Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
"Haggadah di Hitler" – Allegorical Work Recounting the Story of the Liberation of North Africa in World War II – Rabat, 1943
Opening: $300
Sold for: $1,125
Including buyer's premium
Haggadah di Hitler, by Nissim ben Shimon. Work in the format of the Judeo-Arabic translation of the Passover Haggadah. [Rabat, 1943?]. Judeo-Arabic.
A short work in the format of the sharh (the Judeo-Arabic) version of the Passover Haggadah, recounting the story of the liberation of North Africa by the Allies and the saving of the Jews from the Nazis and their puppet regimes – the Vichy government and Mussolini's rule.
In Morocco and Algiers, the Vichy government imposed racial laws and Jews were put to forced labor; Algerian Jews were sent to concentration and extermination camps; Tunis was under German occupation and Jews were sent to extermination camps; in Libya, under the rule of Italy, racial laws were enacted and the Jews suffered persecution and humiliations, were arrested and sent to forced labor camps and concentration camps. With the liberation of these countries by the Allies, racial laws were repealed and camp prisoners released. During this period, several popular compositions in the same vein were published in North Africa, including "Meauda Filchan di Mi Kamocha ala Hitlir" [The Scroll of Hitler] documenting the war and the liberation.
In this haggadah, the author briefly refers to the Jews' suffering during the war. On the other hand, the military aspect of the war is described extensively from the North-African perspective. The author especially stresses the activity of the French Resistance Movement and the figure of Charles de Gaulle, president of Free France, as a redeemer and liberator. The author describes de Gaulle using haggadic terms referring to the redemption of the Jewish people by God himself: "And General de Gaulle brought us out, not by war, and not by Laval, and not by Doriot, but General de Gaulle himself by his power. As it is said 'I will pass through the land of France'".
The passages of the Haggadah begin and end with the same words beginning and ending the parallel passage in the Judeo-Arabic Haggadah. On occasions, the author's sense of humor surfaces, such as when Rabbi Jose the Galilean of the Haggadah is replaced by "Rabbi Joseph Stalin".
Literature: How Is This Night Different from the Night of Trente Neuf? The "Haggadah of Hitler" from Morocco (Hebrew) by Avishai Bar-Asher. In Pe'amim 114-115, North African Jewry during World War II. Editor: Avriel Bar-Levav. Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 2008. pp. 137-196.
[1] cover, [1] leaf, 13 pp, [1] cover, 15 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Ownership stamps. Elegant new binding.
A short work in the format of the sharh (the Judeo-Arabic) version of the Passover Haggadah, recounting the story of the liberation of North Africa by the Allies and the saving of the Jews from the Nazis and their puppet regimes – the Vichy government and Mussolini's rule.
In Morocco and Algiers, the Vichy government imposed racial laws and Jews were put to forced labor; Algerian Jews were sent to concentration and extermination camps; Tunis was under German occupation and Jews were sent to extermination camps; in Libya, under the rule of Italy, racial laws were enacted and the Jews suffered persecution and humiliations, were arrested and sent to forced labor camps and concentration camps. With the liberation of these countries by the Allies, racial laws were repealed and camp prisoners released. During this period, several popular compositions in the same vein were published in North Africa, including "Meauda Filchan di Mi Kamocha ala Hitlir" [The Scroll of Hitler] documenting the war and the liberation.
In this haggadah, the author briefly refers to the Jews' suffering during the war. On the other hand, the military aspect of the war is described extensively from the North-African perspective. The author especially stresses the activity of the French Resistance Movement and the figure of Charles de Gaulle, president of Free France, as a redeemer and liberator. The author describes de Gaulle using haggadic terms referring to the redemption of the Jewish people by God himself: "And General de Gaulle brought us out, not by war, and not by Laval, and not by Doriot, but General de Gaulle himself by his power. As it is said 'I will pass through the land of France'".
The passages of the Haggadah begin and end with the same words beginning and ending the parallel passage in the Judeo-Arabic Haggadah. On occasions, the author's sense of humor surfaces, such as when Rabbi Jose the Galilean of the Haggadah is replaced by "Rabbi Joseph Stalin".
Literature: How Is This Night Different from the Night of Trente Neuf? The "Haggadah of Hitler" from Morocco (Hebrew) by Avishai Bar-Asher. In Pe'amim 114-115, North African Jewry during World War II. Editor: Avriel Bar-Levav. Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 2008. pp. 137-196.
[1] cover, [1] leaf, 13 pp, [1] cover, 15 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Ownership stamps. Elegant new binding.
Passover Haggadas
Passover Haggadas