Who are we?

The Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia (SHJT) is an independent association founded in 1997 on the initiative of academics and community leaders originally from Tunisia. Its purpose is to encourage, support and disseminate research on the History of the Jews of Tunisia and, more broadly, of North Africa, and to carry forward the memory and heritage of this little-known History through three types of activity:

• The regular organisation of international conferences, study days and public lectures led by historians and young researchers.
• The development of relations between researchers, universities and research centres in France and abroad, in order to encourage the sharing of sources and knowledge.
• The compilation of an inventory of archives on the History of the Jews of Tunisia.

Why an association devoted to the History of the Jews of Tunisia and North Africa?

The SHJT is first and foremost the result of our wish to encourage research on a History that is little known and seldom discussed. The scarcity of research on North African Judaism on the one hand, and the publication of fictionalised works presenting a distorted picture of this history on the other, were the two initial observations that led us to create this association.

Our association focuses on the History of the Jews of Tunisia in particular, because a large Jewish community originally from Tunisia, faithful to its roots, lives in France today, with a growing need to pass on its History to its children and grandchildren.

We are also benefiting from the recent opening of additional collections at the National Archives of Tunisia, which will contribute to a renewal of research on the Jews of Tunisia.

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Our regular events

We regularly organise events intended for researchers and students, but also for the general public:

• International conferences, at which historians specialising in the History of the Jews of Tunisia and North Africa are invited to speak.
• Thematic study days and seminars for young researchers.
• Regular lectures open to the general public, 5 to 10 a year.

The annual Ceremony at the Mémorial de la Shoah for the deported Jews of Tunisia

Every year since the SHJT was founded, we have organised a ceremony commemorating the Tunis round-up (9 December 1942), in memory of the deported Jews of Tunisia and the victims of Nazi barbarity in the Tunisian labour camps. It takes place at the Mémorial de la Shoah, in the presence of representatives of the French Government, diplomatic representatives of Tunisia and Israel, and various figures connected with this memory.

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In the press

• Actualité Juive no. 1503 of 13/12/2018 – report on the ceremony of 9 December 2018
• Judaïques FM: Brève rencontre – guest Jean-Marcel Nataf on the commemoration of the round-up of Tunisian Jews at the Mémorial on 9 December.
• Du côté de chez Szwarc: interview with Claude Nataf
• Actualité Juive no. 1043 of 29/09/2008 – Conference at the Sorbonne on the Jews of the Maghreb
• Actualité juive no. 962 of 28 December 2006 – « Les victimes tunisiennes de barbarie nazie honorées à Paris »
• La Lettre Sépharade, no. 53, March 2005, on the conference of March 1999
• Lucette Valensi on the book Juifs et musulmans en Tunisie, proceedings of the conference of March 1999
• Albert Memmi on the book Juifs et musulmans en Tunisie, proceedings of the conference of March 1999

Executive board and councils

Honorary Committee

Honorary President:
Chief Rabbi René-Samuel Sirat (z"l)

Members:
Abdelkrim Allagui
Pierre Besnainou
Joseph Chetrit
Gabriel Kabla
Jean-Claude Kuperminc

Former members:
Robert Attal (z"l)
Roger Belhassen (z"l)
Albert Memmi (z"l)
Paul Sebag (z"l)
Fernand Slama (z"l)
Jacques Taïeb (z"l)