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Benatar, Nelly

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Helene (Nelly) Benatar (Rachel Hélène Cazès) (1898, Tangier – 1979, Paris) was Morocco’s first female lawyer. She was also a Zionist, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee representative in Morocco during the Second World War. She was in charge of the Joint's aid activities for Jewish refugees from Nazi occupied Europe in Northern Africa. Before the war, in the 1930s, she was active in the aid organizations of the Casablanca community and joined the local branch of WIZO, the Women's International Zionist Organization. She also became its president. In 1948, she helped Zionist organizations that dealt with the immigration of Jews to Israel. In 1956 she became a member of the Unified Jewish Social Fund (FSJU), the French Jewish relief organization, and in 1967 she was appointed president of a Moroccan Jewish organization in Paris despite the opposition of several members, who did not approve of a woman being the head of the organization. The personal collection of Helene Benatar consists of materials related to her activities as head of the "Refugee Aid Committee" that she founded to supply aid for Jewish and non-Jewish refugees who arrived in Morocco during World War II: lists of the refugees who were imprisoned in various camps in Morocco and personal files of the refugees; records on the assistance with food for the refugees and on the aid for their migration overseas including extensive correspondence with different Jewish organizations and state institutions in Morocco. It contains financial papers; records on damage from the Djerata pogrom in 1948 and more. In addition, the collection includes interviews with Helene Benatar and articles related to her --

Reference Code
P129
Dates
1928-1953
Consists of
115 files..
Languages
French; English;
Description
The personal collection of Helene Benatar consists of materials related to her relief operations to help refugees who escaped from Nazi occupied Europe to Morocco during World War II. The collection includes numerous lists of refugees who were interned in various camps in Morocco. There are lists of people with foreign visas (Mexican, USA), records on people departing for Palestine, and lists of volunteers in Casablanca. There are also lists connected to distribution of sugar, soap and medicines to the refugees, and records on refugees wishing to be repatriated to France or emigrate abroad in 1945. An important part of the collection are personal files of the refugees and the internees in different camps. Another valuable part of the collection is extensive correspondence of Helene Benatar with different states institutions in Morocco, Jewish organizations, and public figures about helping the refugees in Northern Africa and assistance in their migration overseas. For example, it contains correspondence with the Refugee Committee of Casablanca, with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, HICEM, the Police administration, the Ministry of Merchant Navy, the Red Cross and more. In addition, the collection includes financial papers, records related to administrative issues, papers on damage from the Djerata pogrom in 1948, interviews with Helene Benatar and articles related to her.
Title Benatar, Nelly.
Contributors MosheBenatar
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Wizo
F.S.J.U.
Hias-Ica Emigration Association
International Committee of the Red Cross
Alliance israélite universelle (Morocco)
L'école de Mers Sultan
Notes The Journal "Le Bulletin Regional. Mensuel de la circonscription consistoriale israëlite duLyonnais" (1958–1966) has been added to the CAHJP library (J 30.3)
Documents about Helen Benatar's activities during the WWII are also found in Archives Benazaraf, Yad Ben-Zvi (Jerusalem) and the JDC archives.
Host Item Benatar, Nelly - Private Collection
Level of Description Fonds Record
Biographical summary Helene Benatar (Rachel Hélène “Nelly” Cazes) was born into an affluent Sephardic family in Tangier in 1898. She enrolled in the Girls’ School of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and in 1917 graduated from the all-girls Lycée Mers Sultan in Casablanca. In 1920, she married Moyses Benatar and later started law studies by correspondence with the University of Bordeaux. In 1933, Helene Benatar passed the French bar, becoming Morocco’s first native-born woman lawyer, and opened a law practice in Casablanca. In the 1930s, she became a prominent Zionist activist, and especially was active in the aid organizations of the Casablanca community. She joined the local branch of WIZO (the Women's International Zionist Organization), and became its president. In 1936, Helene Benatar was invited to join the Governing Board of the Moroccan Zionist Congress as its first female member. Following the outbreak of WWII started, she turned her attention to the refugees (Jewish and non-Jewish) in Morocco, and founded the Committee of Assistance to Refugees to provide them with shelter, food, medical help, and assistance in travel overseas. She was in charge of the Joint's (JDC) aid activities for the Jewish refugees in Northern Africa. In 1940 she also joined an anti-Vichy underground group “Mengin group”, which distributed pro-Allied leaflets and passed on intelligence about ship traffic through the Strait of Gibraltar. After the war Helene Benatar helped Zionist organizations that dealt with the immigration of Jews to Israel. In 1956 she became a member of the Unified Jewish Social Fund (FSJU), the French Jewish relief organization, and in 1967 she was appointed president of a Moroccan Jewish organization in Paris despite the opposition of several members, who did not approve of a woman being the head of the organization. Helene Benatar died in Paris on July 8, 1979.
Ownership history The materials were transferred to the CAHJP in 1975 and 1977. The second batch also included material of the Joint from the 1950s and 1960s from the JDC's archives.
Language Note French
English
National Library system number 990043435750205171
Links פרטים על מיקום החומר/Location&access
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