A Muslim leader's selfless act has become a story of shared humanity and coexistence amidst Europe’s dark history of two world wars.
A Muslim leader's selfless act has become a story of shared humanity and coexistence amidst Europe’s dark history of two world wars.The Paris Mosque was founded in 1926 as a token of gratitude to the Muslim tirailleurs from France's colonial empire. / Photo: Getty Images
The mosque’s underground chambers provided shelter for Jews after the Nazi Germany forces occupied France in 1940 and the Vichy government, led by Marshal Philippe Petain, took control of northern and western France and began persecuting Jews. But the discrimination went beyond that, and the lives of thousands of Jews of North African origin residing in Paris were endangered.
Assouline recounted witnessing numerous Jews passing through the mosque's basements, eventually reaching boats awaiting them on the Seine river for transportation to Morocco and Spain.question Assouline's estimate, suggesting that no more than five hundred Jews found refuge at the Mosque, he highlighted the significant risk taken by the mosque's rector in sheltering Jews. The rector provided them, particularly the many children, with fake Muslim identities.
However, there emerged a suspicion that the Mosque of Paris was issuing fake certificates to Jews claiming they were Muslim, and the imam was pressured to stop these practices, according to a 1940 note from the French officials cited by historian Robert Satloff's The director collaborated with two historians: Benjamin Stora, a specialist in the Maghreb, and Pascal Le Pautremat, who focused on Islam in France. He also met Si Kaddour Benghabrit's daughter and other surviving family members.
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