The Holocaust in North Africa from USHMM

Teachers should consider incorporating the histories of Jews in North Africa and Iraq during the Holocaust into their curriculum because exploring these lesser-known aspects of Holocaust history helps broaden students’ understanding of the global impact of the Holocaust. It highlights the fact that Jews in North Africa and Iraq were also targeted and subjected to persecution, displacement, and, in some cases, mass violence and helps students understand the diversity of the Jewish people.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) offers various resources on the Holocaust in North Africa, providing valuable insights into this lesser-known aspect of Holocaust history. The USHMM offers educational materials for teachers to incorporate the Holocaust in North Africa into their curriculum. These resources include lesson plans, activities, and primary source materials designed to engage students and promote a deeper understanding of this aspect of Holocaust history.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Resources

• Browse a USHMM series of articles describing North Africa’s Jews on the eve of World War II; the North African military campaigns of World War II and their impact; the Vichy regime’s introduction of race laws in the North African territories in October of 1940; and the networks of labor camps created or repurposed there.
• USHMM article on Hajj Amin Al-Husayni, an Arab nationalist and Muslim leader who welcomed the Nazis into the Middle East.
• USHMM Article on the Farhud, an anti-Jewish pogrom in Baghdad, Iraq during World War II.