Personal Stories

My life in Tripoli was a happy family life, but I must add that I grew up very nervous. I remember walking with my mom in the streets of Tripoli as a child. I used to ask my mother: why are those houses burnt? Only later did I realize those burnt buildings were the result of the pogroms that the Jews had to suffer.

900,000 Jewish people were expelled from the Arab lands they called home.These are the refugees whose story was never told. It is the story of my family and I will share it with you tonight.My family came from an ancient Jewish community known as the Mizrachim. They had lived in Libya for over 2,000 years.

A neighbor yelled, “Julia,” from across the courtyard separating her apartment from Doris Nachum’s. Julia was Doris’ mother’s name, it was June 5th 1967, the start of the Six-Day war. Doris was eight; her house was built on top of a synagogue, in a part of Tripoli only five minutes from the port and sea.