History of Sorts

The conditions for the Jewish community in Libya deteriorated significantly following the passage of Italy’s Manifesto of Race in 1938. Discrimination intensified, and the situation worsened further after German intervention in 1941. The Nazis deported many Jews to concentration camps in continental Europe, where survivors remained until the end of World War II.

Jewish Communities in Italian Libya

Italian Libya had two major Jewish communities:

• Tripolitania (Western Libya): Primarily centered in Tripoli.
• Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya): Concentrated in Benghazi.

Before the war, approximately 40,000 Jews lived in Libya. However, due to the later Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries, the Jewish population in Libya has nearly disappeared today.

The Jadu (Jado) Concentration Camp

One of the most infamous concentration camps in Libya was Jadu (also known as Giado or Jado), established by the Italian regime during World War II.

On February 7, 1942, Benito Mussolini ordered the internment of Jews from Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, aiming to remove them from the war zone and prevent them from aligning with the British. Some believed this directive was also a form of retaliation, as many Jews had fled Benghazi following the British retreat on April 2–3, 1941.

To carry out the internment, a new concentration camp was established at Giado, a former military post on the Tripolitanian Plateau in the Nafusa Mountains, approximately 153 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of Tripoli. Most deported Jews were sent to Giado, while some were interned at a camp for foreigners in Gharian. In Benghazi, Italian authorities instructed the Jewish community to provide a daily quota of individuals for deportation. However, Renato Tesciuba, the Jewish community’s official representative, refused to prepare the list, citing “Levantine disorder” as a pretext, thereby delaying the deportations. The internment at Giado marked the initial phase of a German plan to transfer Libya’s Jews first to Italy and subsequently to extermination camps in Europe.

The first scheduled deportation to Giado was unexpectedly postponed. This group included 145 French Jews who had already been transferred on April 15, 1942, from Barce and Marj in eastern Libya to Tripoli. While awaiting further transport at El Coefia, the Polizia dell’Africa Italiana in Benghazi intervened, securing a “temporary suspension” of the order. The French Jews were sent back to Barce, having already sold many of their belongings in anticipation of internment.

Deportations began in May 1942 and continued through October, with twice-weekly convoys of 8–10 trucks transporting Jews from Cyrenaica to Giado. These deportations were announced via summons posted in synagogues. By late July, 591 Jews from Benghazi—the last major Jewish community—had been deported, with only 33 remaining. A wealthy Jewish merchant, Mordechai Duani, who had established connections with the Italian authorities, facilitated truck transport for deportees from Derna, Benghazi, Tobruk, Barce, Ajdabiya, and Apollonia. However, 260 of Duani’s family members and wealthy associates were spared deportation. Historian Yvonne Kozlovsky-Golan describes this as an example of the Italians forming “Judenrat-like networks” in North Africa.

The deported Jews were permitted to bring limited personal belongings, including food, clothing, and bedding. Many secretly carried valuables, such as jewelry, which they later bartered with local Arabs for food. The journey across the Sirtica desert took five days, during which deportees were forced to sleep outdoors. As the convoys passed through Arab villages and towns, some locals engaged in trade with the prisoners while others jeered at them; in at least one instance, Arabs pelted the Jews with rotten tomatoes.

One survivor, Bruria, described the harrowing experience:

“In the synagogue, they began posting daily lists of 20–30 families who had to leave. The Italians asked the president of the community to compile these lists, but he refused, understanding the implications. However, another Jew—whom we considered a traitor—volunteered for the task. Every day, we anxiously checked if our names appeared. If they did, we had to leave—though we didn’t know where we were being taken. Jews from Benghazi and surrounding areas—Derna, Barce, Tobruk—were all deported. The traitor who helped the Italians was spared.

“Each day, my husband, Joseph, would go to the synagogue to check the lists while I stayed home, crying. Then, one day, he said, ‘Bruria, it’s our turn.’ The journey took five days. We traveled roughly 2,000 kilometers from Benghazi to Giado, crammed into trucks like animals headed to the slaughterhouse—40 people per truck, guarded by two Italian policemen. They took only Jews. According to one rumor, the deportation order came from the Germans.”

The majority of the Jewish community from Cyrenaica was forcibly relocated to Jadu, approximately 240 km (150 mi) south of Tripoli. The camp was under the command of anti-Semitic Italian officer Ettore Bastico, who restricted food rations to just 100-150 grams of bread per person daily, along with a small weekly food supply.

Food and Survival

Jews were responsible for distributing the limited food supplies. Repeated requests from Jewish leaders for increased rations were denied. Eventually, authorities permitted Arab merchants to sell basic food items at exorbitant prices, which few could afford. Later, some aid was allowed from Tripoli.

Religious and Community Life

Despite the dire conditions, efforts were made to maintain religious practices:

• Rabbi Frigia Zuaretz requested permission to establish a synagogue within the camp, and one of the booths was allocated for this purpose.

• Burial Practices: The first community death led to the discovery of an 18th-century Jewish cemetery, where the dead were buried in increasing numbers due to malnutrition and disease.

Liberation and Aftermath

In January 1943, just days before the Allied forces arrived, all prisoners were assembled before armed soldiers, fearing imminent execution. However, the order was never carried out. Soon after, Italian officers abandoned the camp, and some prisoners managed to escape. When the British Army arrived, they found the remaining detainees in a desperate state.

In March 1943, British military Rabbi Orbach visited the camp and secured permission to send 60 Jewish survivors to Israel. The remaining survivors were relocated to Tripoli, where they struggled due to economic hardships. By October 1943, most had moved to Benghazi. The Jewish community never fully recovered, and only a few individuals regained financial stability.

Of the 2,600 Jewish residents of the Jadu camp, nearly 600 perished. The Holocaust and subsequent Jewish exodus led to the near disappearance of Libya’s once-thriving Jewish population.

Sources

Establishment of Jadu concentration camp in Libya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giado_concentration_camp

http://archive.diarna.org/site/detail/public/1061/

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781503607064-003/html?srsltid=AfmBOopPiaVfifuUAVLsSEfHrC5xm5TZQJH6ptBtDW46GzrzmIgRE6jd

https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/the-jews-of-libya.html

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