Personal Stories

Discover the personal stories, memories, and lived experiences of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East, offering intimate perspectives on community life, cultural traditions, migration, and identity across generations.

Written Narratives

Algerian Oral History Collection

In their own words

Oral Histories from Algeria

JIMENA has recorded the memories of Jews from across the Middle East and North Africa. These interviews with Jews from Algeria tell of the communities they grew up in and the journeys that followed.

Michèle Rothman

Bône. Her family's departure in 1962 (in French).

Jacques Guy Benhamou

Tlemcen, 1929. The Vichy laws and the Bedeau labor camp (in French).

Enrico Macias

Constantine, 1938. Leaving Algeria in 1962.

Didier Nebot

Castiglione, 1943. Two thousand years of Jewish Algeria (in French).

Claude Rouas

Oran, 1936. From Oran to San Francisco.

Bernard Bakech

Bône, 1933. The Ghriba synagogue of Bône (in French).