But I was still moved by the connection forged between my father, a Jew from a small town in the Midwest, and Jews in a city in North Africa on Pesach. A Vibrant CommunityThe Jews of North Africa, thanks to the Allied Forces that had recently freed the region from the pro-Nazi Vichy regime, were able to freely celebrate Pesach that year. The Allied invasion of North Africa, called “Operation Torch,” saved approximately 400,000 Jews in French North Africa from mass deportations to extermination camps. Dad was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1912, but his family soon moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where for many years, they were the only Jewish family. What he experienced in North Africa was nothing like back home.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 19, 2021 16:52 UTC