The Jews of Alexandria formed a very important community in the Greek and Roman period. However their activity and number dwindled greatly till, at the end of the middle- ages, their presence was insignificant. The Jewish community of Alexandria is in reality a recent one (18^th century).  The growth of the Jewish population of modern Alexandria was moreover not typical of the growth of the Jewish population in the rest of Egypt. When Mohamed Ali becomes Vice-Roy of Egypt in 1805, there are 100 Jews in Alexandria, descendants of the families of fishermen who had moved there from Rosette and Edkou around 1700.

• In 1805 the Jews of Alexandria  (100) represent 1,66% of all Egyptian Jews (6 000) and 2% of the total population of Alexandria (5 000)

By allowing, at long last, commercial vessels into the old Alexandria port, Mohamed Ali laid the foundation of the commercial and industrial development of Egypt and the consequent impressive urban development of Alexandria. He generously encouraged foreigners to come to Egypt- for instance M. de Cerisy who organized the naval dockyards, or M. Charles Lebon who created the Public Gas and Light Company. Many Jews from North Africa, Italy or the Ottoman Empire immigrated to Alexandria at that time.

• In 1847 the Jews of Alexandria (1 200) represent 14% of all Egyptian Jews (8 500) and 1.35% of the total population of Alexandria (90 000).

From 1856 onwards Egypt scrupulously applied the provisions of the “Hatti Humayun” which permitted land acquisition   and fair and equal taxation for all non- Moslems. The Egyptian cotton boom years 1860-1865 accompany the city’s frantic development. Under the reign of Khedive Ismail   economic growth is persistent and attracts even more Jews such as those from Alsace running away from German occupation. One such family still has their name one of the city’s main department stores. In 1872 the total population (212 000) represents 60% that of Cairo (348 000) in a country still principally rural (5 250 000).

• In 1897 the Jews of Alexandria (9 830) represent 39% of all Egyptian Jews (25 200).

 The difficult economic conditions prevailing in other parts of the Ottoman Empire between 1897 and 1907 acted as a push factor for many Oriental and Sephardic Jews to move to Egypt.

• In 1907 the Jews of Alexandria (14 475) represent 37% of all Egyptian Jews (38 635).

On 17/12/1914, the Kaymakan of Jaffa, Beha Ed Dine Effendi, expels all French, British, and Russian national from Ottoman Palestine. They were transported by U.S.S Tennessee under the command of Captain M. Decker. Before 1915 was out 11 277 Jews from Ottoman Palestine had found refuge in Alexandria. Many were to stay after the war had ended.

• In 1917 the Jews of Alexandria (24 858) represent 41% of all Egyptian Jews (60 630).

The population would then see a natural growth pattern but it will also be enriched by the arrival European persecuted Jews, before, during and after World War II.

In 1947, it is estimated their number had reached +/-40 000 in Alexandria, out of a total Egyptian Jewish population of +/- 100 000. This total went down to 75-80 000 in 1948, 40-45 000 by 1956, 15 000   by end 1957, 2 000 in 1964 and 200 in 1975.

• In 2002 there are about 6 Jews left in Alexandria

It is therefore evident that the Jewish population of Alexandria established itself through immigration in the 19^th century and grew as a community till just after World War II. Its’ social structure made up of 36 % professional managers, liberal professionals, and scientists, 28% businessmen and middlemen, 36% employees and handicraftsmen, is a reflection of its dynamic contribution to the evolution of the city and of the country.

The creation of the state of Israel, the Suez crisis, and the nationalisation policies forced many Jews into a new exile mostly in 1948 and after 1956. This exile was for the most part painful and without notice. It entailed definitive personal material losses but also the enforced neglect of a cultural and religious heritage.

About 40% of these Jews were stateless, 25 % held a European passport and 35% were Egyptian nationals. About a third of the exiles settled in Israel. As for the others, and unlike the North African Jews, they settled all over the world: - in Europe (mainly France, England, Italy, Switzerland), in North America (USA & Canada), in Latin America (Brazil, Argentina) and in Australia. This was the cause for the crumbling of the community, the dismembering of its families and the inherent, nostalgic feeling.        

Egyptian authorities have based themselves on the argument whereby anything over 100 years old is registered as an Egyptian antique. This argument, which was addressed in relation to the Torah scrolls, is not sustainable when it comes to community birth, death and marriage registers, which relate to specific individuals; nor can it apply to community archives or assets. We know by definition that “Tempus Fugit”. It is therefore of importance to understand as of when and on what basis this heritage is judged centenarian.

