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Morocco in WW II NEWS: Eleven gravesigns Kapelle destroyed Poem by the young poet Najiba Abdellaoui 23 names of North-African victims in Holland Comments on the 24 names The Syrian paratrooper Ibrahim Azem Commemmoration in Kapelle Moroccan prisoners of war and refugees in Zeeland The role of Moroccans in the liberation of Europe (Chaib Lajlufi) Moroccan Jews in Westerbork? Film Indigènes Sources / More reading

NEWS: Eleven gravesigns Kapelle destroyed According to the newspaper Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant of 13 September 2009, two of the eleven recently destroyed gravesigns in the French military graveyard in Kapelle, belonged to Moroccan military. One grave had a Star of David, which is missing, all others had crosses. Because only two of the 21 North African (and 1 Syrian) fallen military in Kapelle were Christians, it is known which graves are concerned. They are the graves of Elie Benazech and Weddiden. These are not in the rows A, G and H, where the Islamic gravesigns are, but in the French rows with crosses. The name of Benazech is missing on the monument and the name of Weddiden is mentioned last on the general list, just above the group of Algériens-Marocains. Elie BENAZECH, North African. Quarters officer (Maréchal de Logis). Died on May 22, 1940 in Schoondijke (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen). On 25 Aug. 1949 moved from the Public Cemetary (RC department) to Kapelle (D-2-1). Name not on monument. WEDDIDEN, Moroccan. Military 11th RM - FA 7de Cie. Probably drowned during a transport of prisoners of war with the ship Rhenus, that hit a mine at Willemstad. His body washed ashore at Gorkum, where he was buried on 20 June 1940. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (C-3-7). Name on monument with the French group as Waddiden. Article: NRC 14 september 2009 Najiba Abdellaoui Dutch champion Poetry Slam 2008 On December 12 2008, Najiba Abdellaoui, who wrote a moving poem about the Moroccon soldiers who fought in World War II, 'I have looked and I have seen' (see below), won the Dutch championship Poetry Slam. The jury praised her for her 'virtuosity in handling language' (see www.najibaabdellaoui.nl). The slam contest was held for the seventh year in a row. Slam poets compete before an audience which, often aided by a jury, chooses the best poet. Najiba will represent the Netherlands at the World Slampionship in Paris. I have looked and I have seen I have looked and I have seen Many have looked there, few have seen there I've crawled on quays fought by seasoned fragments, undisturbed I've tasted salty drops and heard the blackest sounds In a dream I saw the sun shine white accompanied by the purest orchestra but it was out of tune, the dream wasn't mine but only an abandoned child in a deserted nest I've seen planes changing into gorges, rivers into swamps, rotting like broken promises not yet erased by time I've seen the moon washing itself in smoke and shining through a gray mist I've said good-bye to the stars in the moment of least trust wishing I could guess their real nature, they kept my gaze in it's bud With bare hands I carved hope from iron Weaving a future from loose threads in all colours I've deserved I've embraced the sea when we first entered it But soon the desire came for the whole grains, the green oil, the volatile sand I've been a lion, a panther, a cat. The mysterious warrior from Carthago staring at the horizon like a blank sheet But most of all I have experienced For I have looked and also seen... And now you come leafing in the past that brings meaning to your present Make sure it was worth it, the profit, the loss so this robe won't stick to me in vain weave my memory in with yours Before and after 2005, 7, 10... Don't only look but see Najiba Abdellaoui, on occasion of the opening of the exposition about Moroccan soldiers in the Second World War, on 24 March 2005.

North-African victims in Holland

18 Military washed ashore in Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Vlieland, Texel, Den Helder, Castricum, Heemskerk, Zandvoort, Wassenaar, Brielle, Gorkum, Scharendijke, Vlissingen (June-September 1940).
3 Military died in Maastricht (June-September 1940), 1 in Schoondijke (May 1940), 1 in Amersfoort (October 1943) and 1 Syrian fallen near Assen (April 1945).

Underlying map: www.wilvital.com
A = Algerian M = Moroccan S = Syrian ? = unknown
NAME	DETAILS
Hassan Ben ABDALLAH - M	Born: ? Military 7th Regiment des Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM). Washed ashore in the summer of 1940 on the isle of Vlieland. On July 29, 1949 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (H-3-4). Name not on monument.
