The beginning of the end for the Jews of Libya was the institution of harsh, discriminatory legislation by Italy against its own Jews in 1938. By the eve of World War II, 30,387 Jews lived in Libya. Jews also lived in cities, farms, and villages even in caves. In these cities, they lived among the Arabs and the Europeans. A smaller number lived in Benghazi, as well. In 1911, there were about 21,000 Jews in the country (4% of the total population of 550,000), the majority of whom lived in Tripoli. However, under the Italians, the Jews were treated relatively well. In the early twentieth century, much of the population of Libya was Islamic and tribal, and was against European colonialism. ![]() Indeed, the fact that Libya was an Italian colony and did not fall under the Vichy regime in France made the fate of the Jews of Libya different from that of the Jews of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The modern history of Libya can be dated from 1911, when Libya became an Italian colony. Though Libya had been home to a Jewish community for thousands of years, and though the Jews had lived under Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Italian, British, and Arab rule, no trace of this once-thriving community exists anymore. ![]() Hlafo el-Gawi (Babi) with His Wife Emilya
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