The study of the Shoah and its impact on Jewish communities under colonial rule in Fascist Italy and Vichy France has witnessed significant scholarly development in recent years. Whereas in the past Jews from these territories were largely absent from mainstream Holocaust narratives, their experiences are now receiving increasing attention.
At present, research on anti-Jewish persecution in French colonial territories is considerably more developed than that in the Italian context. While several studies have focused on the Italian Dodecanese and there has been growing scholarship on Libya, the fate of Ethiopian Jews remains markedly underexplored. Alongside these disparities between French and Italian historiographies, little attention has been paid to the circulation of antisemitic rhetoric and practices between colonial empires, or to collaboration between Italian and French colonial authorities in persecuting Jews—despite the presence of Jews from one empire within the colonial territories of the other. Notable examples include the expulsion of numerous French Jewish subjects from Libya to Tunisia in 1942, which also involved French authorities, as well as the presence of Tripolitanian Jews in Tunisia.
Another gap in existing scholarship concerns the temporal scope of research, which has primarily concentrated on wartime persecution, often overlooking its aftermath and the post-war policies of reintegration and reparations. Italy and France pursued distinct post-war trajectories, shaped by the divergent fates of their colonial empires, the differing legal statuses accorded to Jews in their colonial territories, and the varied migratory paths taken by these communities. These historical differences influenced the post-war relationships between Italy, France, and the Jewish populations from their former colonial realms.
This special issue aims to foster dialogue across two geographic and political spaces—the Italian and French colonial empires—as well as across two temporal dimensions: the period of persecution and its aftermath. For Italy, the focus will be on Libya, the Dodecanese, and the Horn of Africa; for France, on the countries of the Afrique française du Nord (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco). In particular, the issue seeks to explore both the commonalities and differences in the persecution of Jews within these imperial contexts and in the respective policies of post-war reintegration.
While most contributions are expected to adopt a national or imperial framework, the issue seeks to encourage comparative and interdisciplinary analysis, highlighting points of convergence and divergence in Jewish experiences across the two colonial empires, as well as the circulation of discourses and policies during and after the war. By integrating perspectives from history, law, and political science, the issue aims to provide a multifaceted understanding of how colonial structures shaped both Jewish persecution and post-war reintegration.
By placing the experiences of colonial Jewish communities within broader debates on racial policy and antisemitism in imperial contexts, the issue will also contribute to a deeper understanding of the entanglement between colonial and antisemitic ideologies.
Potential Areas of Research
Antisemitism
- The development and manifestations of antisemitism in Italian and French colonial territories during the 1920s and 1930s (forms: institutional, social, cultural; origins: local, imported, linked to the colonial or national context).
- Intersections between colonial racism and antisemitism.
- Comparisons between the treatment of Jews and that of Arabs, and the relationships between the two groups.
Persecution
- Anti-Jewish policies in Italian and French colonial territories.
- Analysis of the relationship between persecutory directives from metropolitan authorities and the potential autonomy of colonial officials.
- The transfer and adaptation of antisemitic policies between different colonial empires.
- Colonial societies and the persecution of Jews: participation, complicity, resistance, opposition, and solidarity.
- The circulation of information regarding the persecution of Jews in colonial territories during and after the war.
- The question of whether the persecution of Jews in colonial territories should be considered part of the Holocaust.
Reparations, and Post-war Reintegration
- The position of Italian and French Jewish institutional organisations on the persecution of Jews in colonial territories.
- Post-war recognition of the persecution of Jews in colonial settings.
- The issue of reparations to the Jews of the colonial territories in the broader debates on reparations to the victims of the Shoah.
- Political and social reintegration policies for Jews from former Italian and French colonial territories.
- Reparations policies.
Practical Information
- The deadline for submitting the abstract is 5 October 2025.
- Full title, abstract (between 1,500 and 2,500 characters, including spaces), 5 keywords and a Short author biography (5–10 lines) should be included.
- Notification of acceptance will be communicated by Sunday, 12 October 2025.
- The full article is due on 15 March 2026.
- Both abstracts and articles should be submitted as a MS Word file by e-mail.
- Research articles should be between 30,000 and 60,000 characters (footnotes and spaces included).
- The Journal number is scheduled for publication in December 2026.
- For full information about the Journal as well as the editorial guidelines see https://www.quest-cdecjournal.it/submission/
Please send your abstracts by 5 October 2025 to Giordano Bottecchia (giordano.bottecchia@proton.me) and to Martino Oppizzi (martinosem@hotmail.it).