Mohamed Ahmed Ben ABDEL KADER - M	Born: 1904. Lived in Saint Dic (F). Corporal-sergeant 2nd cl. 3rd RTM, nr. 6851. Washed ashore on 28 June 1940 on the isle of Ameland (Ballum). On 16 Aug. 1949 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (H-2-3). Name on monument as Ahmed Ben Abdelkader (8). Additional information by Jurjen de Boer (Aug. 2006). See J. Kooistra, Strijders, onderdrukkers, bevrijders; Fryslân in de oorlog. 2005
Mohamed ben ABDESSELEM - M	Born: ? Washed ashore near Wassenaar on 1940-07-30. On 10 Aug. 1949 moved from the cemetery 'Het Lange Duin' to Kapelle (A-1-2). Name on monument as Mohamed Abdesselen (17). At the same time sergeant Jean Paul Hauttecoeur washed ashore. With horse and cart from shellfisher Kortekaas the bodies were transported to the police station of Wassenaar and burried on 1 August 1940 at the war cemetery Het Lange Duin at the Schouwweg (compare Salch ben Ski, war cemetery Schiermonnikoog). A German cleric said some prayers and an officer placed a cross with the French colours. In the end a group of German soldiers fired three salvo's over the open graves Source: Wassenaar in the Second World War, 1995, p. 539). On both graves there was a wooden cross with the inscription 'ici repose' ('here rests') and the name of the army unit. With Abdesselem it says unit and number SSRI Maroc P. 2680. RI means Régiment Infanterie. The cemetery existed from 1940 until 1982. Details Wassenaar: Kees Neisingh (March 2006); Picture: J. Krom (via K.N.)
Messaoud ben AHMED - M	Born: ? Washed ashore in July/August 1940 at Den Helder. On July 7, 1949 moved from the Military Cemetery Huisduinen to Kapelle (A-1-1). Name not on monument.
Mohamed ben ALI AHMED - ?	Born: ? Sergeant. Washed ashore on July 29, 1940 at Heemskerk. Before May 1950 moved from the Protestant Cemetery to Kapelle (H-1-2). Name on monument as Mohamed Ben Ahmed (15).
Dilmi AMOUR - A?	Born: 20-06-1907. Soldier 13th RTA. Died: 4 June 1940 in Maastricht. On Aug. 23, 1949 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (A-2-2). Name on monument as Dilmi Aimour (5).
Ahmed ben BELKACEM - M	Born: ? Washed ashore end of July 1940 on the isle of Ameland. Before May 1950 moved from the Roman-Catholic Cemetery Nes to Kapelle (H-2-2). Name on monument as Ahmed Ben Abdelkacem (9).
Elie BENAZECH - ? Picture: eng. Piet Stroo, municipality of Kapelle	Born: ? Quarters officer (Maréchal de Logis). Died on May 22, 1940 in Schoondijke (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen). On 25 Aug. 1949 moved from the Public Cemetary (RC department) to Kapelle (D-2-1). Name not on monument.
El Achir ben BOUALI - M	Born: ? Miltary 7th RTM. Washed ashore in July 1940 at Zandvoort. On 9 Sept. 1949 moved from the Public Cemetary to Kapelle (G-1-12). Name not on monument.
Mohamed ben BRAHIM - M	Born: 1901. 7th RTM C.3564. Washed ashore on July 27, 1940 on the Wadden isles. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery Harlingen to Kapelle (H-1-1). Name on monument (14)
Larbi ben BOUASSA - M?	Born: ? Military 3d Bon. 7 RI. Washed ashore on 21 Aug. 1940 at Brielle. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (A-1-3). Name on monument as Larbi Ben Benazza (16).
Abouad ben CHERKI - M	Born: ? 7th RTM. Washed ashore on 28 July 1940 at the isle of Ameland. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery Hollum to Kapelle (H-2-1). Name on monument as Ahmed Ben Aberki (10).
Mohamed ben DAHAN - M?	Born: ? Washed ashore on 2 Aug. 1940 on the isle of Ameland. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery Hollum to Kapelle (H-3-1). Name on monument as Mahomed Ben Dohan (11).
Moktar ben DJILLATI - M	Born: ? Sergeant 1st RTM. P63-1935. Washed ashore end of July 1940 at the isle of Texel (kilometerpole 24). Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery Den Burg to Kapelle (H-3-2). Name on monument with the addition St (sergeant) (6).
Haddadi HAMOU - A	Born: 1915 in Donar Drameta, Berrigotville (Constantine, Algeria). Military 11th RTA. Died as a prisoner of war (P.G.) on Oct. 1, 1943 in Amersfoort and buried at the military part of the Public Cemetery 'Rusthof' in Oud-Leusden. On 5 May 1949 moved to Kapelle (H-1-3): 2nd islamic section, row 1. Name on monument as Hadadi Hamon.