This argument is ill founded. Not only is 100 years but a minute on the Egyptian historical scale, but it must be borne in mind that we are talking of a community that was gradually constituted from the 2^nd quarter of the 19^th century onwards, that was brutally disintegrated in the middle of the 20^th century, that had a structured and official existence that had lasted only 120 years in total, and for which only over the past 25 years could any attempt be envisaged to salvage its bibles, registers and archives in the face of  the inevitable extinction of its last local members. The 100 years “antique” argument is not sustainable when the sheer impossibility of discussion, in the wake of expulsions and nationalisations and the low- profile attitude required for the safety of its remaining members; it is not sustainable since Egypt was closed to its Jews for many years. All differing aspects of the problem have received the same dilatory answer, which so being, contributed to the fact that some Torah scrolls may now be over 100 years old. Yet all the other aspects go unanswered.

WORSHIP:

However it is our forefathers, who for the greatest part also immigrated from abroad in the 19^th and 20^th century, who bought the land, built the synagogues, set up the cemeteries without any state help. Daily or Holy Day prayer books, as indeed Torah scrolls, were offered by these same forefathers, to the synagogues in memory of a lost parent or for a particular celebration. Others were bought by the synagogue own funds.

The Torah scrolls were the work of scribes mostly in Ottoman and later Mandate Palestine, where schools were thus subsidized. They are therefore not Egyptian let alone antiques. There was no rabbinical or school for scribes in Egypt.  Fifty years ago these 5000 prayer books and Torah scrolls (over 60 individually unique) were regularly used for normal prayer service. They cannot be considered as antiques. They can still be made to live in our different communities throughout the world and also partially in museums such as the Musée d’Art & d’Histoire du Judaïsme in Paris as well as in Alexandria- be it either at the Alexandrina Library or in a museum to be created at the synagogue, symbolizing both the ardour of our forefathers during their transient passage and the tolerance of Egyptian society.

Community:

Out of 16 synagogues in Alexandria all but one have been sold or seized. The majestic Eliahou Hanabi Synagogue built by Italian architects between 1836 and 1850 with the special permission of Mohamed Ali (an exceptional event in a Moslem country at the time) was erected on the grounds of an old synagogue entirely destroyed by the cannons of Napoleon Bonaparte. It could thus not hold any real antiquities. The community had financial and religious autonomy (it was even split for a few years, and there was no central Board of Jews in Egypt).

The archives cover 60 000 pages and cover its contemporary history. These must be made available for study and housed for example at the Alliance Israelite Universelle in Paris- who was then active in Egypt through its schools. Present and future researchers will thus be able to attest our forefathers’ cultural activities, intelligence and even dissensions, of their unity and current events which saw the creation of schools, hospitals, orphanages, as well as a great number of varied charity organizations.

Registers:

The community’s administrative activity was important. Civil marriages were extremely rare. It was the repository of member’s legal civil status. Birth, circumcision, marriage, divorce death, notoriety were scrupulously generated and confirmed by the community through its registers. 100 % of Alexandria Jews have only these registers to establish their ancestry for the countries they are now in. Since 40% were stateless they have no other authority to attest of their status. Since 1956 various consuls in Alexandria countersign status documents generated by the community. Thus any genealogical research, any justification of status or proof of Judaism for the descendants of Jews who lived in Egypt – 2/3rds of whom were not Egyptian nationals – would be exclusively based on these civil status registers. It seems essential that such registers and copies of marriage contracts, be placed under the safeguard of a religious authority such as the “Consistoire Central” in Paris, to service the requirements of Jews in their various country of adoption, and that a copy be kept in Egypt, for instance at the Alexandrina Library.

The Future in Alexandria:

The magnificent Eliahou Hanabi building deserves permanent upkeep and can be used as a didactic tool for visitors. The 3 Jewish cemeteries have to be maintained in state that befits the honour due to those who have left us. Since the community has sold synagogues, it should have available funds to ensure such maintenance and even a small museum in the offices adjacent to the synagogue; the accounts though seem shrouded for the moment. One can envisage, with the agreement and cooperation of the Egyptian authorities, a foundation or a Board of Trustees of Jews from Egypt living abroad and in Egypt , or of their descendants, under the aegis of France and / or of an organization such as UNESCO, to follow up on the management of the assets “in situ” .

France:

France harbours the second most important Jewish community of the western diaspora. Its past influence in Alexandria, through  lay-schools (Lycée Français d’Alexandrie) or through denominational schools (Lycée de l’Union Juive, Collèges St Marc, Ste Catherine, Notre Dame de Sion)  has greatly contributed to establish French as the common language of Egyptian Jews. Its present contribution to the city through the archeological  missions or the visit of  President M. Jacques Chirac on the occasion of the inauguration of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina are evidence of its shining role in human heritage.

Egyptian Jews and more particularly Alexandrian Jews are living in numbers in France. Their memory and heritage is alive in reprieve for a while longer only.

It is incongruous to look on passively and indifferently  at the disappearance of their religious and cultural heritage, when heritage is exactly what is being glorified in Alexandria.

Let not the past suffering of the exiled accrue in silence and indifference with the future pain of the loss of their memory!