Urgent appeal for Jews to record their stories

The Historical Society of the Jews from Egypt has made the following appeal for Jews from Egypt to record their stories on video. In fact, in the face of denial and the rewriting of history, it is a matter of urgency that all Jews from all Arab countries should do so - before it's too late. (With thanks: Israel B)

Have you noticed that the voices of Holocaust denial are getting louder and more frequent? In Iran, in Arab countries, in other Islamic countries, in the West -- they seem to proliferate everywhere. Why do you think that is so? Simple: Holocaust survivors are dying out. Witnesses to man's inhumanity to man will soon completely disappear and will no longer be able to confront the liars face to face. Then -- who knows -- the lies may well become established history.

The same will happen to Jews from Arab countries. We, too, are dying out. For almost forty years, since the Six-Day War of 1967, Arab countries have been essentially "judenrein" -- devoid of Jews. The youngest among us who still remembers anything is in his early fifties.

That's why it is essential for us to record our history for posterity. Before we die. Before it's too late. We have to tell the world what happened to us. The expulsions, the expropriations, the jailings, the beatings, the exclusions, the discrimination, the tauntings, even the occasional killings. It must all come out. It must all be told.

You can, of course, write down your story. That is an essential first step. We at HSJE will post all individual stories we get, with your permission.But that is not enough. It can always be alleged that the stories are forged, that the authors never existed. How hard is it to type a fake story in a word processor and sign it "Joe Douek"?


"Remember, there is practically no professional recorded history of our experience. When these terrible things were happening to us, CNN and The Washington Post were not there to splash our misery at the top of their news programs. The United Nations was not passing resolutions highlighting our plight. Hardly any sympathizers wrote books about us. We simply started over and rebuilt our lives, in silence, with help from fellow Jews in the free world. For the world at large, we are the forgotten refugees -- all 850,000 of us, from Morocco to Yemen, not counting descendants.

We need oral histories: We need you to tell your story on video. We need you to have a friend or a member of your family videotape you telling your story and send it to us. You may simply read something you have already written, if that's easier. Better yet, you may ask your interviewer to prompt you with specific questions. Use any language you feel comfortable with.

Read the rest here

Send your story to mystory@hsje.org