Asem IBRAHIM - S	Born: 1901. Soldier 1st class (006721), paratrooper (3/RCP). Fallen on April 9, 1945 near Assen, being a part of the operation Amherst. The regiment was rewarded a Dutch decoration for braveness. A plaque for him and 5 collegues is mounted on a barn in Assen-Zijerveld. Presumably on 19 July 1949 moved from the Zuider Public Cemetery Assen to Kapelle (A-3-1). Name on monument as Azem Ibrahim (13). For more information see annex.
Ben Allal ben KESSOU - M	Born: 1920 in Zimour Caid. Military 64th RAA (Haadou 48.1939. T.2 1625). Died on 18 Sept. 1940 in Maastricht. On 23 Aug. 1949 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (A-2-3). This name is on the tombstone. The monument in Kapelle wrongly states: Abdel Kassan (4).
Ahmed ben KORCHI - ?	Born: ? Military 31st Engineers. Washed ashore at Scharendijke (Schouwen-Duiveland). After the war, with many other British victims, moved from the Military Cemetery Haamstede to the British War Cemetery in Bergen op Zoom. From there before May 1950 moved to Kapelle (A-3-3). Name on monument as Ahmed Ben Karchi Ben Ahmed (18).
Ahmed ben LASKI - M?	Born: ? Washed ashore on July 23, 1940 at the Eierlandse Gat on the isle of Texel. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery Den Burg to Kapelle (H-3-3). Name on monument (7).
Abdel MALEK - ?	Born: ? Washed ashore on 12 Aug. 1940 at Vlissingen. Before May 1950 moved from the Noorder Cemetery to Kapelle (A-3-2). Name on monument as Ab del Malek (1).
Brahamin ben MOHAMED - M?	Born: ? Washed ashore on July 31, 1940 at Castricum. Temporarily buried there in the dunes. Before 5 November 1940 lost into sea. Not in Kapelle. Name on monument (3).
Husein MOHAMED - ?	Born: ? Military 12837. Died on 15 June 1940 in Maastricht. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (A-2-1). Name on monument (19).
Salch Ben SKI - M Picture: Piet Huisman, municipality of Schiermonnikoog	Born: ? STR Maroc. Washed ashore on 28 Aug. 1940 at the isle of Schiermonnikoog and buried at the War Cemetery Vredenhof. Not in Kapelle. Name on monument in Kapelle as Salch Siki (12).
WEDDIDEN - M Picture: eng. Piet Stroo, municipality of Kapelle	Born: ? Military 11th RM - FA 7de Cie. Probably drowned during a transport of prisoners of war with the ship Rhenus, that hit a mine at Willemstad. His body washed ashore at Gorkum, where he was buried on 20 June 1940. Before May 1950 moved from the Public Cemetery to Kapelle (C-3-7). Name on monument with the French group as Waddiden.
Pictures of the graves unless noted otherwise: Pim Ligtvoet

Comments on the 24 names Mr. J.A. Hey (Hengelo), on personal initiative, made an investigation during the years 1970-2000 on military buried in the Netherlands but with a non-Dutch nationality, among them the French military from 1940-1945. On the basis of his research, the information on the graves and supplementary information by author Ad van den Oort, the following analysis can be made. 24 names with and without graves, with and without monument On the list by Hey there are 595 names from French military; 24 of them are members of North-African units or Muslims. There are also representatives from other nationalities, like the Polish. Many French victims, and 22 of the mainly North-African group, have been buried permanently in Kapelle after the war (Zuid-Beveland) on the French Military Cemetery. The bodies of most of the French military though, weren't brought to Kapelle or stayed there after the war, but were returned to France. 229 graves are left, among them about a hundred with the inscription 'non identifié', not identified. Among them could be North-Africans and/or Muslims. Cemetery Kapelle. Picture: NRC, Evelyne Jacq. The Dutch Association 'Souvenir Français' in May 1950 revealed the monument in Kapelle. There are, in gold lettering, almost 600 then known names of fallen military. Hey's investigation showed that some names are doubled, while other names are missing. From the North-Africans group four names are missing on the monument: the two Moroccan tirailleurs (7th RTM) Hassan ben Abdallah and El Achir ben Bouali, and Messaoud ben Ahmed and master of quarters Elie Benazech. Their graves though are in Kapelle. From two others the names are mentioned, but their graves aren't in Kapelle. Salch ben Ski is buried at the War Cemetery 'Vredenhof' in Schiermonnikoog, already constructed during the First World War. Brahamin ben Mohamed's grave on the beach of Castricum, vanished within the year 1940 into the sea. Cemetery Vredenhof, Schiermonnikoog Picture: Piet Huisman, municipality of Schiermonnikoog From the total of 24 identified North-African and Arabic military who have been buried in Dutch soil, twenty names thus, sometimes with a slightly different spelling, are on the monument. 