have never been published before, nor previously translated into English. These human experiences, combined, make up the history of wartime North Africa.
https://www.amazon.com/Wartime-North-Africa-Documentary-1934-1950/dp/1503631990

Have you read it? It looks like it could be interesting.

[Dan]

3. Sorry, never heard of it before.

On Amazon, just ordered a paperback copy….

[JustAnotherGen]

4. My dad's Commission was in Artillery

He read everything he could on Rommel. That's the only reason why I knew.