Exhibition records Jewish life in Moroccan south

Before the mass exodus to Israel in the 1950s (Photo: Elias Harrus)

Holland's Moroccan community seems fascinated by its Berber and Jewish roots. Now, according to the European Jewish Press, they have a chance to see the photos taken by Elias Harrus of the Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Dutch photographer Pauline Prior, before the Jewish community in the south of Morocco vanishes for good (with thanks: Sacha): 

AMSTERDAM (EJP)--- An exhibition featuring photos of the Jews of southern Morocco will open on Thursday 23 April at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Fatima Elatik, leader of the Amsterdam district council of Zeeburg, will open this exhibition of photos by Elias Harrus and Pauline Prior, taken first in the 1950s, just before Jews in Morocco emigrated en masse to Israel. 

In 2008, Dutch photographer Pauline Prior visited the region to photograph what remains of Morocco’s Jewish heritage, and documented Jewish life in Casablanca today. In his photos, Elias Harrus (1919-2008) depicted the everyday life of the Jews of southern Morocco in the years preceding their mass exodus to Israel. For centuries they had lived side by side with the Berbers of the region. (...) 

 His photos have an intensity that only an insider can achieve.Harrus was closely involved in the welfare of the Moroccan Jewish community, as is also shown by his photos of pupils at Alliance Israélite Universelle schools. He worked for this international Jewish organisation, dedicated to the emancipation of Jews in Muslim countries, throughout his life

 In 2008, the Jewish Historical Museum commissioned Dutch photographer Pauline Prior to visit Morocco and to photograph the remains that testify to the centuries of Jewish life in the Atlas mountains and the Sahara. Prior also visited Casablanca, where a small Jewish community maintains the characteristic Moroccan Jewish traditions. 

These ancient customs are also kept up in the countries in which Moroccan Jews have settled. Prior photographed hillula ceremonies and celebrations in both Morocco and Israel marking the anniversary of the death of saints, deceased rabbis with reputed powers of intercession.

 

The exhibition Morocco: Photos by Elias Harrus and Pauline Prior will run from 24 April – 18 September 2009 at the Jewish Historical Museum, Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1, Amsterdam, Holland. Read article in full Radio Netherlands report