19 as a group together under a half-moon with the not completely correct epitaphe Algériens - Marocains. One name, of prisoner of war Weddiden, at the end of the second French group; he was probably a Frenchman. 22 persons are buried in Kapelle, 1 in Schiermonnikoog, 1 in sea. Moroccans, Algerians, Syrians, non-Muslim, unknown From the 24 French military with Arabic names, possibly 13 are Moroccan, 2 Algerian and 1 Syrian. The eight others can't be identified any further yet. Seven persons belonged to the regiment of Moroccan tirailleurs (RTM): Moktar ben Djilati (sergeant 4th regiment), Mohamed ben Abdel Kader (corporal and chef 3rd reg.), Hassan ben Abdalla (7th), Ahmed ben Abdelkacem (263rd), El Achir ben Bouali (7th), Mohamed ben Brahim (7th), Abouad ben Cherki (7th). They are all buried in the second islamic section (H). Two other military are buried elsewhere. The Frenchman Weddiden belonged to another Moroccan regiment (Régiment Marocain 11e FA - Forces Auxilliaires); his grave is in the French section C. According to the list from cemetery 'Vredenburg' in Schiermonnikoog, Salch ben Ski also belonged to a Moroccan regiment (STR Maroc). These nine are very likely to be Moroccans. Two persons belonged to the Régiment Tirailleurs Algériens (RTA): Haddadi Hamou, with an Algerian place of birth (11th) and Amour Dilmi (13th). De last one is buried in the first islamic section, A. Also in section A five other victims are buried from whom the army unit is known: Mohamed ben Abdesselem (Régiment Infanterie, Maroc), the Syrian paratrooper Ibrahim Asem (3e RCP), Larbi ben Bouassa (Régiment Infanterie), Ben Allal Ben Kessou (64th Régiment d'Artillerie Africaine) and Ahmed Ben Korchi (31st Génie). From Ben Kessou a Moroccan place of birth is known: Zimour Caid (1920). The name Larbi ben Bouassa makes suppose he was a Moroccan. This also applies to Mohamed ben Dahan. So probably from this group four persons were Moroccan. From the eight others, Messaoud ben Ahmed, Mohamed ben Ali Ahmed, Elie Benazech, Ahmed Ben Korchi, Ahmed ben Laski, Abdel Malek, Brahamin ben Mohamed and Husein Mohamed their origin is yet unknown. Ben Ali Ahmed, ben Laski and ben Mohamed are buried in section H, where all Moroccan tirailleurs are. There's military information known about two members of this group: Mohamed ben Ali Ahmed was a sergeant. Elie Benazech, buried in the French section D, had a position as Maréchal de Logis (master of quarters). The graves of Weddiden and Elie Benazech carry a cross. Elie Benazech was a catholic. According to Sami Kespi from the Maimon foundation many of the 24 military are from origin Jewish (12th - 15th century). Drowned, prisoner of war, wounded/ill, fallen Seventeen of the 24 North-African and Arabic military have been washed ashore from July - August 1940 on the Dutch shore, mostly on the Wadden isles, but also in Zeeland, South- and North-Holland (see map). They were military involved in the evacuation of about 200.000 English and 140.000 French troops from Boulogne, Calais and especially Dunkirk to the English Dover. This 'Operation Dynamo', from Dunkirk, officially took place between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The allied troops were surrounded by the Germans and where, in their ships, shelled by the Luftwaffe and sometimes the coast battery. The British navy estimates the number of victims during this evacuation at 8,100 British and 1,300 others. Because of the relatively small number of losses seen from a hopeless military point of view, it soon was called 'the miracle of Dunkirk'. From the 848 ships which were part of this evacuation, 72 were sunk by the nazi's. Also 163 mostly smaller vessels were lost in the waves. At least 8 French ships were taken out: German fighter bombers bombarded on the 21st of May near Dunkirk the destroyer 'Adroit', on the 23rd of May near Boulogne the 'Orage' and near Malo-les-Bains the 'Jaguar'. On May 24 destroyer 'Chacal' was hit by a coast battery near Cap d'Alprecht and on May 30 near Nieuwpoort the 'Bourrasque'. On the 31st of May and the 1st of June German planes near Dunkirk sank the 'Sirocco' and the 'Foudroyant'. The freighter 'Douasien' with thousands of passengers on board hit a magnetic mine on 28 May near Dunkirk. One military, the Moroccan Weddiden, was found in June 1940 near Gorkum in the river; he was probably as a prisoner of war from Belgium on board of the inland ship Rhenus, which hit a mine near Willemstad on its way to Germany. The other six North-African victims died on land. Three of them in the summer of 1940 in a hospital in Maastricht, where they were taken as wounded prisoners of war from Belgium or North-France: the Algerian Amour Dilmi (June), the Moroccan Ben Allal ben Kessou (September) and Mr. Husein Mohamed (June). Another found his grave already on 22 May 1940 for probably the same reason at Schoondijke (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen): master of quarters Elie Benazech. Finally the Algerian Haddadi Hamou was a prisoner of war in Amersfoort and died there on the 1st of October 1943. One military died later on in the war. The Syrian paratrooper Ibrahim Asem died in April 1945 at Assen. During the liberation of the Northern Netherland the 2nd and 3rd regiment Chasseurs Parachutistes was dropped behind the German lines. They were part of the British SAS, Special Air Service. After the war their standard was rewarded the Dutch military decoration the Bronzen Leeuw (Bronze Lion), for proven bravery. According to a Moroccan witness, sergeant Moughit ben Daoud, who took part with his unit of 34 North-Africans and the 271st Régiment Infanterie in the battle for Zeeuws Kapelle on 16 May 1940, then 12 North-Africans lost their lives. No graves of them are known in Holland. Their names aren't on the monument, nor on the list of Mr. Hey of 84 near Kapelle fallen and buried military. The Royal Land Forces had the intention to publish the investigation by Mr. Hey. This intention was never carried out. Also the municipality of Kapelle didn't believe it was their task to publish the data. Mr. Hey then decided to donate all information, photo series and clippings of his investigation to the Zeeuws Archives in Middelburg. The archives then housed part of the information in the archives of Kapelle. The main source of his investigation were the after-war archives from the Dutch Red Cross. This was complemented with Dutch city archives and French reports on repatriated military. After the war graves from French military were found in 120 Dutch cities.

Moroccan soldiers in Flushing (Picture: NIOD / Albert Meerholtz)

Commemmoration in Kapelle

Pictures: Pim Ligtvoet, May 17, 2005

Moroccan prisoners of war and refugees in Zeeland In the early dags of the German attack on Holland, Belgium and France, midst of May 1940, the First Moroccan division (17,000 soldiers) fought between Leuven and Namur at the Dijle-position. 20% - 50% of the Moroccan Tirailleurs (RTM) lost their lives here on 14 and 15 May. Incorporated in a French infantery corps a probably Moroccan unit fought on 16 May on Dutch soil, in Kapelle, for the defence of South-Beveland and Walcheren. Zeeland wasn't part of the Dutch capitulation on 14 May 1940. In the French Ardennes near La Horgne a Moroccan cavalry, the Spahis, were for a day long able to stop the German tanks; 700 Spahis died. About four thousand Moroccan military escaped via Lille to Dunkirk, from where they were evacuated to England of fell at sea (operation Dynamo). Most of the surviving Moroccan military were taken prisoner of war though. They were joined by the troops which returned from England in early June 1940 and fell into the hands of the Germans on the 18th of June. In 1943, some of these Moroccan prisoners of war were forced to work in Holland at the coast defence system. In Zeeland they were housed in Borssele (see Hans Warren, secret Diary, part 1) and in fort Ellewoutsdijk. Others stayed as wounded in Dutch hospitals; three of them died in Maastricht, one in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Schoondijke. According to sergeant ben Daoud eight North-Africans were taken prisoner of war at the battle of Kapelle. It is possible they stayed temporarily in Zeeland. Ben Daoud himself managed to escape with thirteen others, without uniform. For three days they received shelter with a Dutchman.

The role of Moroccans in the liberation of Europe Tuesday 25 May 2004 Theme-night 'Liberation for everyone', Haarlem Speaker: Chaib Lajlufi

Let me start to tell you that I'm not an historian. Originally I'm a pedagogue. In my study and also in my work I've learned how important culture is in forming generations. Culture is something we've inherited from our ancestors. The past makes the future. We can't do without our past. Events from the past can give us a feeling of pride, or a feeling of shame or of guilt. We shouldn't forget our past; because if we do so, we belie something of ourselves. Tonight we're going to talk about the liberation at the end of the Second World War, 1945. What I want to talk about specifically is about the role of Moroccans in that liberation. And what this liberation means to the Moroccan Dutch nowadays. I'm not speaking here on behalf of the Moroccans from Haarlem or Holland, I'm speaking here on behalf of myself and from my own perspective. When preparing this introduction, I've read some literature of people who are engaged in this subject. Especially Achahboun, Obdeijn and Klinkert went into this forgotten part of history. What it's all about ladies and gentlemen, is that during the Second World War Moroccans joined the fight to liberate Europe. According to Obdeijn, the writer of the book ’History of Morocco’, during the first phase of the war 30,000 Moroccans joined the fight. According to Klinkert over 77,000 Moroccans the second phase (period 1942-1945). During the second phase between 1944-1945 over 8,000 Maroccans lost their lives during battles in Europe. It came as a surprise to me. I didn't know it were that many. These Moroccans contributed to the freedom of Europe and therefore also to the freedom of Holland. Map: www.unica.org Morocco then During the Second World War Morocco was occupied by France and Spain. At that time Morocco was a part of the so-called French protectorate, but this regime very soon developed itself into a colonial regime. France was busy to suppress in a violent way the revolt in Morocco. I cite from the book of Ad van den Oord ‘Todays immigrants & latterday war’(1): No other choice than to become a soldier. Said Ou Hamou was a ‘Goumier’ who took part in the most important allied liberation campaigns in Europe during the Second World War. He told researcher Driss Maghraoui about his motives to serve in the colonial army. As a child he witnessed how his village was ‘pacified‘ by the French. “The mobile infantry came from every side. They bombarded from every side, they bombarded Ait Serghouchen, they had airplanes. People were killed. They took all our cattle and disappeared. Why I joined the Goums? Simply because my father was killed by the French and we were left five orphans. The majority of the adult men of Ait Serghouchen were killed by the French. So a lot orphans were left who had no other choice but to become a Goumier and work for the French.” There were already Moroccans in the French army. When France in 1939 declared war to Germany, after Germany invaded Poland, the Moroccan sultan Mohammed V immediately took for the French side. He didn't hesitate to subordinate the war against the colonial regime to the danger of nazism. Mohammed V ranged himself on the side of the allies. Through the mosks the sultan made an appeal to every possible sacrifice for France. An enormous wave of applications for the French army followed. It seems Moroccan soldiers played an important role in May and June 1940 in the defence of South-Holland, Belgium and France. According to Herman Obdeijn, during the first phase of the Second World War over 30,000 Moroccan soldiers were deployed in the front lines in Northern France and Belgium. During this phase also a small unit of Moroccan and North-African as part of the French infantry came to the aid of Holland in Kapelle, Zeeland, near the defence system at the entrance of the harbour of Antwerp (35 soldiers). They didn't stand a chance, the German troops already were on French soil. A number of them died and others were made prisoner of war. Their graves are unknown. On the French war cemetery in Kapelle (Zeeland) - where our Prime Minister comes from - 22 other North-African soldiers are buried. Seven of them have been identified as Moroccans. Most of them drowned in May 1940 during the evacuation of French troops to England because of German attacks, and were found later on at Dutch beaches. Some of them died as wounded prisoners of war in Holland and two North-Africans fell during special actions in our country; one of them was an Algerian. They lie there, side by side with christian and jewish victims. One North-African grave is in Schiermonnikoog. Another grave, in Castricum, disappeared. In June 1940 France capitulated and the regime of Vichy (Philippe Pétain) took over, which collaborated with the Germans. This collaboration also was visible in Morocco because the Vichy regime ruled most of the colonial empire. But sultan Mohammed V refused to hand over his jewish subjects to the Germans. He spoke his veto on excluding Moroccan jews from public functions. Conference of Casablanca 1943. On the sofa: sultan Mohammed V, president Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Behind the sultan: son moulay Hassan (Picture: arabworld.nitle.org) In the summer of 1942 the Americans landed in Morocco and from there the battle against the Germans was carried on at the southern front. During this second phase of the war, from 1942 - 1945, the Moroccan soldiers fought bravely against the Germans. In Italy they formed 30% of the total of allied, next to the Americans, British, Polish and French. They managed to slip through the lines on their mules. In Italy, France and Germany the Moroccans fought fiercely. -- The following paragraph is not written by Chaib Lajlufi but inserted by the editor. -- Mamma Ciociara (picture: www.valleluce.com) It is wry that after the fall of the Gustav Line soldiers of the Goum units and two Moroccan divisions wrecked Italian villages with rape, looting and murder. Their commander, the French general Juin, would have consented to this. This seems strange, because he then ordered summary justice and sentenced 69 Moroccan soldiers, with 15 of them receiving the death penalty. Not only Moroccan soldiers were guilty of these crimes. The rapes were committed later on also in other parts of Italy and in the German cities of Freudenstadt and Stuttgart. Since then the Italian word for mass rape is ‘Marocchinate’ - literally: Moroccanised women. In Castro dei Volsci is a monument ('Mamma Ciociara') to remember the raped and sometimes murdered women. La Ciociara is the title of Alberto Moravia’s novel on this history (1957), and one of the De Sica films with Sophia Loren from 1960 (‘Two women’). Sources: Ad van den Oordt and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marocchinate -- End of editors paragraph. -- After the war Moroccan soldiers joined a big march-past in Paris as victors of the war. Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco was honoured by general De Gaulle with the decoration 'Compagnon de la Libération'. The only time this decoration was awarded to a non-French, according to Obdeijn. These Moroccans fought for the liberty of Europe. They have, with great sacrifice in Belgium and northern France, defended the south of Holland. In May 1940 at the battle in Kapelle, Zeeland, Moroccans died, as also later in war. They have contributed to the freedom of Europe, to our freedom, and we mustn't forget. General Clark, sultan Mohammed V and son moulay Hassan (Picture: American embassy Marocco) Holland now In Holland we are looking for the cement to bind us together. For sure the liberation can be a part of this, simply because both peoples suffered the consequenses of occupation. And because both peoples joined to liberate us from this occupation. Up until now the remembrances of 4 May and the feasts of 5 May are dominated by Americans, Canadians and British, and by the remembrance of the jewish Holocaust. Moroccans aren't mentioned. It is a bit peculiar that the Moroccan community in Holland, neither participates in remembrances, nor participates in the celebration of the liberation. According to my view this can be explained by two reasons. First of all the Moroccan community in Nederland feels alienated from all ceremonies from both the remembrance as the celebration. They don't feel invited and not acknowledged to participate in these national events. They aren't involved in it. Secondly, most Moroccans in Holland can't understand that especially the jewish community which suffered severely during the occupation, nowadays denies Palestines their freedom. Jews in Israël deport Palestines to other countries. Their lands and houses are confiscated and on a daily basis their houses are demolished and their occupants liquidated without any form of trial. Everything under the motto of security. Apparently someone's security is regarded higher than someone other's. For many Moroccans in Holland this is all hard to digest. Ofcourse not all jews are guilty of todays politics in Israel, but at these events people unfortunately are all seen alike. As I've said before, during the Second World War Moroccans fought for the freedom side by side with christians, jews and non-believers. After that, the Moroccans helped during the sixties rebuilding Holland. In their work Moroccans still contribute to the prosperity of this country. It can't be denied that there are problems with integration and participation of Moroccans in Holland. The're countless reasons for it. But it's also a fact that in the last years efforts were made to exclude Moroccans. Politicians are putting down Moroccan culture as backward. They demand from Moroccans to change their values for Dutch values. That's not my kind of league. When we want everyone to fully participate in this society, it's necessary for everyone to feel valued, to involve everyone in a positive way in this society and certainly not by excluding people from it. To involve the Moroccan community in the events on 4 and 5 May would be a good start. Thank you. Chaib Lajlufi

Moroccan Jews in Westerbork? As written elsewhere, sultan Mohamed V refused to hand over his Jewish subjects to the Germans. He spoke his veto on Moroccan Jews being excluded from public functions. Mohamed Achahboun tells Moroccans Jews planted a forest in Hebron in Israël that was named after sultan Mohamed V. During the war at least one Moroccan-Jewish person was in Holland - see below. A family with Turkish-(Osman)-Jewish roots fled to France and from there to Casablanca in early May 1940. The daughter of the house, Simone Valensi, worked there at the Dutch agency (see Turkey, Turkish Jews, List with names II, nr. 20). Casablanca (about 1900) The Jewish-Moroccan woman Luna da Silva Solis-Benchimol, born in Casablanca on 10 December 1910, is listed as 'missing' on the sites of Dutchjewry, the Joods Monument and the War Graves Foundation (until recently as 'Benkimol'). She's the only bearer of the name Benchimol. At the memorial wall of the Hollandsche Schouwburg also the familyname Benchimol is written. Mr. C. Dahan of the Portugese-Israelite Congregation assured us (ed.) though, the family survived (November 2005). Memorial wall Hollandsche Schouwburg Luna Benchimol married, according to the municipal archives, in January 1936 in Amsterdam to Désiré Daniel da Silva Solis (Paris, 15 July 1901). On 29 December of that year Maurice was born. The family disappeared on 16 May 1941 to the 'Central Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages'. Usually this meant 'left with unknown destination'. Mr. C. Dahan knows the family fled to the United States, New York. There Désiré Daniel worked for an American bank. In America a daughter was born, Tilly. After the war he became the director of this bank in Tanger, Morocco. Désiré Daniel da Silva Solis sent parcels to Westerbork and Theresienstadt and during and after the war help to the people in Amsterdam. Around 1960 the family returned to Amsterdam. The family lived at the Henr. Bosmanstreet. Mister da Silva Solis was a member of the board of the Portugese-Israelite Congretation and after the war the most active regent of the Portugese-Israelite Seminary Ets Haim (information). He died at around 1995. Mrs Luna da Silva Solis-Benchimol lives with her daughter in New York. The son is an architect in Holland (information C. Dahan, Amsterdam, November 2005 and Rev. Salomon L. Vaz Dias, New York, January 2007). From some family members dates of death are known. Marguerite Vieijra-da Silva Solis (38) was killed on 20 March 1943 together with her husband, the chemist David Vieijra (Amsterdam 10 April 1900) in Sobibor (42). Their 5-year old daughter Mathilde Judith was already gassed before in Auschwitz, on 25 January 1943. The family lived in the Van Woustraat 194 in Amsterdam. In the same street, in the neighbouring house on 196-I lived Marguerite’s and Luna's aunt Mirjam Monnikendam-da Silva Solis (Amsterdam, 13 June 1874); and just like her brother Mozes and her husband Samson Monnikendam they were in the diamond business. Mathilde da Silva Solis-Mannheimer lived-in for a while with her eight children with Mirjam, who became a widow in 1931. Mirjam Monnikendam-da Silva Solis was murdered in Auschwitz on 5 February 1943, 68 years old. Jacques Joseph da Silva Solis, office clerk, married to the non-Jewish Katherine Ort from Bavaria (1904). The couple had two children, Emil (1933) and Martha Evelyn (1936). None of their names are on the list of victims.

Film Indigènes Picture: www.indigenes-lefilm.com Pension for North-African veterans because of Indigènes? From mid-January onwards in quite a few movie theaters the film ‘Indigènes’ is to be seen. It is made by the French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb (Cannes 2006). The movie shows the vicissitudes of four North-African soldiers in World War II. One of them (Said) is played by the popular French-Moroccan actor Jamel Debbouze. His grandfather was one of the veterans. Here Jamel plays the assistant of a French sergeant. Debbouze became co-producer as well, and this helped smooth the way for units of the Moroccan Army to serve as extras for battle scenes near the southern Moroccan city of Ouarzazate. Also in France not many people know that half of the 550.000 French troops that fought the battles of WW II came from the then existing French colonies in Africa: 134.000 Algerians, 73.000 Moroccans, 26.000 Tunesians and 92.000 men form French Equatorial Guinea (the last mentioned, as far as we know, didn't fight in the Netherlands; the estimation of the Maroccan participation on this site are 77.000). The colonial troops mostly were used as canon fodder. The movie ends in modern times, on a war cemetery in the Vosges. One of the Magrheb veterans visits his fallen comrades. The film text then explains that the pensions of these veterans in 1952, when the French colonial empire started to crumble, stopped. The European Court in 2002 decided that this had been wrong, but the French government refused to pay the surviving militaries. Having seen the movie with his wife, President Jacques Chirac ordered that the payment of the pensions should be started anew. Too late for most of the veterans, but if it happens, it would be an act of justice. Sources: Alan Riding, French war movie hits a note of reconciliation (Int. Herald Trib. 27-9-06) Gerhard Busch, Frankrijks Ereschuld (VPRO-gids 2, 2007) http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/bericht/77115

Sources / More reading Also see Verhalen (Stories): Story of sergeant Ben Daoud about Kapelle Documentation J.A. Hey concerning the French military cemetery in Kapelle, South-Beveland Municipal Archives of Kapelle (with gratitude to archivist F. de Klerk) Municipal Archives of Schiermonnikoog (with gratitude to Mrs. Cortie and Mr. Jongsma) Documentation Haddadi Hamou: Cees Biezeveld, director a.i. Stichting Nationaal Monument Kamp Amersfoort (National Monument Camp Amersfoort Foundation) Jan Durk Tuinier and Mohamed Achahboun, Graves in the clay. Marokkaanse bevrijders van toen en de vrijheid van nu (Moroccan liberators then and freedom now). Stichting Vredeseducatie (Peace Education Foundation) Utrecht, in co-operation with Stichting El Amal (El Amal Foundation), Forum and the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum) Amsterdam. Utrecht 2005 (72 p.). ISBN 90-75104-14-6. Ad van den Oord, Allochtonen van nu & de oorlog van toen (Nowadays immigrants & latterday war). Morocco, the Netherlands Antilles, Surinam and Turkey in the Second World War. Forum, NIOD, SDU 2004. ISBN 90-5409-4206. pag. 7 Anne Frank Foundation Arabworld.nitle.org DutchJewry Jewish Monument Lo Tisjkach War Graves Foundation Please do feel free to comment on our English translation. We welcome any improvement!